MAN T he 13 Fetler children were quite musical. While they were in the process of growing up they formed their own orchestra and made the rounds of most European cities hold ing concerts. The youngsters were all widely applauded and young Tim othy seemed to have a genuine crea tive bent. The Fetlers were in Europe be cause father Fetler, a Russian mis sionary leader, had been exiled to Siberia and then banished from the country. During their wanderings Timothy became fluent in five lan guages and found time to do some serious musical study.
After corning to America young Fetler enrolled in Northwestern Uni versity’s famed School of Music where he received his Ph.D. He taught three years at Northwestern and four years at USC. Now on the faculty at the Bible In stitute of Los Angeles, Dr. Fetler has turned to a new work in music. He has long dregmed of turning the great hymns of the faith into anthem form. This has been done before but Fetler is approaching it from a dif ferent angle. He feels much of the work done in the field has been on such a popular scale that serious choirs have found no interest in the
arrangements. Fetler realizes that the average churchgoer finds greater spiritual value in the great hymns than in many of the serious anthems. His new work is an effort to bridge the gap between the two. And if the advance comments of critics are any criteria, Timothy Fetler has , bridged the gap. His first work in the series is a 12-page arrangement of I Need Thee Every Hour. Others planned are Nearer, M y God, to Thee, Jesus Lover of M y Soul and Rock of Ages. (I Need Thee Every Hour is now on sale for 20 cents; Biola Book Room, 560 South Hope Street, Los Angeles.
JULY 1953
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