Gustav Ernesaks
Gustav Ernesaks was an Estonian and Soviet choir conductor, composer, teacher, and publicist. He was born on 12 December 1908 in Perila, then a village in the Russian Empire, and died in Tallinn on 24 January 1993.
While attending Tallinn Gymnasium, he studied piano and organ at the Tallinn Conservatory from 1924 to 1927. He returned to the conservatory in 1929, graduating in music education in 1931 and composition in 1934, after studying composition with Artur Kapp and also studying with Juhan Aavik.
From 1931, Ernesaks taught singing at several Tallinn schools and led a number of choirs. He headed Tallinn’s Society for Male Choral Singing from 1935 to 1937. At the conservatory, he taught in the teacher-training department from 1937, became dean of the performance faculty in 1944, and led the choral conducting department from 1945, when he was appointed professor.
In 1944, he founded and became artistic director and chief conductor of the Tallinn Philharmonic’s male choir, the first professional ensemble of its kind in Estonia. He led it until 1975; it later became the Estonian National Male Choir. Ernesaks also took part in the Estonian Song Festivals from 1933 and served as their director and chief conductor from 1947.
His best-known songs include “My Homeland Is My Love.” He wrote operas, choral works, and music for plays and films, and composed the music for the Estonian SSR state anthem. His works are noted for their clear, direct style and frequent use of folk melodies. His operas include “Pühajärv” (1946), “The Shore of Storms” (1949), “Hand in Hand” (1955), later revised as “Mihkel and Mari” (1964), “Baptism of Fire” (1956), and “Suitors from Mulgi County” (1959). He wrote more than 300 choral songs and arranged more than 200 folk songs or set folk texts to music.
Ernesaks received the Stalin Prize in 1947 for his concert performances and in 1951 for his opera “The Shore of Storms.” He received the Lenin Prize in 1970 for concert programs presented in the 1967–68 and 1968–69 seasons. His film music included scores for “Yachts at Sea” (1955), “At the Turn” (1957), and the animated film “Two Illustrations” (1962). He also published several books, including “The Mouth Sings, the Heart Is Restless” (1971) and “On Song Roads” (1985).