EDUARD TUBIN AND HIS TIME

Photo album and CD Eduard Tubin And His Time dedicated to Tubin – 100.

1 Symphony No 2 “Legendary” in B minor, ETW 2
1st movement: Legendaire. Molto allegro e agitato
9:49
2 2nd movement: Sostenuto assai, grave e funebre 7:23
3 Piano Quartet in C sharp minor,  ETW 59 (1929–30) 16:18
4 Ballad on a Theme by Mart Saar  in C sharp minor, ETW 40 (1945) 10:04
5 “Meditation” for violin and piano, ETW 51 (1938) 4:26
6 “Elegy” for string quartet, ETW 60 (1946) 2:58
7 Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No 1 in D major, ETW 19 (1941–42)
2nd movement Andante sostenuto*
10:21
8 Symphony No 5 in B minor, ETW 5 (1946)
3rd movement: Allegro assai*
7:17

ImagetextPerformed by: Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (1, 2, 7, 8) conducted by Peeter Lilje (1, 2), Neeme Järvi (7) and Paavo Järvi (8); Vardo Rumessen – piano (3, 4, 5); Xiang Gao – violin (7); Urmas Vulp – violin (5); String Quartet of St Petersburg Philharmonic Society (3), Tallinn String Quartet (6)
Total time 72:23
Recordings licensed from the archives of Estonian Radio
Recorded 1987–2004
* Live recording
705
In co-operation with International Eduard Tubin Society
Special thanks to Estonian Radio and Tartu City Government

Engineered by Jaan Sarv, Maido Maadik, and Priit Kuulberg
Mastered by Marika Scheer
Produced by Vardo Rumessen
Co-produced by Peeter Vähi

Violin Concerto No 1. Andante sostenuto, fragm, mp3

ImagetextEduard Tubin was born on June 18th, 1905 in the village of Torila at lake Peipsi in Estonia. His father was a fisherman and tailor. Both of Tubin’s parents loved music. His father played trumpet and trombone in a village band. After his brother’s death in 1912 Eduard inherited some scores, a violin and a piccolo flute. After the Estonian Liberty War Tubin entered in 1920 the Tartu Teachers College to prepare for a career as a schoolteacher. He played also in the college sinfonietta. Later the music teacher of the college entrusted Tubin with conducting a choir, with which he appeared at school parties. At the College he also made his first attempts to compose music. In 1924 Tubin entered the Tartu Higher School of Music, attending at first Johannes Kärt’s organ class. At the same time he studied music theory and harmony with Heino Eller. His first preserved compositions, solo songs and piano pieces, are from 1925. After graduating from the Teachers College in 1926, Tubin started working as a teacher near Tartu. In 1928 he was appointed conductor of the Male Choir of the Tartu Male Choir Association. In 1930 Tubin graduated from the Higher Music School and moved back to Tartu. From 1931 to 1944 Tubin conducted numerous opera, ballet and operetta performances, symphony concerts and oratories at Vanemuine Theatre. He also conducted several choirs: the male choir, the mixed choir named after Miina Härma, the mixed choir of Vanemuine, and the mixed choir of the Estonia Tallinn. From 1933 Tubin also led various song festivals, where his own songs were frequently performed. During the summer of 1938 he went to the island of Hiiumaa to collect folk songs. The interest for folk music led him in 1938-1940 to write the first Estonian ballet Kratt. In 1940, together with other Estonian composers Tubin was sent to Leningrad to study the Soviet music life. In 1941 the Communist authorities started to organize the Estonian participation in the coming cultural festival in Moscow. In 1944, when Estonia was occupied by Soviets, Tubin with his wife and his two sons had to flee to Sweden. Tubin became acquainted with the music publisher Einar Körling, and during the following years several works were published by Körlings Förlag. Already at the end of 1944 the Stockholm Estonian YMCA Male Choir was founded, and in 1945 Tubin was appointed its leader. Tubin conducted the choir until 1959. He joined the choir again in 1975 and continued as its conductor until 1982.
The greatest part of Tubin’s works was composed in Sweden. During this time Tubin achieved his individual musical style, combining intonations from Estonian folk tunes with contemporary means of expression. His most conspicuous major work was the Symphony No 5, which echoes tragic moods and experiences from the wartime. It was finished in 1946 and became Tubin’s most performed work. During composer’s lifetime it was performed more than 50 times. Notable early performances were in New York in 1952 and in Sydney in 1958. It was also the first of Tubin’s works performed after the war in occupied Estonia, which opened the way for renewed contacts with his homeland. In 1950 Tubin was inspired by northern lights in Stockholm to write his Piano Sonata No 2. The composer, who always regarded his music critically, considered it his best work, together with the Symphony No 6. In 1947 he visited the ISCM festival in Copenhagen, in 1952 he went to Bayreuth, where he could listen to several Wagner operas. In 1956 Tubin attended a Nordic Music Festival in Helsinki. In 1954 Tubin finished one of his most central works – Symphony No 6. A depressing thoughts led him to use jazz elements and rhythms from contemporary dance music as grotesque effects in the symphony. In 1961 Tubin visited Estonia for the first time since the war to attend the first performance of the restored ballet. The performances of the ballet and the Symphony No 6, conducted by Järvi in Tallinn, were important events for many Estonian musicians. In 1962 Tubin was elected member of the Swedish Composers’ Union. During the following years Tubin regularly visited Estonia to attend performances of his major works. In 1967 a producer of the Estonian National Opera Arne Mikk asked Tubin to write the opera Barbara von Tisenhusen based on a historical short story by the Estonian-Finnish writer Aino Kallas. The opera was first performed at National Opera in 1969, and became an immediate success. It was performed more than 50 times during the following years, more than any other Estonian opera. The great success led Arne Mikk to propose Tubin to write a second opera, based on another historical short story by Aino Kallas, Parson of Reigi. It was finished in 1971, but repeated attempts by Mikk to have it staged failed due to the Soviet cultural policy. It was first performed by Vanemuine only in 1979. The international breakthrough of Tubin’s music started in 1980, when Neeme Järvi emigrated from Estonia to the USA and started ardently to perform it. When Järvi was appointed chief conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in 1982, he set his mind to record all of Tubin’s symphonies, which could unfortunately be achieved only after the composer’s death. A last great event in Tubin’s life were the performances of his Symphony No 10 by the Boston Philharmonic during its centennial concerts in 1981. During his last years Tubin received several important prizes. In 1979 he got the Kurt Atterberg award, and in 1981 the Culture Award of the City of Stockholm. In 1982 he was elected member of the Royal Academy of Music. He started writing his Symphony No 11, which remained unfinished – in the autumn of 1982 Tubin was hospitalized. Tubin died in Stockholm on Nov 17th, 1982.

See also other recordings of Eduard Tubin by ERP: 100 Years of Estonian Symphony, Estonian Preludes, Northern Lights Sonata, Tubin, Musica TristeKratt, Works for Violin and Piano Vol 1, Works for Violin and Piano Vol 2
See also other recordings of Paavo Järvi by ERP: 100 Years of Estonian SymphonyPaavo Järvi Conducts EUYO at Glasperlenspiel
See also other recordings of Vardo Rumessen by ERP: Estonian Preludes, Northern Lights Sonata, Koidust Kodumaise viisini, The Well-Tempered Clavier I, Wiegenlieder der Schmerzen, The Call of the Stars, MelancholySergei Rachmaninov. Piano Works