Childhood and youth (1905-1920)

Eduard Tubin was born on June 18th, 1905 in the village of Torila near Kallaste at Lake Peipus in Estonia (now incorporated in Kallaste). His father was a fisherman and tailor. Both of Tubin's parents loved music. His father played trompet, later trombone in the village band.When Tubin was 3 years old, the family moved to Naelavere near Alatskivi. After his brother Johannes' death at the age of 21 in 1912 Eduard inherited some scores, a violin and a piccolo flute. He practiced flute on his own and enjoyed playing when he herded swine.

After Naelavere Tubin attended the Torila Country Elementary School, graduating in 1920. The Torila school had a balalaika band, where he played flute and learned balalaika. In his free time he wrote scores, When he was 9-10 years old, his father took him to the local village band. Tubin played flute, appearing with the small orchestra at various parties. When Tubin's father saw that the boy was seriously interested in music, he sold a calf at the market and bought an old cottage piano for the money. Tubin learned to play by himself.Soon he could accompany village fiddlers, who visited the Tubins and played simple tunes.

In 1918 Estonia declared its independence and managed to defend itself against both Soviet Communists and a German corps. After the Estonian Liberty War Tubin entered in 1920 the Tartu Teachers College to prepare for a career as a schoolteacher. Tubin 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.

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As an independant musician in Tartu (1924-1944)

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, together with other future well-known Estonian musicians as Olav Roots, Karl Leichter and Eduard Oja. Thanks to his unusual musical talent and diligence Tubin progressed very rapidly. 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 at Nõo, near Tartu. In 1928 he was appointed conductor of the Male Choir of the Tartu Male Choir Association (TMS). Living in Nõo, Tubin composed several solo songs and piano pieces. In 1930 Tubin graduated from the Higher Music School and moved back to Tartu. At the end of the same year he married Linda Pirn (Tubin), a fellow song student who later became an actress at the "Vanemuine" theater. Their son Rein was born in 1932. Tubin worked at the "Vanemuine" first as accompanist, then as conductor. In 1930-1931 he already conducted open-air concerts.

The work at "Vanemuine" became very intense. From 1931 to 1944 Tubin conducted numerous opera, ballet and operetta performances, symphony concerts and oratories. He also conducted several choirs: the TMS male choir (from 1928 to 1944), a mixed choir named for Miina Härma (from 1930 to 1931), the mixed choir of the "Vanemuine" music department (VMO) (from 1931 to 1935) and the mixed choir of the "Estonia" music department (EMO) in Tallinn (from 1935 to 1936). He took the TMS Male Choir abroad, 1935 to Riga and 1937 to Warsaw and Krakow. From 1933 Tubin also led various song festivals, where his own songs were frequently performed.

During these years Tubin made several trips abroad to study music. In 1932 he went to Vienna for the ISCM festival, in 1938 to Budapest. In Budapest he showed the scores of his Symphonies to Zoltan Kodaly and also met Bela Bartók. On Kodaly's recommendation Tubin took a renewed interest in folk music. 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", with libretto by Elfriede (Erika) Saarik, a dancer at the "Vanemuine".

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The occupation years (1940-1944)

As a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Estonia was occupied by Soviet troops in 1940. The music life was restructured after Soviet ideals. Tubin was appointed head of the composition class at the Tartu Music School and head conductor of the "Vanemuine". Together with other Estonian composers Tubin was sent in 1940 to Leningrad to study the Soviet music life. In 1941 the Communist authorities started to organize the Estonian participation in the coming cultural festival ("decade") in Moscow. Tubin had to rewrite his ballet "Kratt", he got an order for the opera "The Rebels of Pühajärv". Due to the World War II this decade didn' take place.

A wave of deportations and arrests preceded the outbreak of the war between Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. During the war years Tubin continued his musical work in Tartu, bringing many first performances to the stage and conducting many symphony concerts. The first performance of "Kratt" took place on March 31st 1943, at the "Vanemuine" with Tubin himself conducting. Next year it was staged in Tallinn at the "Estonia" theatre, which was bombed during the sixth performance. Tubin and his wife, who attended the performance, had to run for shelter together with the actors and audience. The score of the ballet was destroyed. The only score of his Symphony No. 4 survived with burned edges in a safe.

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Refugee years in Sweden (1944-1966)

In September 1944, when Estonia was occupied again by Soviets, Tubin with his wife Erika and his two sons had to flee to Sweden. In spring next year they were transferred to Neglinge at the outskirts of Stockholm. Tubin became acquainted with the music publisher Einar Körling, who found him a flat in the suburb of Hammarbyhöjden. During the following years several works were published by Körlings Förlag.In 1945 the Labour Board offered Tubin a position as "archive worker" at the historic Drottningholm Royal Court Theater, and he remained until his retirement in 1972. He restored baroque operas and ballets. The work, which he did at home, also offered him plenty of time for his own compositions.

During the war tens of thousands of Estonians had fled to Sweden. Already at the end of 1944 the Stockholm Estonian YMCA Male Choir was founded (later the Stockholm Estonian Male Choir, SEM) and in February 1945 Tubin was appointed its leader. In April the choir gave its first concert. Tubin conducted the choir until 1959. He joined the choir again in 1975 and continued as its conductor until 1982. Tubin was repeatedly leader of Estonian song festivals in exile. Most of Tubin's choir songs are written for the SEM choir.

The greatest part of Tubin's oeuvre 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 with Endel Kalam and in Sydney in 1958 with Nicolai Malko conducting. It was also the first of Tubin's works performed after the war in occupied Estonia (1956, Sergei Prokhorov conducting), 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 ("Northern Lights"). It should be regarded as one of the most brilliant works in the whole piano music of the 20th century. The composer, who always regarded his music critically, considered it his best work, together with the Symphony No 6. Living in the free world Tubin could closely follow the music life in Europe. Already 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 1958 Tauno Hannikainen conducted his Symphony No 5 in Helsinki.In 1954 Tubin finished one of his most central works, the Symphony No 6. A depressing thoughts led him to use jazz elements and rhythms from contemporary dance music as grotesque effects in the symphony. The performances by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt proved that this symphony belongs to the top achievements of symphonic music in the 20th century. In 1959 it was performed in Estonia by Sergei Prokhorov.The Communist authorities of occupied Estonia followed closely the activities of the exiles. Repeatedly they tried to persuade Tubin to return. Since he steadfastly refused, performances of his works were banned at the end of the 1940s. His Symphony No 5 could be performed only in 1956.In 1959 the "Vanemuine" theatre asked Tubin to restore the score of the ballet "Kratt". 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. The force and active rhythms of the music inspired many young Estonian composers such as Veljo Tormis, Eino Tamberg, Jaan Rääts and Arvo Pärt.

Tubin's visit to occupied Estonia was condemned by some exile Estonians, who saw it as collaboration with the Soviet authoroties.In 1961 Tubin became a Swedish citizen. In 1962 he was elected member of the Swedish Composers' Union (FST). His new works were regularly performed in Sweden, but did not get the attention they merited. His works written in Estonia remained hidden to the Swedish audience and were discovered only through Järvi's performances after his death.

During the following years Tubin regularly visited Estonia to attend performances of his major works. In 1967 a producer of the National Opera Theatre "Estonia" Arne Mikk asked Tubin to write an opera, "Barbara von Tisenhusen", based on a historical short story by the Estonian-Finnish writer Aino Kallas. "Barbara von Tisenhusen" was first performed at "Estonia" in 1969 in the presence of the composer and his wife, and became a immediate success. It was performed more than 50 times during the following years, more than any other Estonian opera. Its deep and moving musical realization and intense development makes it the best 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.

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Final years in Handen (1966-1982)

In 1966 Tubin moved to the suburb of Handen outside Stockholm. Here he was able to completely devote himself to his work as composer.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. Already in 1979 he conducted Tubin's Symphony No. 5 with great success in Stockholm, which prompted the music critic Carl-Gunnar Åhlen to prophesy: "Tubin's time will come". 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. They were conducted by Neeme Järvi in the presence of the composer. 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. This was a belated recognition of a composer, who had lived and worked quietly in Stockholm, but whose real greatness and importance had so far gone unrecognized in Sweden.His fatal disease was first felt in 1973 and relapsed at the end of the 1970s. He started writing his Symphony No 11, which remained unfinished. In the autumn of 1982 Tubin was hospitalized. Tubin died in Stockholm on November 17, 1982.

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