Gustav Ernesaks
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Gustav Ernesaks | |
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![]() A monument to Gustav Ernesaks on the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds | |
Born | |
Died | 24 January 1993 Tallinn, Estonia | (aged 84)
Occupation | Composer, conductor |
Years active | 1930–1993 |
Spouse(s) | Stella Merjam |
A statue of Gustav Ernesaks during XXVI Estonian Song Celebration
Gustav Ernesaks (12 December 1908 – 24 January 1993) was an Estonian composer and a choir conductor.[1]
Biography[]
Ernesaks was born in Perila, Peningi Parish. He played an integral role in the Singing Revolution and was one of the father figures of the Estonian Song Festival tradition. One of his songs, a setting of Lydia Koidula's poem Mu isamaa on minu arm, became an unofficial national anthem during the years of Soviet occupation. He also composed the Estonian SSR anthem used between 1945 and 1990.
In 1935, Ernesaks married Stella Merjam. They had three sons: Ott Ernesaks, Jüri Ernesaks and Peep Ernesaks. Stella died in 1973. Ernesaks died in Tallinn, aged 84. A statue of him was erected in 2004 on the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Ernesaksa_haud.jpg/220px-Ernesaksa_haud.jpg)
Ernesaks's grave at Metsakalmistu cemetery
Honours and awards[]
- Soviet Union
- Hero of Socialist Labour (1974)
- People's Artist of the USSR (1956)
- Stalin Prizes;
- 2nd class (1947)
- 3rd class (1951) – for the opera Tormide rand ("The Coast of Storms"; 1949)
- Lenin Prize (1970)
- Order of Lenin, three times (1974, 1951, 1967)
- Order of the October Revolution (1978)
- Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1946)
- Order of the Badge of Honour, twice (1965, 1988)
- Estonia
- Order of the Estonian Red Cross, 5th class (1938)
- (1942)
- People's Artist of the Estonian SSR (1947)
- State Prize of the Estonian SSR (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1959, 1965)
References[]
Categories:
- 1908 births
- 1993 deaths
- People from Raasiku Parish
- People from the Governorate of Estonia
- Soviet composers
- Soviet male composers
- 20th-century classical composers
- Estonian choral conductors
- Estonian opera composers
- Soviet opera composers
- 20th-century conductors (music)
- Male classical composers
- National anthem writers
- Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni
- Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre faculty
- People's Artists of the USSR
- Heroes of Socialist Labour
- Stalin Prize winners
- Lenin Prize winners
- Recipients of the Order of Lenin
- Burials at Metsakalmistu
- 20th-century Estonian composers
- 20th-century male musicians
- European composer stubs
- Estonian musician stubs