Eino Tamberg facts for kids

Eino Tamberg (born May 27, 1930 – died December 24, 2010) was a famous Estonian composer. His music was played all over the world. He wrote many different types of music, including operas like Cyrano de Bergerac, four symphonies, and several concertos. A concerto is a piece of music for one or more solo instruments and an orchestra. For many years, he also taught music composition at the Estonian Academy of Music.

Life of Eino Tamberg

Eino Tamberg was born in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. He studied how to compose music with a teacher named Eugen Kapp at the Tallinn Conservatory. He finished his studies there in 1953.

After graduating, he worked as a music director at the Tallinn Drama Theatre starting in 1952. From 1953 to 1957, he was a sound engineer for the Estonian Radio. He first became known as a composer with his song cycle called Viis romanssi Sándor Petöfi luulele (1955). This piece was based on poems by Sándor Petőfi. He also became famous for his Concerto Grosso (1956). He even won a gold medal for this work at a music festival in Moscow.

Tamberg was important because he helped start a new style of music in the late 1950s. This style moved away from the older, more romantic music. His ideas about music were part of what was called the New Wave in Estonian music. From about 1960, his music became more known outside of Estonia. He wrote music for many different types of performances, especially for theater and for large orchestras (symphonic music).

Starting in 1969, he taught at the Estonian Academy of Music. He became a professor there in 1983. Many students learned from him, including Raimo Kangro, Margo Kõlar, Urmas Lattikas, Alo Mattiisen, Toivo Tulev, Peeter Vähi, and Mari Vihmand. For the 1997/98 music season, he was the main composer for the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. Eino Tamberg passed away in Tallinn.

Eino Tamberg's Music

Eino Tamberg was one of the most important composers who used neoclassicism in Estonian music. Neoclassicism is a style that looks back to older, more classical forms of music. However, his later works showed more expressionism. This style focuses on showing strong feelings and emotions.

Two of Tamberg's very well-known pieces are the ballet Joanna tentata (1971) and his Trumpet Concerto No. 1 (1972). A ballet is a story told through dance and music. The Trumpet Concerto is still one of his most popular works. It was played not only in Europe but also in places like Hong Kong and Singapore. A famous trumpet player named Håkan Hardenberger even recorded it. Tamberg also wrote four symphonies, which are large musical pieces for an orchestra. He wrote concertos for many other instruments too, such as a violin concerto (1981), saxophone concerto (1987), clarinet concerto (1996), a second trumpet concerto (1997), bassoon concerto (2000), and cello concerto (2001).

His second opera, Cyrano de Bergerac, was first performed in 1976. An opera is a play where the words are sung, usually with an orchestra. This romantic opera shows influences from early Baroque music, which is an older style from the 1600s and 1700s. It also uses bel canto singing, which means "beautiful singing." The opera has three acts and an epilogue (a short part at the end). Tamberg wrote it in 1974, using a libretto (the story and words of an opera) by Jaan Kross. The story was based on the famous play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand.

In 1995, for the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, Eino Tamberg wrote his Celebration Fanfares. This piece was first played in New York City, conducted by Neeme Järvi. In 2007, he received an Estonian State Cultural Award for all his amazing work throughout his life.

List of Compositions

• Vürst Gabriel (Prince Gabriel), a suite of music, 1955
• Concerto Grosso, Op. 5, 1956
• Ballet Symphony, 1959
• Poiss ja liblikas (The Boy and the Butterfly), a ballet, 1963
• Raudne kodu (Iron Home), an opera, 1965
• Music for the film Külmale maale (To the Cold Land), 1965
• Joanna tentata, a ballet, 1970
• Trumpet Concerto, 1972
• Cyrano de Bergerac, an opera, 1974
• Symphony No. 1, 1978
• Amores, an oratorio, 1981 (An oratorio is a large musical piece for voices and orchestra, usually telling a story, but not acted out.)
• Symphony No. 2, 1982
• Lend (The Fly), an opera, 1983
• Symphony No. 3, 1987
• Fanfare (Celebration Fanfares), 1995
• Sentimental Journey with a Clarinet, 1996
• Desiderium Concordia (Longing for Unity), after 1997
• Symphony No. 4, 1998

See also

In Spanish: Eino Tamberg para niños