Eino Tamberg

Who was Eino Tamberg?

Eino Tamberg was an Estonian composer.

Tamberg was born in Tallinn. He studied music composition with Eugen Kapp at the Tallinn Conservatory, graduating in 1953. In Estonia he first became known with his song cycle Viis romanssi Sándor Petöfi luulele based on poetry by Sándor Petöfi, and with his Concerto Grosso, for which he won a gold medal at an international music festival in Moscow. Tamberg was an important initiator of the anti-romantic composition movement of the late 1950s. His vision on music composition belonged to the so-called New Wave in Estonian music. He became more known outside Estonia from approximately 1960, writing music for a large variety of genres, but in particular music for theater, and symphonic music. He died in Tallinn.

Tamberg was one of the most important representatives of neoclassicism in Estonian music, though his later works were more expressionistic in style. Since 1969 he was teaching at the Estonian Academy of Music, where he also held a professorship since 1983. For the 1997–1998 season he was composer-in-residence with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra.