Aleksander Eduard Thomson (31 January 1845, in Pringi – 20 October 1917, in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n composer. He is regarded as the founder of Estonian national choral music. In 1865, he graduated from Latvian musical pedagogue

Jānis Cimze Jānis Cimze (3 July/21 June 1814 — 22 October/10 October 1881) was a Latvian pedagogue, collector and harmoniser of folk songs, organist, founder of Latvian choral music and initiator of professional Latvian music. He is buried at the Lugaž ...

's seminar in Valga. From 1870 to 1872 he studied mathematics at the University of Tartu. He then worked as a teacher in

Kanepi Kanepi is a small borough (') in Kanepi Parish, Põlva County in southeastern Estonia. Hugo Treffner (1845–1912), educator, founder of the Hugo Treffner Gymnasium was born in Kanepi as a son of a family of local parish clerk. Gallery Fi ...

and

Vana-Võidu Vana-Võidu (german: Alt-Woidoma) is a settlement in Viljandi Parish, Viljandi County in southern Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the ...

near

Viljandi Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu ...

and in the German church school in Petergof, Russia. At that time he was already organizing choral events with a relatively large number of participants. Thomson is considered to be one of the founders of the folk music choral tradition in Estonia. He had written about 70 choral songs, of which best known are "Kannel" ('Kantele') and "Laula, laula, suukene" ('Sing, sing o mouth'). Many of his songs are based on folk tunes. He often took the texts of his songs from folk poetry, but also from the works of

Carl Robert Jakobson Carl Robert Jakobson ( – ) was an Estonian writer, politician and teacher active in the Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire. He was one of the most important persons of the Estonian national awakening in the second half of the 19th century ...

Lydia Koidula Lydia Emilie Florentine Jannsen, ( – ), known by her pen name Lydia Koidula, was an Estonian poet. Her sobriquet means 'Lydia of the Dawn' in Estonian. It was given to her by the writer Carl Robert Jakobson. She is also frequently referred to ...

and

Friedrich Robert Faehlmann Friedrich Robert Faehlmann (Fählmann) (31 December 1798 in Ao Manor, Kreis Jerwen – 22 April 1850 in Tartu) was an Estonian writer, medical doctor and philologist active in Livonia, Russian Empire. He was a co-founder of the Learned Estonian ...

. During arranging the songs, he tried to remove anything related to German. Thomson married Ida Alvine Jakobson, who was the sister of Estonian writer, politician and teacher Carl Robert Jakobson.

Songs

* "Kantele" * "Sing, sing o mouth" * "Kannel" * "Laula, laula, suukene" * "Arg kosilane" * "Ketra Liisu" * "Pulmalaul" * "Sokukene" * "Tantsulaul"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Aleksander Eduard 1845 births 1917 deaths Estonian composers 19th-century Estonian composers Estonian folk-song collectors People from Otepää Parish