Artur Lemba (24 September 1885 – 21 November 1963) was an

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

composer and piano teacher, and one of the most important figures in Estonian classical music. Artur and his older brother Theodor (1876-1962) were the first professional pianists in Estonia to give concerts abroad. Artur's 1905 opera ''Sabina'' was the first opera composed by an Estonian. His Symphony No. 1 in 1908 was the first symphony composed by an Estonian.Estonian Music Information Center
/ref> Lemba was a finalist in the prestigious Anton Rubinstein Competition and later a professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.

Early life and education

Artur Lemba was born in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

on 24 September 1885 as a son of

piano tuner Piano tuning is the process of adjusting the tension of the strings of an acoustic piano so that the Interval (music), musical intervals between strings are Musical tuning, in tune. The meaning of the term 'in tune', in the context of piano tunin ...

Gustav Lemba. Artur Lemba learned piano from his brother Theodor Lemba. In 1899, following in his brother's footsteps, he enrolled at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. There he studied piano with Carl van Arck, Prof. V. Tolstov and I. Borovka. His composition teacher was Nicolai Soloviev and he studied music theory with Anatoly Lyadov,

Alexander Glazunov Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov ( – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 and 1928 and was instrumental i ...

and

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...

. In 1908, he graduated, receiving a gold medal in piano, a silver medal in composition, and the Anton Rubinstein prize (a Schröder piano). At his graduation ceremony, Lemba performed his Piano Concerto No. 1. In 1910, Artur Lemba participated in the Anton Rubinstein Competition for pianists, where he placed among the eight finalists, including

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

and

Edwin Fischer Edwin Fischer (6 October 1886 – 24 January 1960) was a Swiss classical pianist and conductor. He is regarded as one of the great interpreters of J.S. Bach and Mozart in the twentieth century. Biography Fischer was born in Basel and studied m ...

Career

After his graduation in 1908, Lemba became a piano teacher at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 1915 he became a professor. He taught and gave concerts in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

until 1920. Returning to Estonia, Lemba worked as a piano teacher, eventually becoming head of the piano department at the Tallinn Conservatory. Notable students included Elsa Avesson, Olav Roots,

Villem Reimann Villem Reimann (19 March 1906, Pärnu – 8 June 1992, Tallinn) was a Soviet and Estonian composer and pedagogue. From 1925 to 1927 he studied piano in Tallinn Conservatory. In 1933 he graduated from Tallinn Conservatory in composition speciali ...

, Veera Lensin, Kirill Raudsepp and others. In addition to the concerts in Estonia, Lemba performed in Saint Petersburg,

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

and

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Music

Lemba's Piano Concerto No. 1 in G major (1905) is often regarded as his best known work, described as having a memorable melody. Lemba's ''Poéme d’amour'' (1916) for violin and piano is also popular in the violin repertoire. Lemba composed in almost every genre, with two symphonies (the first of which is the earliest example by an Estonian composer), three overtures, four operas, three cantatas, chamber music for different ensembles and 30 choral works. For the piano, Lemba wrote five

piano concerto A piano concerto, a type of concerto, is a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for piano accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuosic showpieces which require an advance ...

s, two

sonata In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

s, two

sonatina A sonatina (French: “sonatine”, German: “Sonatine") is a small sonata. As a musical term, ''sonatina'' has no single strict definition; it is rather a title applied by the composer to a piece that is in basic sonata form, but is shorter and ...

s, two preludes and more than 20 études.

References

External links

List of Compositions by Artur Lemba
Hear him play on a piano roll: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8874053--the-welte-mignon-mystery-vol-19 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemba, Artur 1885 births 1963 deaths Musicians from Tallinn People from Kreis Harrien 20th-century Estonian classical composers Estonian male classical composers 20th-century Estonian composers 20th-century Estonian male musicians Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni People's Artists of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic Burials at Metsakalmistu