Juhan Simm ( in

Kivilõppe Kivilõppe is a village in Viljandi Parish, Viljandi County, in southern Estonia. (retrieved 28 July 2021) Until the 2017 administrative reform of Estonian municipalities the village was located in Tarvastu Parish. It's located on the western sho ...

– 20 December 1959 in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

) 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, conductor and choir director. Juhan Simm was born in

village, Vana-Suislepa Parish,

Kreis Fellin Kreis Fellin (''Viljandi kreis'', ''Феллинский уезд'') was one of the nine subdivisions of the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northern part of the governorate (in present-day southern Estonia). I ...

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a Baltic governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. Geography The shape of the province is a fairly rectangular in shape, with a maximum ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. He attended the village school in Suislepa and the parish school in

Tarvastu Tarvastu is a village in Viljandi Parish, Viljandi County, Estonia. It's located about a kilometer east of Mustla. Tarvastu has a population of 99 (as of 2006). The village is passed by the Tarvastu River and the Viljandi–Rõngu road (nr 52). E ...

. He studied from 1906 to 1910 at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

. Early on he discovered his passion for music. In 1908 he founded the Tartu male choir. From 1912, he was a conductor of choirs. From 1912 to 1914 he studied conducting at the

Stern Conservatory The Stern Conservatory (''Stern'sches Konservatorium'') was a private music school in Berlin with many distinguished tutors and alumni. The school is now part of Berlin University of the Arts. History It was founded in 1850 as the ''Berliner Musi ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

with Alexander von Fielitz and composition with

Wilhelm Klatte Wilhelm Klatte (13 February 1870 – 25 July 1930) was a German music theoretician, pedagogue, journalist and conductor. Life Born in Bremen, after studying music in Leipzig, Klatte began his professional career as a musician first at the De ...

and

Julius Stern Julius Stern (8 August 1820 – 27 February 1883) was a Jewish German musical pedagogue and composer. Biography Stern was born at Breslau. He received his elementary education in music from the violinist Peter Lüstner, and at the age of nine p ...

. In 1924 he perfected his skills in conducting at the

Grand Opéra Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras, and (in their original productions) lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on o ...

in Paris. From 1906 to 1910 Juhan Simm was employed in the theatre and concert hall

Vanemuine Vanemuine () is a theatre in Tartu, Estonia. It was the first Estonian language theatre. History ''1870–1906 The Beginning of the Beginning. Koidula’s Theatre, Wiera’s Theatre.'' On June 24, 1870 was the first day in Estonian theatre ...

in Tartu. From 1914 to 1916 he was musical director at the Vanemuine theatre, 1916–1925 Head of the local male choir and conductor from 1916 to 1940. 1926/27 and from 1944 to 1951, Simm taught conducting, music education and music theory at the Music School of Tartu. He founded and led several choirs in Estonia. Juhan Simm was the head of the

Estonian Song Festival The Estonian Song Festival (in Estonian: ''laulupidu'', ) is one of the largest choral events in the world, a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. It is held every five years in July on the Tallinn Song Festival Gro ...

of 1923, 1933, 1938, 1947 and 1950. 1947 "submitted the title of People's Artist of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic "award. In addition, Juhan Simm was a music critic and composer of numerous works for orchestra and choir singing. He stayed in his work of the Estonian national romantic in nature.

Selected works

*1910 "Laul orjadele" (cantata for baritone, mixed chorus and symphony orchestra, text

Gustav Suits Gustav Suits ( in Võnnu, Tartu County, Livonia – 23 May 1956 in Stockholm, Sweden) is considered one of the greatest Estonian poets.W. K. Matthews, ''The Background and Poetry of Gustav Suits. A Study in Estonian Symbolism'', American Slavi ...

) *1911 "Hommik" (for male choir and symphony orchestra, text

Kalevipoeg ''Kalevipoeg'' (, ''Kalev's Son'') is a 19th century epic poem by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald which has since been considered the Estonian national epic. Origins In pre-Christian ancient Estonia there existed an oral tradition of legends e ...

) *1912 "Kalevipoeg isa haual" (for male choir and symphony orchestra, text Kalevipoeg) *1914 Overture for Symphony Orchestra *1915 "Kosjasõit" (musical comedy, text

August Kitzberg August Kitzberg ( in Laatre Parish, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire – 10 October 1927 in Tartu) was an Estonian writer. Life Until 1863, August Kitzberg was known as August Kits. He grew up in Niitsaadu farmstead in Penuja village, A ...

) *1915 "Kooparüütel" (operetta, libretto by

Karl August Hindrey Karl August Hindrey (15 August 1875 Abja Manor, Viljandi County – 9 January 1947) was an Estonian writer, journalist and cartoonist. He is mostly known through his psychological short stories and historical novels. He is also considered to be ...

) *1917 Eelkevad "(cantata for men's and mixed choir, text

Karl Eduard Sööt Karl Eduard Sööt (26 December 1862, in Lohkva, Tartu County – 1 September 1950, in Tartu) was an Estonian poet. Between 1886 and 1893 he worked for the newspaper '' Olevik''. In 1895 he founded his own publishing house, printing shop and b ...

) (2nd version 1958) *1932 Koidula "(Overture for Symphony Orchestra) *1945 Overture for Symphony Orchestra *1950 Suite Estonian ways for symphony orchestra *1952 Overture for Symphony Orchestra *1957 Quartet for Strings For male choir: *"Oma saar" (Text Gustav Suits) *"Lauljate teretus" (Text Mihkel Veske) For mixed choir: *"Oh, and tule" (Text Anna Haava)

External links

Directory of worksKurzlebenslauf
(Estonian)
''Oma saar''
(.mp3) {{DEFAULTSORT:Simm, Juhan 1885 births 1959 deaths People from Viljandi Parish People from Kreis Fellin Estonian conductors (music) 20th-century Estonian composers 20th-century conductors (music) Hugo Treffner Gymnasium alumni University of Tartu alumni People's Artists of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic