Kaljo Raid (4 March 1921 – 21 January 2005) was an Estonian composer, cellist and pastor.
He was born in
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
. One of three children, he had an older brother and a twin sister. He studied composition at Tallinn Conservatory under
Heino Eller
Heino Eller (7 March 1887 – 16 June 1970) was an Estonian composer and pedagogue, known as the founder of contemporary Estonian symphonic music.
Life
Eller was born in Tartu, where he took private lessons in violin and music theory, played ...
. His Symphony No. 1 was performed in 1944, the year of his graduation. He studied theology in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
from 1945 to 1946 and then at the
Andover Newton Theological School in
from 1946 to 1949. He taught music at
Bethel College in
St. Paul, Minnesota, meeting
Jacques Ibert
Jacques François Antoine Marie Ibert (15 August 1890 – 5 February 1962) was a French composer of classical music. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and won its top prize, the Prix de Rome at his first ...
and
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...
.
In 1954 he moved to Canada and became the pastor of the Estonian Baptist Church in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
; he continued in this capacity for 35 years. As a result of a late marriage in 1982 he became stepfather to five children. After retiring in 1989 he devoted himself full-time to composition. He died at
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Richmond Hill (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 202,022) is a city in south-central Regional Municipality of York, York Region, Ontario, Canada. Part of the Greater Toronto Area, it is the York Region's third most populous municipality and th ...
in 2005.
Among his works are four symphonies and an opera on the life of
Polycarp of Smyrna
Polycarp (; el, Πολύκαρπος, ''Polýkarpos''; la, Polycarpus; AD 69 155) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'', he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed ...
, ''Fiery Chariots'' (1993). He also completed the first movement of
Eduard Tubin
Eduard Tubin ( – 17 November 1982) was an Estonian composer, conductor, and choreographer.
Life
Tubin was born in Torila, Tartu County, Governorate of Livonia, then part of the Russian Empire. Both his parents were music lovers, and his fat ...
's unfinished Symphony No. 11.
External links
* with discography and list of works
Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raid, Kaljo
1921 births
2005 deaths
Estonian cellists
Estonian Baptists
Estonian expatriates in Canada
Estonian World War II refugees
Musicians from Tallinn
Estonian twins
20th-century Estonian composers
20th-century Baptists
Estonian expatriates in Sweden
Estonian expatriates in the United States
20th-century cellists