Miina Härma (born Miina Hermann; 9 February 1864 – 16 November 1941) was an Estonian composer. She was the second Estonian musician with higher education. Her greatest contribution is perhaps the fact that she took organ music to the countryside, as virtually no skilled organists gave concerts outside of towns. During her 60-year creative career, she wrote more than 200 choral songs, 10

cavatina Cavatina is a musical term, originally meaning a short song of simple character, without a second strain or any repetition of the air. It is now frequently applied to any simple, melodious air, as distinguished from brilliant arias or recitatives ...

s, a

canto The canto () is a principal form of division in medieval and modern long poetry. Etymology and equivalent terms The word ''canto'' is derived from the Italian word for "song" or "singing", which comes from the Latin ''cantus'', "song", from the ...

, " Kalev and

Linda Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake i ...

" and much more. She composed mainly

vocal music Vocal music is a type of singing performed by one or more singers, either with musical instruments, instrumental accompaniment, or without instrumental accompaniment (a cappella), in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. Music which ...

Biography

Härma was born Miina Hermann in 1864 in

Kõrveküla Kõrveküla is a small borough (') in Tartu Parish, Tartu County in eastern Estonia. As of 2011 Census, the settlement's population was 733. There is also commune administration. Composer, choral conductor and organist Miina Härma Miin ...

Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...

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. ...

to a local teacher and his wife. There were seven children in the family. Both of her parents were musically educated. Härma began to learn music on her own with a small organ her father bought her. When she was 15, Härma began studying with K. A. Hermann, who gave her lessons in both musical composition and piano. In 1883, Härma entered the

Saint Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as th ...

as its only organ student that year. She graduated in 1890, but continued to live in

Saint Petersburg 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 ...

because it was very hard to find work in the

Baltic governorates The Baltic governorates (russian: Прибалтийские губернии), originally the Ostsee governorates (german: Ostseegouvernements, russian: Остзейские губернии), was a collective name for the administrative units ...

. In 1894, the fifth

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 ...

took place, which led to the formation of Härma's own choir. Laulupidu 1928

In 1903, as financial problems overwhelmed her, Härma moved to

Kronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for "crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of ...

, Governorate of Saint Petersburg. She had to leave the city in 1915 because of the beginning of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, as no civilians were allowed to stay there. Despite the fact that music had rapidly developed 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 ...

, it was still hard to find a job as a music teacher, since there were almost no students due to the war. In 1917, Härma became a music teacher in a school that is now the Miina Härma Gymnasium. Härma died on November 16, 1941, in Tartu. She is buried in the

Raadi Cemetery The Raadi cemetery, ( et, Raadi kalmistu) is the oldest and largest burial ground in Tartu, Estonia, dating back to 1773. Many prominent historical figures are buried there. It is also the largest Baltic German cemetery in Estonia after the des ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harma, Miina 1864 births 1941 deaths People from Tartu Parish People from Kreis Dorpat Estonian organists Estonian choral conductors 19th-century Estonian composers 20th-century Estonian composers 19th-century organists 20th-century organists Women organists Women conductors (music) 19th-century conductors (music) 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century women composers 19th-century women composers Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni Recipients of the Military Order of the Cross of the Eagle Burials at Raadi cemetery