Peeter Süda

Peeter Süda's tombstone in Siselinna Cemetery in Tallinn.

Peeter Süda (born January 30, 1883 in Atla, rural community Lümanda / Saaremaa island , † August 3, 1920 in Tallinn ) was an Estonian composer. He is particularly known for his organ music .

Life

Peeter Süda was born into a farmer's family. Even the parents were very religious and musically interested. At the age of five, Peeter Süda began playing the organ. He received music lessons from the local sexton .

From 1902 to 1910, Süda studied the organ at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory , first with Louis Homilius (1845–1908), then with Jacques Handschin (1886–1955). From 1909 he also studied composition with Russian professors.

In Saint Petersburg , Süda met the Estonian composer Mart Saar (1882–1963), who won him over for the large project to collect Estonian folk songs, which was carried out under the aegis of the Estonian Students' Association ( Estonian Eesti Üliõpilaste Selts ). In the summers from 1905 to 1911, Peeter Süda was involved. However, he hardly used any borrowings from Estonian folk music in his own works.

In 1912 Süda moved to Tallinn . There he gave music lessons and worked as an organist . From 1919 until his untimely death a year later, Süda taught organ, composition and music theory at the Higher Music School in the Estonian capital.

plant

Peeter Süda mainly wrote organ works. Most were left unfinished because of his untimely death. Central pieces are “Fugue in F minor”, ​​“Ave Maria”, “Basso ostinato”, Scherzino, “Gigue à la Bach”, “Pastoraal” and “Prelude and Fugue in G minor”. He also wrote some works for piano and the choir fugue “Linakatkuja”.

Web links

• Works by and about Peeter Süda in the catalog of the German National Library
• Life and Work (Estonian)
• Work directory with music examples (.mp3)