ESTONIAN SYMPHONIC MUSIC. THE FIRST CENTURY 1896-1996.
The final
chorus sounds like something ancient and is very pleasing… we might hope that in the sense of
national expression Lemba will develop fruitfully. Of this… there may be seen yet but very
little. 1
In his recitals, on April 26th and 27th 1908 in the Vanemuine Theatre, Lemba
demonstrated his abilities both as a conductor and pianist. Lemba remained a piano
teacher at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire, he was awarded professorship at the age of
30. His wide range of activities as a teacher, composer and concert pianist continued
there until 1920, when he returned to Estonia. He was one of Estonia’s first professional
pianists together with his elder brother Theodor Lemba (1876-1962). In the Twenties
and Thirties he gave recitals in several European cities: Helsinki, Stockholm, Budapest,
and Paris. In his First Piano Concerto (1905, composed in his student years), which is