Gustav Ernesaks (12 December 1908 – 24 January 1993) was an Estonian composer and a choir conductor. Biography Ernesaks was born in Perila, Peningi Parish. He played an integral role in the Singing Revolution and was one of the father figures of the Estonian Song Festival tradition. One of his songs, a setting of Lydia Koidula's poem Mu isamaa on minu arm, became an unofficial national anthem during the years of Estonian SSR. His performance of the song at the XVII Estonian Song Festival was one of the inspirations for Dmitri Shostakovich's 1970 a capella choral cycle, Loyalty. He dedicated the score to Ernesaks, who also premiered it in Tallinn. He also composed the Estonian SSR anthem used between 1945 and 1990. In 1935, Ernesaks married Stella Merjam. They had three sons: Ott Ernesaks, Jüri Ernesaks and Peep Ernesaks. Stella died in 1973. Ernesaks died in Tallinn, aged 84. A statue of him was erected in 2004 on the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. Honours and awards Soviet Union Hero of Socialist Labour (1974) People's Artist of the USSR (1956) Stalin Prizes; 2nd class (1947) 3rd class (1951) – for the opera Tormide rand ("The Coast of Storms"; 1949) Lenin Prize (1970) Order of Lenin, three times (1974, 1951, 1967) Order of the October Revolution (1978) Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1946) Order of the Badge of Honour, twice (1965, 1988) Estonia Order of the Estonian Red Cross, 5th class (1938) Honoured Artist of the Estonian SSR (1942) People's Artist of the Estonian SSR (1947) State Prize of the Estonian SSR (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1959, 1965) References 1908 births 1993 deaths People from Raasiku Parish People from Kreis Harrien Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1955–1959 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1959–1963 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1963–1967 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1967–1971 Soviet composers Soviet male composers 20th-century classical composers Estonian choral conductors Estonian opera composers Soviet opera composers Male classical composers National anthem writers 20th-century Estonian composers 20th-century male musicians 20th-century conductors (music) Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni Academic staff of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre People's Artists of the USSR People's Artists of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic Heroes of Socialist Labour Stalin Prize winners Lenin Prize