Rudolf Tobias was the first Estonian to receive a professional musical education both as a composer and an organist. Tobias wrote the first Estonian instrumental works: the first symphonic composition – the overture “Julius Caesar” (1896), the first cantata “Johannes Damascenus” for soloists, mixed choir, organ and orchestra (1897), the first piano concerto in D-Minor (1897), the first piano sonata (1897, of which unfortunately only the final in C-Minor is preserved), the first string quartet in D-Minor (1899), the first oratorio “Mission of Jonah” (1909), the first programmatic composition “Walpurgis Burlesque” (1910). Tobias has also created the first Estonian polyphonic compositions (Fuguette for piano in E-Minor, 1897, Fugue for organ in D-Minor, 1898?) and the first significant piano works (Little Autumn Pictures, 1892, Minuet in F-Major, 1893?, Fuguette in E-Minor, 1897, Finale, 1897, Humoresque, 1903, etc.).

Rudolf Tobias was born in Käina on the island of Hiiumaa (Dagö) on 29 May 1873 as the son of a parish clerk. He received his first musical training from his father, from whom he had also inherited his musical talent and interest. Under his father’s guidance he started musical training at an early age and began composing his very first composition exercises from 1882 when he was just 9 years old. In 1885 he entered Haapsalu county school and studied piano with Catharina von Gernet, a local pianist. After graduating Tobias moved to live with his parents in Kullamaa, where his father had meanwhile become the parish clerk. In 1889 Tobias entered Tallinn Nicolai High School (the present 1^st High School), where he passed the tutor’s exam and simultaneously studied organ and music theory with Ernst Reinicke, the Tallinn Cathedral organist.

In 1893 he entered the St. Petersburg Conservatoire, where he studied organ with Prof. Louis Homilius and composition with Prof. Rimski-Korsakov. Four years later – in 1897 R.Tobias graduated from conservatoire with two special subjects, presenting as his graduate work the cantata “Johannes Damascenus”. After graduation Tobias worked as organist and choir conductor of the St. Petersburg Estonian St. John’s church 1898-1904, also performing there his own compositions.

In 1904 Tobias moved to Tartu, working as a music teacher in different schools and tutoring. Here he participated actively in organizing concerts, performing as pianist, conductor and organist and preparing together with A.Läte performances of oratorios (Händel, Mendelssohn).

Also remarkable are Tobias’s journalistic activities - his articles were very significant in Estonian music life. In Tartu he also joined with the literary group “Noor-Eesti”.

Due to economic difficulties and a limited musical life he moved to western Europe in January 1908. Initially he went to Paris to acquaint himself with contemporary music life and composition. Thereafter he stayed in Munich, Prague and Dresden. For a longer time he stayed in Eichwald (now Dubi) resort near Teplice, where he worked on his oratorio “Mission of Jonah”. At the end of 1908 he moved to Leipzig, where he conducted the premiere of “Mission of Jonah” at the church of St. Andrew on 26 November 1909. Unfortunately this performance was not a success, mainly because of poorly written sheet-music, but also due to the limited number and skills of the performers.

After that Tobias moved to Berlin in 1910, where he worked as an organist and journalist. As of 1911 he was a member of the evaluation committee of the German Composers Union (Genossenschaft Deutscher Tonsetzer). In the spring of 1912 director of the Berlin Royal Academy of Music (Königliche Hochschule für Musik) Prof. Hermann Kretzschmar, having acquainted himself with the score of the oratorio “Mission of Jonah”, invited Tobias as temporary lecturer on theoretical subjects of this academy. In 1914 R.Tobias acquired German citizenship, and then full professorship at the Royal Academy of music.

In August 1913 Tobias visited Estonia in connection with the opening ceremonies of the new “Estonia” theatre, where he also conducted his own compositions. After returning to Berlin Tobias arranged his authorship concert where passages of his oratorio “Mission of Jonah” were performed. After the outbreak of World War I in 1914 Tobias was enrolled in the German army the next year, where he worked as an interpreter. For health reasons he was released from the army in 1916, and he returned to work in the Royal Academy of Music.

On 29 October 1918 Rudolf Tobias died of pneumonia and was buried in Wilmersdorf cemetery in Berlin. After the restoration of the Republic of Estonia, Tobias’s remains were reburied on 7 June 1992 in his home town Kullamaa.

Rudolf Tobias’s significance as a founder of Estonian professional music is

great. His strong individuality and its uniquely expression were apparent already in his student works. In his time he was primarily a fighter and a reformer. His skill with word was such that his numerous articles are considered trail-blazers in the history of Estonian music. Tobias was the first to lay the foundation for Estonian instrumental music.

Among Estonian composers, R.Tobias is perhaps the most monumental, grandiose and massive. He set for himself two fundamental creative goals: first – the reformation of Estonian sacred music and second – the musical incarnation of Kalevipoeg, the national epic. Unfortunately, his life turned out to be too short to carry out these plans.

In commemoration of Rudolf Tobias a monument was erected in Haapsalu in 1929 (Roman Haavamägi) and a memorial in Kullamaa in 1973 (Aime Kuhlbusch). In 1924 one of the streets in Tallinn was renamed after Tobias and in 1973 Tobias’s name was given to the Children’s Music School in Kärdla. In connection with Rudolf Tobias’s 100^th anniversary in 1973 a memorial museum was opened in Käina in the house where he was born.