Background
His father was a forest warden.
His father was a forest warden.
Between 1919-1925 he studied at Tartu Teacher"s College at Tartu University, where he met Eduard Tubin, and he also worked for some time as a school teacher.
He was not a particularly prolific composer, composing mainly orchestral and ensemble works and choral music In addition, he was himself a practising violinist. The Eduard Tubin Museum of Alatskivi Castle contains exhibits related to him and his fellow students under Heino Eller, known as the "Tartu school", such as Eduard Tubin, Alfred Karindi, Olav Roots and Karl Leichter.