Colleagues about Jaan Rääts — Jaan Rääts Centre

Colleagues about Jaan Rääts as Chairman of Composers Union

Jüri Trei: "Jaan was very faithful and had a very good heart. Very human and always treated everyone very well. Balanced as a leader, did not "hit his heels together". It was quite difficult because he had to be able to manage tensions in different situations. Jaan's phenomenon was that he communicated and knew how to communicate with everyone". (Trei, 2021)

Alo Põldmäe: "I perceived democracy in his case. He tried to help Composers Union members in trouble. One very important feature, why he was chosen as the head of Composers Union several times, was his democratic management style. (Põldmäe, 2021)

Priit Kuulberg: Jaan has helped a lot of people. Especially young people. He treated young people very well. Jaan was a person with a capital "A". (Kuulberg, 2021)

Tiina Mägi: "What I liked about Jaan Rääts was that he never said a bad word. Something that can often happen in a leader's job. His silence was, for me, his denial.
I liked that. When Jaan didn't say something, I understood that something probably needed to be corrected. He could have very freely said more bluntly and asked to leave. But he always listened to his colleagues, it was really nice." (Mägi, 2021)

Peeter Paemurru: "Jaan Rääts left me with the impression of a very professional leader who positively supported the development of music and musical life. Usually, when a composer gets into a leading position, it is a case of one composer, It is very common for a composer who takes a leading position to be tempted to include more of his own compositions. In Jaan's case, however, it was the other way round - when he was music director of Estonian Television, he did not allow any of his works to be broadcast on television. /.../ Jaan categorically forbade, for example, the performance of his Trio No.3. This was his attitude, and it certainly ruled out from the outset that many unjustified reproaches." (Paemurru, 2021)

Jüri Trei: "In order to protect people in case of ideological problems, and to prevent any major mess, Jaan Rääts was very helpful, human and accommodating. In order to protect people, a paper was hastily drawn up if necessary, which explained how to protect the creative person in front of the authorities in case of problems. Sometimes it was the case that the composer or the performer himself did not even know about the existence of the document protecting him. But paper with a protective content solved many problems for people." (Trei, 2021)

Jüri Trei: "It was 1975. Hugo Lepnurm had received a letter from America, in which 20 lecturers and students asked for the opportunity to visit the churches of Tallinn and give a concert introducing American music. Suddenly it turned out that the letter had been held for 4 months, probably also read, which was typical of the system at the time. Thus, the letter reached Lepnurm two days before the group of 20 Americans was due to arrive in Estonia. Hugo Lepnurm went to the Rector of the Conservatoire and asked if the American professors and musicians could give a concert at the Tallinn Conservatoire. The rector of the conservatoire at the time said categorically no, that the conservatoire was a closed institution, andno foreigner would set foot in the conservatoire. The moment had come for urgent action.
I saw Jaan Rääts, who was already the chairman of the Composers' Union at the time, and complained to Rääts that Americans were banned from performing at the Tallinn Music High School and Tallinn Conservatoire. I asked if the hall of the Composers' Union could be used.
Jaan Rääts replied hesitantly that there was no problem. Later that evening we put up notices at the Tallinn Conservatory on Vabaduse Puiestee. The hall was full later, everyone had come to hear the Americans.
(Trei, 2021)

The Five Patriotic Songs by Alo Mattisen

Jüri Trei: "In 1988, the Minister of Culture of the Estonian SSR was Johannes Lott, and I was the head of the Ministry's Music Department. I received a call saying that Alo Mattiisen wanted to record The Five Patriotic Songs at the Tallinn Linnahall because it had the best recording equipment.

The recording had to be done quickly, overnight, but that was an expensive undertaking. The hall rental, recording fees, and other costs all had to be paid. The young men didn't have any money themselves.

I asked them to prepare an invoice, but I knew it couldn't say 'Recording of The Five Patriotic Songs.' That would have immediately raised red flags for the minister, and he would never have signed off on the payment.

So I told the boys to write 'Recording of Estonian music' on the invoice, which they did. The invoice was quickly brought to the Ministry of Culture of the Estonian SSR, and I also wrote on it, 'Recording of Estonian music.'

Since everything was urgent, I immediately ran to the minister to get his approval. The minister looked at the invoice and asked, 'What is this?'

I replied, 'It's an urgent recording of Estonian music,' and I mentioned the name of Jaan Rääts.

Before going to the minister, I had called Jaan Rääts and asked him that if anyone from the Ministry of Culture happened to contact him, he should not say that The Five Patriotic Songs were being recorded. I asked him to stick to the wording on the invoice—'Recording of Estonian music'—and that the commissioning party was the Estonian SSR Composers' Union, represented by Jaan Rääts.

The arrangement with Rääts was in place, and I was confident that if anyone from the ministry called him, he would simply say that an Estonian music recording was taking place.

That's how, with a little trick, Rääts and I managed to get the minister's signature authorizing the recording of Alo Mattiisen's The Five Patriotic Songs, and the boys were able to make their recording free of charge."

As chairman of the Estonian Composers' Union, Jaan Rääts brought talented young musicians into the Union, including some who had not obtained a university degree in composition but who nevertheless went on to become leading composers. Sven Grünberg is one of them, and he recalls Jaan Rääts's negotiating skills in securing his admission to the Composers' Union:

Sven Grünberg: "Incidentally, at that time, among the many peculiarities of the Soviet empire, there was a rule that no one could be admitted to the Composers' Union without the appropriate professional credentials—that is, without formal qualifications as a composer. Rääts reminded me of this from time to time. It was well-intentioned advice from an older colleague, offered with an eye to my future.
But I already had commissioned work lined up for years in advance, especially film scores, and, honestly, by then that train had already left the station. /.../
Some time later, when I met Jaan again, he told me that he had spoken with Tikhon Khrennikov—who at the time was the leading musical authority in the Soviet Union—and that Khrennikov had agreed to make an important exception.
That is how I became, in addition to being a member of the Union of Cinematographers (1981), a member of both the USSR Composers' Union (Order of Lenin) and the Estonian Composers' Union in 1983."

Priit Kuulberg recalls Jaan Rääts's support for the band Propeller, of which he was a long-time member:

P.K.: "One interesting story comes to mind about Jaan. The Popular Music Days festival was taking place in Tartu. At the time, Propeller was at the height of its popularity, but the Party and the government did not like us, and they did not want to allow us to perform at the festival.
They said that if the Estonian Composers' Union gave us its approval, then there would be no problem.
I spoke with Jaan, and he agreed to listen to us and support us. He kindly said, 'Come and play for me.'
Naturally, we were a little nervous. We played five or six songs for him. Afterwards, Party officials asked Jaan, 'What is your opinion of this band, as Chairman of the Board of the Estonian SSR Composers' Union?'
Jaan replied to the Party leaders, 'In my opinion, this is a highly professional ensemble. They are excellent musicians, and they perform very entertaining music through the prism of humor. I certainly recommend that they be allowed to perform in Tartu.'
And so we received Jaan's endorsement and were able to perform at the Tartu Popular Music Days." (Kuulberg, 2021)

Olav Ehala recalls Jaan Rääts's diplomatic skill in handling politically sensitive matters within the Estonian Composers' Union:

Olav Ehala "Veljo Tormis had presented his Loyal Little Songs to texts by Hando Runnel. Well, those were considered rather questionable works. I wrote the protocol exactly as people spoke. In general, the pieces were praised, but all sorts of additional comments were made as well.
However, Jaan, being an experienced person, understood that these protocols were probably also monitored by the Party headquarters, the Ministry of Culture, and who knows where else. So he edited the protocol in such a way that they could be shown even to the Party leadership. As a result, Tormis's work was approved and purchased.
Jaan knew how to navigate these situations diplomatically. To be honest, it was a great benefit to the entire Union and its membership that Jaan also had connections at higher levels. He was Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR, and that always helped smooth things over whenever the composers became a little 'too mischievous.'
Jaan always managed to sand down the rough edges." (Ehala, 2021)

Alo Põldmäe: "One of my responsibilities at the Estonian Composers' Union was to take, every year, the manuscripts of works by Estonian composers to the Sovetsky Kompozitor publishing house in Leningrad. Together with my colleagues and the Union's board, we selected the works to be submitted for publication.

Jaan always said that the most important works were not his own, but those of the other composers.

Once I said to Jaan, 'You've written an excellent new work that ought to be published.'

He immediately put an end to the conversation and said that we were not going to discuss the matter any further. He explained, 'If I am the head of the organization and every year I send one of my own manuscripts to the publishing house in Leningrad, what will the other colleagues think? I run the organization, I make the selections, and I deliver the manuscripts to the publisher on behalf of the Composers' Union.'

Instead, Jaan insisted that we should look for another composer whose work could be published in his place.

I must admit that from time to time I really tried to persuade him that he should also publish some of his own works at the all-Union level, because that would allow his music to circulate much more widely. Occasionally he even agreed with my suggestion, but he always tried to avoid the subject.

At the time, I remember thinking to myself that this was Jaan's own form of democratic self-censorship."

Rein Rannap: "I think that Jaan Rääts has always defended innovative and more free-spirited art, since the time when he was a sound director at the Estonian Radio. He defended rock, pop and jazz music. I remember how he praised the songs that were in the singing competition and recognized them as beautiful melodies, etc. He was not blindfolded and far from academic, he understood and appreciated all kinds of good music. (Rannap, 2021)
"I think that Jaan Rääts has had a great influence on the protection of cultural life and cultural figures. If someone said that, do you support Western ideology and doubt communist morality, Rääts was able to diplomatically and politically correct answer to the representatives of the authorities in such a way that the problem was removed. I think that Jaan Rääts was a buffer between rigid ideology and artists' desire for freedom. He must have known human psychology very well to be able to stage and defend things that were condemned by the authorities. He had a very good sense of how much he can and can flexibly push the boundaries, so that nothing breaks and no one gets into trouble. Jaan Rääts had the ability to maneuver between two different interest groups - artists who wanted to overturn and shake everything and officials who wanted to keep everything and avoid changes." (Rannap, 2021)

Alo Põldmäe:"We lived in a society where we had to follow certain ideological rules. Jaan Rääts, as the head of the organization, also had to follow these instructions in order to deal with other important matters. But it must be emphasized that Jaan, as the head of the organization, did not impose on anyone that a composer must write a patriotic piece for one or another anniversary. A composer who wanted to write a thematic piece chose the text himself and created beautiful music for it. Some succeeded better, some worse. I don't know that as a party member Jaan Rääts exerted ideological creative pressure on composers. Jaan didn't start pushing anyone or persecuting anyone or pushing anyone aside." (Põldmäe, 2021)