The Archives of Erna Tauro

Collection

Scope and content:: The collection holds the archives of the composer Erna Tauro (née Pergament) from the 1960s until 1981. The collection contains biographical material, photographs, correspondence and musical notations. The collection (file 1) contains Tauro’s correspondence from the years 1963–1981, including letters of the Finnish author and artist Tove Jansson to Tauro from 1980–1981, and photographs of Tauro’s friends and family and artist portraits. It also contains (files 2–3) musical notations of Tauro’s compositions on Tove Jansson’s Moomin saga, other compositions of her songs (incl. Höstvisan) and musicals, and several compositions and notations by Tauro’s uncle, composer Moses Pergament (1893–1977).

Archival history:: The archives of Erna Tauro were donated in 2010 by her daughter as part of the initiative to collect private archives of Jewish individuals in the National Archives of Finland. The initiative was funded by the Leo and Regina Wainstein foundation. The Erna Tauro archives were organized in the National Archives in Helsinki.

Administrative/biographical history:: Composer Erna Tauro (née Pergament, 1916–1993) was born in Viipuri to the physician Isak Pergament (1883–1948) and Riko Pergament (née Rosenthal, 1887–1939). Her uncles Moses Pergament (1893–1977) and Simon Parmet (1897–1969) were also professional musicians. Her family lived in Berlin in 1921 and moved to Helsinki in 1922 where Tauro began to study piano. Later she studied nursing, and during the Second World War she belonged to the Finnish auxiliary paramilitary organization Lotta Svärd and was deployed in Lapland. In 1944, she married Risto Tauro (former Törrönen). After the war, Tauro worked as a pianist and musician in theatres and restaurants both in Finland and in Sweden and as an accompanist in Lilla Teatern in Helsinki in 1955–1965. She composed several musicals and Moomin Troll songs for plays written by Tove Jansson: her most famous and popular song Höstvisan (“Autumn song”) was written to accompany Jansson’s Moomin lyrics in 1965. In 1970, Tauro moved to Sweden and worked as a music teacher in States Scenskolan and in Sveriges Riksteatern in Stockholm in 1972–1982. Tauro died in 1993 in Stockholm.

Access points: persons/families:: Erna Tauro (Pergament); Moses Pergament; Tove Jansson

Subject terms:: Correspondence; Music; Music--Composers; Music--Musicians; Personal records; Photographs