Ühe pilliloo kolm versiooni

• Main Author: Guldžahon Jussufi
• Format: Article
• Language: Estonian
• Published: Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum 2013-09-01
• Series: Mäetagused
• Subjects: psalter; polka; folk music; folk musician; composer
• Online Access: http://www.folklore.ee/tagused/nr54/jussufi.pdf

Kandle-Juss, a simple, almost illiterate folk musician, was important for his own generation. With the disappearance of these people, Juss with his music also disappeared from the scene. Eduard Tubin is a worldwide known composer. His Kandle polka (zither polka) stands on its own when compared to his widely acknowledged piano works. Leida Idla has not considered herself as a composer, nor has anyone else. Her short pieces have purposeful characteristics and are only known by a small circle of enthusiasts of Ernst Idla’s methods. When comparing the three versions of polka tune, it can be seen that all of them – Eduard Tubin’s Kandle polka, Leida Idla’s Ringliikumine (circle move), and Kandle-Juss’s Vana polka Saaremaalt (old polka from Saaremaa) – are each a shining example of their genre.It might be questionable if we should compare a folk musician with a skilful improviser, and even more so with a famous composer. Kandle-Juss was not skilled enough to do much else than create a harmonic accompaniment to a melody. On the other hand, we have to admit that both Leida Idla and Eduard Tubin did exactly the same with that very same piece. They all had a specific purpose: one used the kannel (zither), the others – the piano, to enrich the melody. Kandle-Juss’s natural talent is in no way inferior as compared to that of professionals.