Aleksander Rüütel

Aleksander Rüütel. Photo: R. Hansen 1961. ERA, Foto 5388.

The concertina player Aleksander Rüütel lives in Kõnnu village. We also went by his place. He had promised to be home on Tuesday and play as much as was necessary. He was sure he would be able to play 20–30 pieces. An amazing man! (From the field work diary of O. Kõiva, May 31, 1961; Rüütel 2015: 167)

In the morning, we all went together to Valjala to film and record. Firstly, we drove through Aleksander Rüütel's place. We arrived earlier than agreed, but he was ready in a matter of minutes. A. Rüütel was born in Pöide. He learned the majority of his instrumental pieces in Valjala, but also from elsewhere, because "when I was younger, I moved around more and learned in many places". (Form the field work diary of O. Kõiva, June 6, 1961; Rüütel 2015: 174–175)

In the Valjala municipality the fiddler Juhan Lätt and the concertina player Aleksander Rüütel made music. The latter also accompanied the Valjala dancers /---/. (From the description of the video "Songmakers, singers and instrumentalists"; Rüütel 2014: 28)

The most serious filming task of the day was the dance. Aleksander Rüütel's dance pieces were recorded. During the filming, the dancers danced to the recorded accompaniment, so there would be not editing difficulties afterwards. (From the field work diary of O. Kõiva, June 6, 1961; Rüütel 2015: 175)