Re: Doinas & taksim

[Paul M. Gifford <PGIFFORD...>]

"Peter Rushefsky" <rushefsky_p (at) healthcareplan(dot)org> wrote:

> It seems
> that the klezmer doina originated from the Romanian doina, which was a musical
> allegory of the tale of a shepherd who loses his sheep and then finds them.  I

Its name obviously indicates its origin.  Plus, Jewish sheet music 
of doinas published around 1920 in New York City had Romanian 
shepherd graphics (this was sold about 1985 by the Yiddish Book 
Center), indicating that Jews at that time thought of it as Romanian, 
although the recordings clearly show that the Jewish doina was 
distinct from Romanian doinas.

The traditional Romanian doina was a long song, usually with mournful 
lyrics. In Banat, they play them at weddings, during the meal.  
Sometimes different words are sung to the same melodies.  An example 
is "Doina din America," recorded by George Radu of Chicago in 1928; a 
transcription of this appears in Jerry Silverman's "Immigrant 
Songbook" (pub. by Mel Bay---not sure of the correct title). The 
singer is from Banat and the melody is familiar to Banat musicians, 
but the singer made up the words.

Curious about the origins of the Jewish doina, I once played a tape 
of several 78s of them for Nicolae Feraru, a Gypsy cimbalom player 
from Bucharest. He recognized them all (almost immediately) as Doina 
Oltului, which is an old, common standard in Bucharest and Moldavia. 
It supposedly has its origins in Oltenia (western Wallachia), but at 
least since 1900 it's been a standard tune in the Bucharest 
repertoire. It appeared in sung versions on record in the teens, but 
is no longer sung, at least in Bucharest----it's strictly an 
instrumental.  In the past, it was played unmetered, but in more 
recent times (?1940s-1950s), its accompaniment is that of a fast hora.
The Doina Oltului is very well known and any Gypsy from southern 
Romania (and probably Moldavia) would play it if requested.

Rather than coming from Romanian peasant sources, I feel quite sure 
that the Jewish doina was an adaptation of the Doina Oltului played 
by Gypsy professional wedding musicians, or lautari. Gypsies in 
Bucharest probably popularized this Oltenian peasant doina in the 
late 19th century to urban audiences, and Jewish musicians picked it 
up from there, and adapted it, playing it in characteristic style. 
How, when, and where it happened would be fascinating to know, and 
the same for other Romanian Gypsy songs or tunes (Ce mai foc si ce mai 
jale, Tuica).

Paul Gifford

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