RE: Doina

[Pete Rushefsky <klezbanjo...>]

We had a recent conversation on the list about
instrumental Jewish doinas replacing the badkhen's
role in the kalle besetzen ceremony.  I'm wondering if
the conclusionary freylekh found in many Jewish doina
recordings might be an allusion to the wedding role.

--- "Gifford, Paul" <pgifford (at) umflint(dot)edu> wrote:
> I played a lot of Jewish doina recordings for
> Nicolae Feraru once, and
> he
> recognized all as versions of Doina Oltului. Doinas
> are popular in
> certain 
> regions of Romania, but not in other areas. In
> Banat, they are very
> popular,
> sung mainly during the wedding or christening dinner
> to instrumental
> accompaniment.
> 
> The Doina Oltului supposedly has its origins in the
> Olt River area, in
> southwestern
> Romania. I've got an early recording (1910s) of a
> vocal version of
> this, called
> "Ca pe olt." The singer was a professional, probably
> from Bucharest.
> The earliest
> Romanian recording that I have is from 1908, where
> it appears as a
> flute or piccolo solo in a military band recording
> of a medley of
> Romanian tunes. I think what happened is that,
> whatever its origins, it became popular around
> Bucharest as an
> instrumental tune and
> probably spread to klezmorim that way. As far as I
> know, no one sings
> a vocal version of
> that today.  They accompany it either in free rhythm
> (the old way) or
> (in the newer way) in metrical rhythm.
> 
> The recordings don't reflect how the tunes are
> played at weddings or
> in restaurants. Usually Banat doinas follow one
> another; they are
> sung. The Doina Oltului might be followed by a fast
> tune, but it's not
> obligatory. Usually the musicians string tunes
> together and the leader
> decides what follows. Another way is to play the
> same tune, but in
> another rhythm.
> For example, a hora could be played in sarba rhythm,
> or a slow hora
> could be played as a fast hora.
> 
> There are obvious differences between the Jewish
> doina and the Doina
> Oltului, such as
> harmonization. For example, the Romanians go from a
> minor chord to a
> diminished chord, but the Jewish version stays in
> minor during the
> part where the Romanians used a diminished chord.
> From listening
> closely to the recordings, it appears that this
> diminished chord was
> introduced by Dinicu (1920s?). But there are other
> similarities---the
> Romanians sometimes play a section in major, like
> the Jewish version.
> I accompanied Nicolae Feraru playing this tune many
> times, and he
> varied it quite a bit---sometimes including the
> major part, sometimes
> not; sometimes free rhythm, sometimes as a fast
> hora; and he always
> plays variations, etc.
> 
> Paul Gifford
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tim Meyen [mailto:tim (at) topic(dot)com(dot)au]
> Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2001 8:47 PM
> To: World music from a Jewish slant
> Subject: Re: Doina
> 
> 
> This reminded me of a doina question I've got.
> 
> Almost all recordings of 'Jewish' doinas end with a
> faster dance
> piece,
> even if they only have time for a few bars, the
> musicians seem almost
> obliged to fit this in.  Recordings of Romanian
> (usually gypsy)
> musicians playing doinas frequently don't end with a
> faster piece.  Is
> this a specific characteristic of Jewish
> doina-playing, or of the the
> types of doina adopted by Jews ('Doina Oltului' was
> suggested by Paul
> Gifford in earlier doina discussions)? Or is it
> because most of my
> Romanian doina recordings are more recent than
> klezmer doina
> recordings?
> 
> Tim Meyen
> 
> 
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