Doina

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For other uses, see Doina (disambiguation).

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The Doina (IPA: ['doj.na]) is a Romanian musical tune style, having its roots in the music-laments of the Romanian shepherds (Vlachs).

It can be found in Romanian music, as well as in Klezmer music.

Doina is poetic and often melancholic, sometimes compared to the blues for that reason. Doinas are often played with a slow, free rhythm melody against a fast accompaniment pattern in fixed tempo, giving an overall feeling of rhythmic tension. Melodies are sometimes repeated in differing songs, and typically follow a descending pattern.

Regional styles of doina:

Ca pe luncă - found along the southern Danube
De codru - codru means "forest"
Haiduceşti - haiduc means "outlaw" or "brigand"
Hora lungă - Maramureş
Klezmer - played by Jewish musicians from Bessarabia and Moldavia
Oltului - found along the Olt River

Other styles of doina:

Ca din tulnic - unique type in which the melody imitates a type of Alpenhorn called the tulnic
Ciobanul - shepherd's doina
- De dragoste - popular form, usually about love; dragoste means "love".
De jale - mellow, mournful doina; jale means "grief".
De leagăn - a lullaby; leagăn means "cradle".
De pahar - drinking song; pahar means "drinking glass".
Foaie verde - classical form; literally "green leaves".

The very origin of the word "doina" is unknown and it is spread throughout Romania and Moldova. The word could be of Indo-European origin, since a similar form of music (daina) can be found in Latvia and Lithuania.

Doina is also the title of one of the most important poems by Mihai Eminescu, probably the best-known and most influential Romanian poet. In it, he speaks of a Greater Romania stretching "from the Dniester to the Tisza", naming the two rivers which in traditional Romanian thought have always been considered the nation's coordinates.