Béla Bartók discovered the
doina in Northern Transylvania in 1912 and he believed it to be uniquely
Romanian. After he found similar genres in Ukraine, Albania, Algeria, Middle East and Northern India, he came to the belief that these are part of a family of related genres of Arabo-Persian origin. He particularly linked the Romanian doina to the Turkish/Arabic
Makam system. Bartók's conclusions were rejected by some Romanian ethnomusicologists, who accused Bartók of anti-Romanian bias. Similarities between the Romanian
doina and various musical forms from the Middle East have been subsequently documented by both non-Romanian and Romanian scholars. Until the first half of the 20th century, both lăutari were recorded using a
taksim as an introduction to a tune. The
taksim would be later replaced by the
doina, which has been described as being similar, though not totally identical to the
taksim. Romanian ethnomusicologist and musician Grigore Leşe, after performing with a group of
Iranian musicians, noticed that the
doinas of Maramureş have "great affinities" with the Arabo-Persian music. The
doina is a free-rhythm, highly ornamented (usually
melismatic),
improvisational tune. The improvisation is done on a more or less fixed pattern (usually a descending one), by stretching the notes in a
rubato-like manner, according to the performer's mood and imagination. Usually the prolonged notes are the fourth or fifth above the floor note. The peasant
doinas are mostly vocal and
monophonic and are sung with some vocal peculiarities that vary from place to place: interjections (
măi,
hei,
dui-dui,
iuhu), glottal clucking sounds, choked sobbing effects, etc. Instrumental
doinas are played on simple instruments, usually various types of flutes, or even on rudimentary ones, such as a leaf. The peasant
doina is a non-ceremonial type of song and is generally sung in solitude, having an important psychological action: to "ease one's soul" (
de stâmpărare in
Romanian). Grigore Leşe believes that, while scholars describe in great detail the technical aspects of the
doina, they fail to understand its psychological aspects.
Doinas are lyrical in aspect and their common themes are melancholy, longing (
dor), erotic feelings, love for nature, complaints about the bitterness of life or invocations to God to help ease pain, etc. The doina is an integral component of the archaic Romanian pastoral poem '
When the shepherd lost his sheep, where it expresses the shepherd’s sorrow and lamentation for his lost flock. Unlike peasant
doinas, lăutar and klezmer
doinas are usually accompanied and played on more complex instruments (violin, pan-pipe, cymbalom, accordion, clarinet, tarogato, etc.). Also, unlike peasant
doinas, lăutar and klezmer
doinas are mostly played as an introduction to another tune, usually a dance. In the regions of Southern Romania,
Romani lăutari developed a type of doina called
cântec de ascultare (meaning "song for listening", sometimes shortened to
de ascultare or simply
ascultare). The
cântec de ascultare spread to other regions of Romania, with local particularities. Klezmer Doinas are influenced by Hassidic
niguns. ==Types of doina==