Ukrainian music

As stated above, the common English name for this scale (Ukrainian Dorian) came about because early folklorists and musicologists associated it with the Dumy epic ballads of Ukraine. These ballads, which date back to the fifteenth century and were historically performed by Kobzars, were typically composed using this scale.^[12] Aside from Dumy ballads, this scale is particularly associated with the music of the Hutsuls, an ethnic group of the Carpathian Mountains, to the degree that it is often called the Hutsul mode (Ukrainian: Гуцульський лад).^[13][14]

Ashkenazic Jewish music

This scale is often associated in an English-language context with Ashkenazic Jewish music, and pieces in Ukrainian Dorian and the Phrygian dominant scale (known colloquially as Freygish) are generally said to have a "Jewish" feel which sets them apart from other music.^[2] It appears in a number of genres, including religious music, folk songs, Klezmer, and composed Yiddish songs of the early 20th century.^[15] Beregovsky, the Soviet researcher of Jewish music working in the 1930s, estimated that this mode was used in 4 or 5 percent of Jewish folk songs and slightly more than 10 percent of instrumental tunes.^[2][6]

Its use is common in Yiddish theatre music of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, sometimes as a natural result of composing in a Jewish style but occasionally in terms of parody, pathos or cultural references as well.^[16][2][17] Its reduced popularity in Yiddish song due to the influence of Western music on musical tastes has been observed both in the Soviet Union and the United States by the 1940s.^[6][2]

This scale is very common in Klezmer music as well. According to Feldman, it is especially present in what he calls the "transitional" klezmer repertoire, a subset of repertoire which is highly influenced by Romanian and Greek music, and not as common among the older "core" klezmer repertoire.^[18][19] In particular, it is associated with the Doina, a type of freeform Romanian piece which became popular in klezmer music, an association noted by Beregovski in the 1940s.^[4][6] In religious Jewish music, it is considered a "secondary" mode, as it often appears in passing in larger works with complex melodic development, rather than being the basis of an entire piece.^[20][21][22]

Romanian music

Romania and Moldova, which correspond to the historical Danubian Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, played a key role in historical exchanges between Western and Ottoman music, including Roma musicians from there who played at the Ottoman court, as well as the interplay of Greek, Jewish, Romanian and Roma musical cultures.^[11][7] In the musical cultures there, especially in Moldavia, this scale was commonly used in dances and songs, including in particular the Doina and various ballads, and persists today in Romanian folk music.^[7]

Greek music

In Greek music, modes are called Dromoi (δρόµοι), and have names and forms which come from the Ottoman makam system, although in some cases the names no longer correspond to the original Ottoman ones.^[23][24][25] There does not seem to be a universal name for this scale in the Greek context; various names are used, including Karagouna, Romanikos, Nikriz or Piraeotiko minore (Piraeus minor).^[7][4]

This scale appears in a variety of types of Greek popular music, including Rebetiko and Laïko.^[7] As in other regional music, the fourth degree is often flattened or raised alternately within a single piece.^[25] Feldman has observed that instrumental melodies shared between Greek and Ashkenazic Jewish traditions are very often composed in this scale.^[26]