Although singing the third part of 'Dana Dana' (='Dana Dana Dana Dana.') the man sometimes sings lower than the melody using disjunct motions. First, a woman (Secunda wrote 'she') sings four bars and then the man (Secunda wrote 'he') sings the next four. He wrote 'piu mosso' (more rapidly) for the refrain and some passages that emphasize the winds. The melody of the introduction was also used at the end of the song. He wrote for the choral score 'andantino' (somewhat slowly) and 'sempre staccato' (play staccato always).

The Yiddish text was written with Roman alphabet. Secunda wrote 'Dana-' for the orchestral score and 'Dana Dana' for the vocal scores. The original is 2/4, in G minor for a duo of a man and a woman, choral with the orchestral accompaniment. The orchestra plays the 'Dana Dana' melody at several points in Esterke. The YIVO standardized transliteration system was not then in widespread use, and many Yiddish transliterations looked like German, to which the Yiddish language is closely related. The text underlay in the score and parts is otherwise romanized in a phonetic transcription that appears oriented toward stage German. The lyric sheet is in typewritten Yiddish and handwritten Yiddish lyrics also appear in the piano score. The lyrics, score, parts, and associated material are available online in the Yiddish Theater Digital Archives. 'Dana Dana' was written for the Aaron Zeitlin stage production Esterke (1940вЂ“41) with music composed by Sholom Secunda.

Originally a Yiddish language song ' Dana Dana' (in Yiddish Ч“ЧђЦ·Ч ЧђЦ· Ч“ЧђЦ·Ч ЧђЦ·), also known as 'Dos Kelbl' (in Yiddish Ч“ЧђЦёЧЎ Ч§ЧўЧњЧ‘Чњ meaning The Calf) it was a song used in a Yiddish play produced by Zeitlin. 'Dona Dona' popularly known as ' Donna, Donna' is a song about a calf being led to slaughter written by Sholom Secunda and Aaron Zeitlin. English lyrics by Arthur Kevess and Teddi Schwartz

Dona dona yiddish song