Miorițza

The "Mioritza" ballad gathers in itself the world vision of the Romanian shepherd who feels intimately and mysteriously related to the cosmos of which he is part. Using the elements of the ballad to create a myth, a quarrel among shepherds in search of rich pastures is transformed into a dialogue about life and death between the shepherd and his oracular lamb.

On a literal level, the ballad is about a shepherd murdered by two fellow shepherds who are jealous of his wealth. Mioritza, the clairvoyant lamb, tells his master of the plot. "Mioritza" is not about mourning the death of the young shepherd. Rather, the ballad is a quiet but strong affirmation of omnipresent life forces and the mysterious communion with nature in the midst of which the groom, the good shepherd, exists.