Chanson

chanson

(French; “song”)

French art song. The unaccompanied chanson for a single voice part, composed by the troubadours and later the trouvères, first appeared in the 12th century. Accompanied chansons, with parts for one or more instruments, were written in the 14th–15th centuries by Guillaume de Machaut and others in the strict formes fixes (“fixed forms”). About 1,500 chansons for several voices began to be written by Josquin des Prez and his contemporaries. In recent centuries the term has often been used for any cabaret-style French song.

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Chanson 

(1) Polyphonic songs of the 15th and 16th centuries. The chansons, which were preceded by the ballades, virelays, and rondeaux of Guillaume de Machaut (14th century), were developed by Franco-Flemish composers of the Netherlands school. In the 16th century they took on a strikingly national character and were often imitative and descriptive in nature; at the same time, homophony became more predominant. In this period chansons were written by C. Jannequin, the greatest composer of the French Renaissance, and by such composers as C. Sermisy, P. Moulu, P. Certon, G. Costeley, C. Le Jeune, and C. Goudimel. In the early 17th century the chanson was superseded by the homophonic art song.

(2) Songs of the French music hall of the late 19th and 20th century. The music hall singers—the chansonniers—often themselves compose, or help compose, the music and words of the chansons they perform.

REFERENCES

Combarieu, J. Frantsuzskaia muzyka 16 v. Moscow, 1932. (Translated from French.)
Erisman, G. Frantsuzskaia pesnia. Moscow, 1974. (Translated from French.)
Tiersot, J. Istoriia narodnoi pesni vo Frantsii. Moscow, 1975. (Translated from French.)
Expert, H. Les Maitres musiciens de la Renaissance franqaise, vol. 3. Paris, 1900.
Brochón, P. La Chanson franqaise [vols. 1–2.] Paris, 1956–57.
Brown, H. M. Chanson and Madrigal, 1480–1530. Cambridge, Mass., 1964.

V. N. BRIANTSEVA