Chanson
French song, from medieval monody to Renaissance polyphony
Related
Chanson is the general French term for song. After the monophonic songs of the trouvères came the polyphonic chanson of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when Machaut, Dufay and Binchois set the fixed forms in three voices.
The rise of Parisian printing in the sixteenth century spread the Parisian chanson: its texts drew on popular song, love and satire, its texture was more homophonic and its rhythms light, and Janequin imitated birds, battles and market cries. It flourished alongside the Italian madrigal but stressed clear syllables and dance-like motion.
Chanson is not a synonym for French pop (the modern "chanson" genre), nor for madrigal; from Machaut to Debussy's mélodie, both the label and the style kept changing.
Sources
- 法语尚松从马肖、勃艮第乐派到巴黎尚松的演变，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Chanson"；本文为原创表述
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