The idea of what a song is has changed a lot through history, depending on what styles of music were popular during a certain time and part of the world. However now, a song has a rather strong definition and can be easily identified in modern music. Four popular types of songs through the history of music would be a Chanson, Madrigal, Leider and Crooner. All of these song types are different from each other in terms of the musical elements and are from different times and countries in history.
Chanson
A chanson is a type of song with French roots, which was popular in the Medieval era, in which they were written and performed. It is mostly driven by lyrics and vocals, therefore making this less of a composition and more of a song. There were different variations of chansons over time, a popular one being a Burgundian chanson. Even though the Medieval times were heavily influenced by religion, especially in France, a chanson’s lyrics usually didn’t have a theme of religion and were considered secular, compared to most other compositions during this time that were hugely religious. Chansons are generally polyphonic in texture; two or more lines of music that contrast each other but still go well together. A chanson singer is called a Chanteur (if a male) and a Chanteuse (if a female). Very early chansons were epic poems; long, monophonic songs about historical heroes and figures. However, chansons soon turned into polyphonic songs and were sometimes accompanied by different instruments, but the vocals always remained the main focal point of the song.
A famous songwriter from the chanson era was Guillaume de Machaut. Being a French poet, he wrote lyrics for chansons and is considered the most important songwriter of the 14th century and the first notable writer, producing over 400 poems, seven chansons, and many other types of song in his life. He was born around 1300, working alongside the King of Bohemia, John I, and writing poems in his later life after surviving the Black Death. He died in 1377 and was remembered by many other poets making elegies for him. He has work in both monophonic and polyphonic textures, with his lyrics spanning from different topics like love, religion, war and emotional pain.
This chanson is by Machaut and the lyrics portray him going through a time of loneliness and sorrow. The song is about him and a Noblewoman’s love for each other, but that love disappears because of the age gap between the two. The Noblewoman married another man and Machaut was said to never love one again as he was so dedicated to this woman and broken by their loss of love. This dismal feeling can be heard in the lyric ‘I bid farewell to a life of love and joy.’ (translated from French).
The song itself represents this sadness through a dark trio of male voices singing in a lower register, making the chanson polyphonic as all three voices are singing different parts. They create very expressive melodies, clearly inciting through the minor chords they produce that the chanson is meant to be dreary and almost horror sounding, especially to a modern listener. The voices use swells, giving it more emotion and dynamics, and this added with the long pauses in between phrases adds this empty but powerful space to the chanson which elevates this negative feeling of loss Machaut was experiencing at the time. Personally, I didn’t necessarily enjoy the chanson, mostly because of how depressing it is. However, although I don’t like the song, I can appreciate its technicalities and meaning. Perhaps if I was not a modern listener I would enjoy it a lot more as the song doesn’t sound like anything I am used to today.
Madrigal
A madrigal is another type of song, originating from the Italian Renaissance period. It has similarities to chansons in the way that both are secular, polyphonic and usually not accompanied by instruments; they were solely vocal performances. However, madrigals had more voices spanning from three to six, and the poem had to be through-composed. This means the lyrics and melodies could not repeat, therefore each stanza in the poem was different. In the 16th century, English and German poets and composers started making madrigals, but most English madrigals were just the same song but translated into English. Their popularity died out during the early Baroque era as other forms of music like Aria’s (solo vocal pieces with no instrumental accompaniment) were beginning to be favoured in operas.
A great example of a madrigalist in the late renaissance would be Italian composer and singer Luca Marenzio. Born around the mid-1500s, he is one of the most celebrated writers of his time, writing over 500 madrigals which were popular in many other countries as well as his home country. Almost all of his madrigals vary lots in style, some being extremely serious or lighter, much easier to listen to pieces. His songs got much more serious as he grew older, but he was known for being able to change the mood of a song quickly by adding such simple phrases As well as madrigals, however, he also wrote non-secular pieces like masses and motets, and most of his pieces were for five voices (although he did write for more sometimes). He wrote 17 madrigal books in total.
This is an example of one of Marenzio’s many madrigals. It uses four voices all singing in different registers, giving it a much thicker texture. The madrigal is polyphonic as they are all singing different melodies for the most part. All of these melodies complement each other very well, and it sounds like a much happier piece of music compared to the chanson, so overall I quite enjoyed this piece! The video shows the sheet music as well so you can follow the piece which I found helpful whilst listening to it.
Lied
Lieder (plural) are a type of song that mostly consists of a solo vocal part and a piano. It usually uses a poem that the vocalist sings alongside the piano, making this song polyphonic. This type of song originated in Germany during the Romantic period of the 14th and 15th centuries, but this type of song was also popular after this, up to around the 20th century. The word ‘lied’ is where we get the English translation ‘song’ from, more specifically ‘art song’. The songs mostly have a theme of love or pastoral themes. Later in the song’s development came orchestras that accompanied the solo singer and pianist. Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann are the most popular writers of this song during the romantic era.
Franz Schubert was born in Austria in 1797 and is deemed one of the most important and celebrated lied songwriters in history. His repertoire has over 60 songs, most of them being lieder and most of these had secular and non-religious themes. As well as this, he also wrote operas, symphonies, chamber music, and many more; having only lived for 31 years, this discography is extremely impressive. He had instrumental lessons from a young age and started composing music whilst studying in school, and his name got out when he was admitted to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, a Viennese music association. He performed his own works only once in his lifetime in a small concert in Vienna; eight months before he passed, however, he grew more popular after his death.
Gretchen am Spinnrade translates to ‘Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel’. He composed this song when he was just 19, and the song is meant to be sung in soprano. The lyrics are taken from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s poem, Faust but are manipulated slightly so it works as a song and has a second climax. The song is about a woman called Gretchen, who falls for a man called Faust and she thinks about thinking about what he had promised, but she soon realises that they will never be together at the end of the poem. This can be realised from the lyric ‘My heart weighs heavy’ (translated from German).
The song’s first section starts in D minor. The first climax happens here as a crescendo occurs alongside changing of chords, and then takes us back to D minor. This key then modulates to F major in the middle of the song when she starts to think about Faust. This second section is important as this is when she starts to think more freely, almost losing her sense of reality for a moment. This can be represented by the left hand part changing to block chords which gives this part more dynamics and texture, making it a little bit more chaotic and free. Another climax occurs in this key, making the use of a tempo change, stronger dynamics and a higher voice register when the singer hits the highest note in the song. Here, Gretchen talks about Faust’s kiss, before returning to D minor for the final section, where she has even more thoughts about Faust but stays somewhat in reality with that melody played with the left hand. This return represents the spinning wheel she is using at the time, and she comes down from this fantasy quicker once she comes to realises that their relationship will never be. The whole way through, the piano is playing sextuplets on the right hand. This represents the fast-spinning wheel that Gretchen is sat at whilst thinking all of these thoughts. The left hand is playing notes that represent the pedal of the spinning wheel which keeps it moving, and when this stops in section two, it imitates the idea that she has forgotten what she is meant to be doing as she is so lost in her thoughts.
Crooner
Crooners originated from America in the 1920s and grew in popularity hugely over time, with its peak being in the 40s and 50s. Although a crooner is a type of song, singers who sang them were also called ‘Crooners’. The vocalists were typically male (although this was not a struct ruling) and sang in a very smooth, quite soft, tone. The invention of the microphone helped this type of song hugely, as this meant that the singers could sing in different dynamic ranges or tonal styles, and still get picked up for the record or audience to hear. Crooners were appealing to young women at the time because of the soft vocals and intimate lyrics. The idea of crooning became popular among country genres with the help of Bing Crosby. Another hugely successful crooner from this time was Frank Sinatra.
Frank Sinatra is still deemed today as one of the most influential singers of all time, being one of the most popular artists of the 20th century and best selling artist of all time; he sold over 150 million records. He is known for his distinctive voice accompanied by big bands and swing musicians. He also had a successful acting career in which he played in many popular films and TV shows. Many say that Sinatra had a sixth sense from a young age, having the ability to point out tonal differences in a group, even if it is such a small difference. He had a natural talent for reading music and had never explicitly learnt how to read it. His vocal range was unheard of and he was able to sing very high notes without a microphone, which impressed many. He earnt 11 Grammy awards in his time and started his own record label in 1960, called Reprise Records.
‘Come Fly With Me’ is a popular Frank Sinatra song, released in 1958 as the title track of his 14th studio album which was named after this song. This song is a great representation of a crooner vocalist as the song can be both soft, with lower dynamics, but also shows off his powerful vocal range at the climaxes. The song has been used in many forms of media, like films and Television series because of its romantic meaning and authentic sound. The song was composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sinatra didn’t write the lyrics; Sammy Cahn did. The song is about going on a trip on a holiday honeymoon with his wife to somewhere sunny and exotic. He talks about flying to different countries and enjoying the flight there with the lyrics ‘We’ll just glide, starry-eyed’. The song itself is a great illustration of music in the 50s; a conventional swing feel, jazz instruments and textures taken from big band music.