Chanson
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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A chanson (French for "song", from Latin cantio) is in general any lyric-driven French songs, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specializing in chansons is known as a "chansonnier"; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.
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Chanson française
French songs known as chanson française refers to French popular music sung in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s by singers and songwriters such as Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Françoise Hardy, Yves Montand or Georges Brassens constituting a unique cultural phenomenon.
Sometimes unjustly associated with the past, such as is the music from american golden age musicals, spanish Zarzuelas and italian operettas, french songs are nevertheless today still part of a dynamic french social movement which has for centuries – since the french revolution – moved audiences with elegant and often poetic lyrics combined with realism around social themes, spirituality and love. The most widely recognized songs such as “Non, je ne regrette rien", "Ne me quitte pas" or "Les feuilles mortes" have dignified successors in diverse genres such as rap, electronic music or pop. There are even competitions of chanson française, such as Vive la reprise. Among the modern followers of chanson française, we find Pierre Bachelet or Paloma Berganza; as well as some fusion versions like Estrella Morente's version of Ne me quitte pas.
Modern chanson
French solo song developed in the late 16th century, probably from the aforementioned Parisian works. During the 17th century, the air de cour, chanson pour boire and other like genres, generally accompanied by lute or keyboard, flourished, with contributions by such composers as Antoine Boesset, Denis Gaultier, Michel Lambert and Michel-Richard de Lalande. This still affects today’s Chanson as many French musicians still follow this instrument pattern of Harp and Keyboard.
During the 18th century, vocal music in France was dominated by opera, but solo song underwent a renaissance in the 19th century, first with salon melodies and then by mid-century with highly sophisticated works influenced by the German Lieder, which had been introduced into the country. Louis Niedermeyer, under the particular spell of Schubert, was a pivotal figure in this movement, followed by Édouard Lalo, Felicien David and many others.
Another offshoot of chanson, called chanson réaliste (realist song), was a popular musical genre in France, primarily from the 1880s until the end of World War II. Born of the cafés-concerts and cabarets of the Montmartre district of Paris and influenced by literary realism and the naturalist movements in literature and theatre, chanson réaliste was a musical style which was mainly performed by women and dealt with the lives of Paris's poor and working class. Among the better-known performers of the genre are Damia, Fréhel, and Édith Piaf.
Later 19th-century composers of French art songs, known as mélodie and not chanson, included Ernest Chausson, Emmanuel Chabrier, Gabriel Fauré, and Claude Debussy, while many 20th-century and current French composers have continued this strong tradition.
Revival
In the 20th century, French composers revived the genre. Claude Debussy composed Trois Chansons for choir a capella, completed in 1908. Maurice Ravel wrote Trois Chansons for choir a cappella after the outbreak of World War I as a return to French tradition, published in 1916.Template:Citation needed
Nouvelle chanson
In France today chanson or chanson française is distinguished from the rest of French "pop" music by following the rhythms of French language, rather than those of English, and a higher standard for lyrics.
Museum
In La Planche, Loire-Atlantique, the Musée de la chanson française was established in 1992. The museum has the goal to remember the artists that have established the heritage of the chanson.
See also
