- This page is about musical songs. For other meanings, see Song (disambiguation).
A song is a relatively short musical composition for the human voice (possibly accompanied by other
musical instruments), which features words (lyrics). It is typically for a solo singer, though may also be a duet, trio, or for more voices (works with more than one voice to a part,
however, are considered choral). The words of songs are typically of a poetic, rhyming nature, although they may be religious verses or free prose. Songs can be broadly divided into many different forms, depending on the criteria used. One division is
between "art songs", "popular songs", and
"folk songs". Other common methods of classification are by purpose (sacred vs secular), by style (dance,
ballad, Lieder, etc.) or by time of origin
(Renaissance, Contemporary, etc). The performer of a song is called a "singer" or "vocalist", the act is called singing.
Cultural Types
Art songs are songs created for performance in their own right, or for the purposes of a European upper class, usually
with piano accompaniment, although they can also have other types of accompaniment such
as an orchestra or string
quartet, and are always notated. Generally they have an identified author(s) and require voice training for
acceptable performances. The German word for song, "Lied" (plural: "Lieder"), is used in French and English-speaking communities to refer to the serious art song, whereas in German-speaking communities the
word "Kunstlied" (plural: "Kunstlieder") is used to distinguish art song from folk song ("Volkslied"). The lyrics are often
written by a lyricist and the music separately by a composer. Art songs may be more formally complicated than popular or folk songs, though many early Lieder by the likes of Franz Schubert are in simple strophic form. They are often important to national identity.
Art songs feature in many European cultures, including but not limited to: Russian (romansy), Dutch (lied), Italian (canzoni), French (mélodies), Scandinavian
(sånger), Spanish (canciones). Cultures outside of Europe may have
what they consider to be a classical music tradition, such as India, and thus feature art songs.
Of the romantic music era, the art song is considered one of the
most distinctive music forms developed. The accompaniment of pieces of this period is considered as an important part of the
composition. The art song of this period is often a duet in which the vocalist and accompanist share in interpretive importance.
The pieces were most often written to be performed in a home setting although today the works enjoy popularity as concert pieces.
The emergency of poetry during this era was much of what inspired the creation of these pieces by Brahms, Schumann, Schubert and
other period composers. These composers set poems in their native language. Many works were inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Heinrich Heine. An art song with a German text is often referred to as a
Lied. The romantic art song was often reflective of the popular poetic notions of despair
created by places, legends, nature or lost love. Some composers would interpret the poem literally and create music which
imitated the music and imagery of the music. The vocal melody was created to reflect the form and emphasis of the poem. The mood
of the piece would often be summarized in the closing piano section called a postlude. To reflect the stanzas of a poem, the
composer could use strophic form to reuse music for each stanza. Another
method would be to write new music for each stanza to create a unique form, this was through-composed form
known in German as durchkomponiert. A combination of both of these techniques in a single setting was called a modified strophic
form. Often romantic art songs sharing similar elements were grouped as a song
cycle. (Kamien, 217–18)
Popular songs are songs which may be considered in between art songs and folk songs. They are usually accompanied in
performance and recording by a band. They are not anonymous in origin and
have a known authors. They are often but not always notated by their author(s) or transcribed after recording and tend to be
composed in collaboration more often than art songs, for instance by an
entire band, though the lyrics are usually written by one person, usually the lead singer. Popular songs are often a part of individual and cultural, but seldom national, identity.
Performers usually often have not undergone formal voice training but highly stylized vocal techniques are used. Many people
consider songs in popular music to have in general simpler structures than art songs, however, musicologists who are "both contemptuous and
condescending [of popular music] are looking for types of production, musical form, and listening which they associate with a
different kind of music...'classical music'...and they generally find popular music lacking" (Middleton 1990, p.103).
Folk songs are songs of often anonymous origin (or are public
domain) that are transmitted orally. They are frequently a major aspect of national or
cultural identity. Art songs often approach the status of folk songs when people
forget who the author was. Folk songs are also frequently transmitted non-orally (that is, as sheet music), especially in the modern era. Folk songs exists in virtually if not every culture. For more on
folk songs, see Folk music.
For a list of influential songs, see:
Song forms
References
- Middleton, Richard (1990/2002). Studying Popular Music. Philadelphia: Open University Press. ISBN 0335152759.
- Kamien, Roger. Music : An Appreciation. Mcgraw-Hill College; 3rd edition (August 1, 1997) ISBN 0070365210
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