Chansonnier
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
A chansonnier is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of chansons. The most important chansonniers contain lyrics, poems and songs of the trouvères or troubadours of the Middle Ages. Prior to 1420, almost all chansonniers contained both sacred and secular music, with the exception of those containing the work of Guillaume de Machaut. Around 1420, sacred and secular music was segregated into separate sources, with large choirbooks containing sacred music, and smaller chansonniers for more private use by the privileged. Chansonniers were compiled primarily in France, but also in Italy and Germany; however, even when they were compiled elsewhere, they contain mostly French polyphonic chansons.
A singer of chansons could also be called a chansonnier.
