Chanson
A chanson (French pronunciation: [ʃɑ̃sɔ̃], "song", from Latin cantio, gen. cantionis) is in general any lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specializing in chansons is known as a "chanteur" (male) or "chanteuse" (female); a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.
Chanson de geste
The earliest chansons were the epic poems performed to simple monophonic melodies by a professional class of jongleurs or ménestrels. These usually recounted the famous deeds (geste) of past heroes, legendary and semi-historical. The Song of Roland is the most famous of these, but in general the chansons de geste are studied as literature since very little of their music survives.
Chanson courtoise
The chanson courtoise or grand chant was an early form of monophonic chanson, the chief lyric poetic genre of the trouvères. It was an adaptation to Old French of the Occitan canso. It was practised in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Thematically, as its name implies, it was a song of courtly love, written usually by a man to his noble lover. Some later chansons were polyphonic and some had refrains and were called chansons avec des refrains. A Crusade song was known as a chanson de croisade.
Chanson (band)
Chanson was an American studio based disco group from the late 1970s, led by James Jamerson, Jr. (son of the legendary Motown sideman, James Jamerson) and David Williams. The group took their name from the French word for song. They were a one-hit wonder, reaching #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1979 with "Don't Hold Back", on the Ariola record label. The same track reached number 33 in the UK Singles Chart, in January 1979.
References
Chanson (disambiguation)
Chanson (French for "song") can refer to:
