Jane Ozenberger, Ph.D. 1981

Advisor: James W. Pruett

Dissertation Title: From Voix de ville to Air de cour: The Strophic Chanson, c.1545-1575

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Dissertation Abstract:

From its first appearance in the sixteenth century, the strophic chanson is stylistically distinguishable from the chanson proper. Although usually published in the guise of a part-song, the strophic chanson is by nature a monodic genre. It relies for its substance upon simple, syllabic melodies associated with courtly lyrics. Such melodies are known at mid-century as voix de ville; that term is supplanted after about 1570 by the name of air—after the Italian aria—or air de cour.

Attaingnant first publishes chansons with multiple strophes in his anthologies of the mid-1540s; after 1550, Le Roy & Ballard issue whole volumes devoted to the strophic genre, which is identified as the chanson en forme de voix de ville. These concise, chordal chansons, published under the names of Certon, Arcadelt, and other prominent composers, are typically arrangements of preexistent melodies, many of them dance tunes, wedded to polished, amorous verses. The outdated works of the court poet Saint-Gelais form the nucleus of the strophic text repertory. Both verse and music mark the genre as an unpretentious form of entertainment, which enjoyed enduring popularity: the mid-century voix de ville are still being reprinted for a wide public as late as 1588.

Pierre Cléreau is the first composer to invest the strophic chanson with higher artistic intent, in his settings of Ronsard and other humanist poets. His three-voice chansons adopt the chordal, monodic style of the chanson en forme de voix de ville, but his original melodies eschew the dance meters characteristic of that genre, in favor of a closer approximation of textual rhythms.

The strophic chansons published by “Nicolas” and Nicolas de La Grotte in the 1560s reflect a change of style that marks the transition from voix de ville to air de cour. The typical, dancelike voix de ville harmonized by “Nicolas” stand in contrast to the elegant, text-dominated airs set by La Grotte. These airs de cour, with their declamatory, formulaic rhythms, seem to embody the humanist aspiration for a closer union of text and music.