Chanson
Also known as chanson française
A long-lived French song tradition that stretches from medieval courtly music to the intimate, word-first popular songs associated with Piaf and Aznavour.
Origins and context
Documented musicological histories place chanson in late medieval France, with roots in troubadour and trouvère song traditions; later usage also centers French-language popular singing.
History
In its older musicological sense, chanson reaches back to late medieval France, where monophonic songs of troubadours and trouvères fed into the later polyphonic chanson of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Encyclopedic sources trace the term through courtly song, Burgundian and Parisian chanson, and then later solo song traditions that kept French text and expression at the core. In the 20th century, the word also came to signal a distinct French popular style, especially in the hands of singers such as Édith Piaf and Charles Aznavour. Piaf’s Spotify artist page explicitly describes her as an interpreter of chanson, and Spotify track pages for "La Vie en rose" and "Hier encore" preserve those recordings as canonical reference points for the style.
Notable artists
- ÉPÉdith Piaf
- CACharles Aznavour
Essential listening
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Explore connected genres
Sources and further reading
- Chanson
- Spotify
Édith Piaf is presented by Spotify as an interpreter of the chanson style.
- Spotify
Spotify track pages document 'La Vie en rose' and 'Hier encore' as representative recordings by Piaf and Aznavour.
- Spotify
Spotify track pages document 'Hier encore' as a Charles Aznavour recording.
- Chanson
- Historique de la politique de la musique en France