A ''chansonnier'' (female: ''chansonnière'') was a poet songwriter, a solitary singer, who sang his or her own songs (''

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...

s'') with a guitar, prominent in

francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

countries during the 1960s and 1970s. Unlike popular singers, ''chansonniers'' need no artifice to sing their soul poetry. They performed in "''Les Boites à Chansons''" which flourished during those years. The themes of their songs varied but included nature, love, simplicity and a social interest to improve their world.

Canada

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the ''chansonnier'' tradition played a prominent role in the development of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

's social and political awareness during the

Quiet Revolution The Quiet Revolution (french: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of govern ...

, (''la Révolution tranquille'') that led to the affirmation of Quebecers'

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or to one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

. One prominent ''chansonnier'',

Robert Charlebois Robert Charlebois, OC, OQ (born June 25, 1944) is a Québecois author, composer, musician, performer and actor. Charlebois was born in Montreal, Quebec. Among his best known songs are ''Lindberg'' (the duo with Louise Forestier in particular ...

, transformed the province's musical culture when he moved from traditional ''chansonnier'' pop to a more

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

-oriented sound with his fourth album, ''

Lindberg Lindberg is a municipality in the district of Regen in Bavaria in Germany in the immediate neighbourhood of the larger town Zwiesel. Location Lindberg lies in the Danube Forest (''Donau-Wald'') region in the middle of the Bavarian Forest on ...

'', in 1968.

Bob Mersereau Bob Ellis Mersereau is a Canadian arts journalist.Rockingham, Graham �"Randy Bachman: lord of the song"''The Spec'' He is a music columnist and longtime arts reporter for CBC Television in New Brunswick.Christine Charbonneau Christine Charbonneau (18 October 1943 – 29 May 2014) was a French Canadian singer and songwriter. La Presse Canadienne (CP/PC), Most popular songs ''Du fil des aiguilles et du coton'' recorded by France Castel in 1972 and sung by Céline Dio ...

* Gervaises Desbiens-Roy *

Clémence Desrochers Clémence DesRochers OC (born 23 November 1933) is a Canadian actress, humourist, singer, and author. Life She was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec on 23 November 1933. At the age of 17, she went to Montreal where she entered the normal school. She the ...

* Serge Deyglun * Lorainne Diot *

Georges Dor Georges Dor (March 10, 1931 – July 24, 2001) was a '' Québécois'' author, composer, playwright, singer, poet, translator, and theatrical producer and director. Early life Dor was born Georges-Henri Dore in Drummondville into a large family. As ...

Jean-Pierre Ferland Jean-Pierre Ferland, (born June 24, 1934, in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Life and career Ferland began work with Radio-Canada in 1956 as an accountant, but his career there was short lived. Shortly after, he began ...

* Jean-Paul Fillion *

Louise Forestier Louise Forestier (born Louise Belhumeur on August 10, 1942) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actress. Biography Born in Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada, Forestier was trained in acting at the National Theatre School in Montreal, but it was as a s ...

* Claude Gauthier * Marc Gélinas * Suzanne Jacob *

Pauline Julien Pauline Julien, (May 23, 1928October 1, 1998), nicknamed "La Renarde", was a singer, songwriter, actress, feminist activist and Quebec sovereigntist. Born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Julien was the companion of the poet and Québec provincial ...

* Mado de L'Isle * Jacques Labrecque * Georges Langford * Christian Larsen * Marie Lavigueur *

Félix Leclerc Félix Leclerc, (August 2, 1914 – August 8, 1988) was a French-Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and '' Québécois'' political activist. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 20, 1968. Leclerc was posth ...

* Tex Lecor * Sylvain Lelièvre * Jacqueline Lemay * Pierre Létourneau * Claude Léveillée *

Raymond Lévesque Raymond Lévesque (October 7, 1928 – February 15, 2021) was a Canadian singer-songwriter and poet from Quebec. One of the pioneers of the ''chansonnier'' tradition in Quebec, he was best known for writing " Quand les hommes vivront d'amour", on ...

* Monique Miville-Deschênes * Priscilla * Marie Savard *

Gilles Vigneault Gilles Vigneault (; born 27 October 1928) is a Canadian poet, publisher, singer-songwriter, and Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist. Two of his songs are considered by many to be Quebec's unofficial anthems: "Mon pays" and "Gens du pays", an ...

References

* The reference used here is an exhaustive work on women songwriters in Quebec, which cover the period of 1960 to 1976. The female names that are listed above are those found in the chapter 9 'Les chansonnières', page 95 to 119, which correspond to the period of the cultural phenomenon). «La chanson écrite au féminin». An extensive research in musicology written by Cécile Tremblay-Matte.«La chanson écrite au féminin de Madeleine de Verchères à Mitsou 1730-1990», Éditions Trois, 2033 avenue Jessop, Laval, Québec. Diffusion pour le Canada, DMR, 3700 A boul. Saint-Laurent, Montréal, Québec, et pour l'Europe, Les Diffusions du Solstice, 363 B Chaussée de Waterloo, Bruxelles, Belgique. Données de catalogage avant publication (Canada) .«La chanson écrite au féminin», Collection Trois Guinées dirigée par Anne-Marie Alonso. Dépot légal- BNQ, BNC troisième trimestre 1990, contient 391 pages.

Notes

{{Authority control Francophone music