A chansonnier (, , Galician and , or ''canzoniéro'', ) is a

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

or printed book which contains a collection of

chanson A (, ; , ) is generally any Lyrics, lyric-driven French song. The term is most commonly used in English to refer either to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval music, medieval and Renaissance music or to a specific style of ...

s, or

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ...

and

monophonic Monaural sound or monophonic sound (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduce sou ...

setting Setting or Settings may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative tec ...

s of songs, hence literally " song-books"; however, some manuscripts are called chansonniers even though they preserve the text but not the music, for example, the

Cancioneiro da Vaticana The ''Cancioneiro da Vaticana'' (, ; ''Vatican Songbook'') is a compilation of troubadour lyrics in Galician-Portuguese. It was discovered c. 1840 in the holdings of the Vatican Library and was first transcribed by D. Caetano Lopes de Moura in ...

and

Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional The ''Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional'' (, ; "The National Library Songbook"), commonly called ''Colocci-Brancuti'', is a compilation of Galician-Portuguese lyrics by both troubadours and ''jograes'' (non-noble performers and composers) . Th ...

, which contain the bulk of

Galician-Portuguese lyric In the Middle Ages, the Galician-Portuguese lyric, also known as troubadorism, from ''trovadorismo'' in Portuguese and ''trobadorismo'' in Galician, was a lyric poetic school or movement. All told, there are around 1680 texts in the so-called ...

s. The most important chansonniers contain lyrics, poems and songs of the

troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

s and

trouvère ''Trouvère'' (, ), sometimes spelled ''trouveur'' (, ), is the Northern French ('' langue d'oïl'') form of the '' langue d'oc'' (Occitan) word ''trobador'', the precursor of the modern French word '' troubadour''. ''Trouvère'' refers to po ...

s used in the

medieval music Medieval music encompasses the sacred music, sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the Dates of classical music eras, first and longest major era of Western class ...

. Prior to 1420, many song-books contained both sacred and secular music, one exception being those containing the work of

Guillaume de Machaut Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to ...

. 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 France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, but also in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

List of chansonniers

Catalan

French

*Cangé Chansonnier *Cappella Giulia Chansonnier *

Casanatense chansonnier The ''Casanatense chansonnier'' (I-Rc MS 2856) was a major collection of Renaissance vocal music made in Ferrara , including compositions from Europe's leading composers. Overview It was likely compiled for Isabella d'Este's marriage to Frances ...

* Chansonnier Cordiforme *Chansonnier de Arras *

Chansonnier du Roi The ''Manuscrit du Roi'' or ''Chansonnier du Roi'' ("King's Manuscript" or "King's Songbook" in English) is a prominent songbook compiled towards the middle of the thirteenth century, probably between 1255 and 1260 and a major testimony of Europe ...

(also Occitan) *Chansonnier Nivelle de la Chaussée *Copenhagen Chansonnier *Dijon Chansonnier *Florentine Chansonnier *Laborde Chansonnier *Mellon Chansonnier *Noailles Chansonnier *Seville Chansonnier *Wolfenbüttel Chansonnier

Italian

Cancionero de Montecassino The ''Cancionero Musical de Montecassino'' (Montecassino, Biblioteca dell'Abbazia, 871), known by the abbreviation "(CMM)" is an important Neapolitan manuscript of music from the 1480s, containing many otherwise unknown compositions. References ...

Occitan

Cançoner Gil The ''Cançoner Gil'' (, ) is an Occitan language, Occitan chansonnier produced in Catalonia in the middle of the 14th century. In the systematic nomenclature of Occitanists, it is typically named Manuscript, MS ''Sg'', but as ''Z'' in the reass ...

Cançoner Vega-Aguiló The Cançoner Vega-Aguiló (, ) is a chansonnier predominantly carrying Catalan language, Catalan and Occitan language, Occitan pieces, but also some Old Spanish, Castilian and Middle French verse. List of poets with pieces in the Vega-Aguiló ...

*Chansonnier de Saint-Germain-des-Prés *Philipps Manuscript *Poetarum Provinciali

Galician-Portuguese

Cancioneiro da Ajuda The ''Cancioneiro da Ajuda'' (, ; "Ajuda Songbook") is a collection of Galician-Portuguese lyric poems probably dating from the last quarter of the 13th-century. It is the oldest of the Galician-Portuguese ''cancioneiros'' with secular music. ...

Pergaminho Sharrer The Pergaminho Sharrer (; ; "Sharrer Parchment") is a mediaeval parchment fragment containing seven songs by King Denis of Portugal, with lyrics in the Galician-Portuguese language and musical notation. The fragment was discovered in 1990 by Uni ...

(fragment) *

Pergaminho Vindel Martin Codax or Codaz, Martín Codax () or Martim Codax was a Galician medieval ''joglar'' (non-noble composer and performer, as opposed to a ''trobador''), possibly from Vigo, Galicia in present-day Spain. He may have been active during the ...

see

Martin Codax Martin Codax or Codaz, Martín Codax () or Martim Codax was a Galician medieval ''joglar'' (non-noble composer and performer, as opposed to a ''trobador''), possibly from Vigo, Galicia in present-day Spain. He may have been active during the ...

Portuguese

Cancioneiro de Belém The Cancioneiro Musical de Belém (English: Belém Musical Songbook) or simply Cancioneiro de Belém (Santa Maria de Belém, Lisbon, National Archaeology Museum, Ms 3391) is a Portuguese Renaissance manuscript from the beginning of the 17th centur ...

Cancioneiro de Elvas The ''Cancioneiro de Elvas'' (in English: ''Elvas Songbook'') is one of the four Renaissance songbooks of Portuguese music from the 16th century - along with the Lisbon Songbook, the Belém Songbook, and the Paris songbook. It is one important ...

Cancioneiro de Lisboa ''Cancioneiro musical da Biblioteca Nacional'' or simply ''Cancioneiro de Lisboa'' is the name given to the manuscript CIC 60 which is kept in the Portuguese National Library, in Lisbon. It is one of the four Portuguese Renaissance songbooks of M ...

* Cancioneiro de Paris

Spanish

Cancionero de Baena The ''Cancionero de Baena'' ("Songbook of Baena") was compiled between around 1426 to 1430 by the Marrano Juan Alfonso de Baena for the king John II of Castile and the Constable of Castile Álvaro de Luna, Duke of Trujillo, Álvaro de Luna. Its ...

Cancionero de la Colombina The Cancionero de la Colombina or Cancionero Musical de la Colombina (CMC) is a Spanish manuscript (Ms. 7-1-28) containing Renaissance music from the second half of the 15th century.DIAMM - SourceE-Sc Ms. 7-1-28/ref> The manuscript was copied duri ...

Cancionero de Medinaceli The Cancionero de Medinaceli or Cancionero Musical de Medinaceli (CMM) is a manuscript containing Spanish music of the Renaissance. It was copied during the second half of the 16th century and kept at the library of the Duke of Medinaceli's hous ...

Cancionero de Palacio The Cancionero de Palacio (Madrid, Biblioteca Real, MS II–1335), or Cancionero Musical de Palacio (CMP), also known as Cancionero de Barbieri, is a Spanish manuscript of Renaissance music. The works in it were compiled during a time span of aro ...

Cancionero de Segovia The Cancionero de Segovia or Cancionero Musical de Segovia (CMS) (Segovia Cathedral, Archivo Capitular, s.s. ntiguo18, also known as Cancionero of the Segovia Cathedral, is a manuscript containing Renaissance music from the end of the 15th cent ...

References

*Howard Mayer Brown. "Chansonnier (i)", ''

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed July 30, 2006)
grovemusic.com
. {{Medieval music Books by type