The ''formes fixes'' (; singular: ''forme fixe'', "fixed form") are the three 14th- and 15th-century French

poetic Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

forms: the ''

ballade Ballad is a form of narrative poetry, often put to music, or a type of sentimental love song in modern popular music. Ballad or Ballade may also refer to: Music Genres and forms * Ballade (classical music), a musical setting of a literary ballad ...

'', '' rondeau'', and ''

virelai A ''virelai'' is a form of medieval French verse used often in poetry and music. It is one of the three ''formes fixes'' (the others were the ballade and the rondeau) and was one of the most common verse forms set to music in Europe from the lat ...

''. Each was also a musical form, generally a ''

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 ...

'', and all consisted of a complex pattern of repetition of verses and a

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

with musical content in two main sections. All three forms can be found in 13th-century sources, but a 15th-century source gives

Philippe de Vitry Philippe de Vitry (31 October 1291 – 9 June 1361) was a French composer-poet, bishop and music theorist in the style of late medieval music. An accomplished, innovative, and influential composer, he was widely acknowledged as a leading musi ...

as their first composer while the first comprehensive repertory of these forms was written by

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 ...

.Fallows The ''formes fixes'' stopped being used in music around the end of the 15th century, although their influence continued (in poetry they, especially the rondeau, continued to be used). Sometimes forms from other countries and periods are referred to as ''formes fixes''. These include the Italian 14th-century

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number o ...

and later

ballata The ''ballata'' (plural: ''ballate'') is an Italian poetic and musical form in use from the late 13th to the 15th century. It has the musicapenim AbbaA, with the first and last stanzas having the same texts. It is thus most similar to the Fre ...

and

barzelletta ''Barzelletta'' (''lit.'' "jest") was a popular verse form used by ''frottola'' composers in Italy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It is generally trochaic, with eight syllables per line. The ''barzelletta'' consists of two sections: a ' ...

, the German

bar form Bar form (German: ''die Barform'' or ''der Bar'') is a musical form of the pattern AAB. Original use The term comes from the rigorous terminology of the Meistersinger guilds of the 15th to 18th century who used it to refer to their songs and the ...

, Spanish 13th-century

cantiga A ''cantiga'' (''cantica'', ''cantar'') is a medieval monophonic song, characteristic of the Galician-Portuguese lyric. Over 400 extant ''cantigas'' come from the ''Cantigas de Santa Maria'', narrative songs about miracles or hymns in praise of th ...

, and the later

canción ''Canción'' ("song") is a popular genre of Latin American music, particularly in Cuba, where many of the compositions originate.Orovio, Helio 2004. ''Cuban music from A to Z''. p42 Its roots lie in Spanish popular song forms, including tiranas, ...

, and

villancico The ''villancico'' (Spanish, ) or vilancete ( Portuguese, ) was a common poetic and musical form of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America popular from the late 15th to 18th centuries. Important composers of villancicos were Juan del Encina, Ped ...

Notes

References

David Fallows David Fallows (born 20 December 1945) is an English musicologist specializing in music of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, as well as the performance practice of music. He is a leader in fifteenth-century music studies, particularly s ...

. "Formes Fixes", ''

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 theo ...

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed September 16, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access).

Notes

References

Further reading