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 settings 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 and Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional, which contain the bulk of Galician-Portuguese lyrics. The most important chansonniers contain lyrics, poems and songs of the troubadours and trouvères 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. 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 * Chansonnier Cordiforme *Chansonnier de Arras * Chansonnier du Roi (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

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

Galician-Portuguese

* Cancioneiro da Ajuda * Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional * Cancioneiro da Vaticana * Pergaminho Sharrer (fragment) * Pergaminho Vindel see Martin Codax

Portuguese

* Cancioneiro de Belém * Cancioneiro de Elvas * Cancioneiro de Lisboa * 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 *

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