Vocal Music: Song Forms

With such a rich tradition of works, it can be challenging to do justice to a topic like “song forms” in a reasonable space within the context of a project such as Open Music Theory. We’ve chosen to focus on just two of the many possibilities for now: Lieder (the German tradition) and Mélodie (the French tradition).

• This chapter is slightly different from the others on form in that it’s not focused on a single formal concept, but instead it describes several possible forms Lieder or Melodie might take.
• • • We begin by summarizing several possible forms, then we provide examples of those forms by contextualizing their usage within a brief description of how these forms developed.
    • One of the main goals of the chapter is to demonstrate an approach to song analysis.
• Form summary
  • Below is a list with descriptions of several common forms that appear in Lieder and Melodie
    • Strophic (AAA…A)
      • All stanzas of the text are sung to the same music
      • These are commonly notated in three ways:
        • The text for each stanza is written within the music, with each syllable aligned with notes as appropriate (Example X).
        • The first stanza is written within the music, and the lyrics (only) for subsequent stanzas are written below the music (Example X).
        • The first stanza is written within the music, and subsequent stanzas and their melodic settings are written below the music (Example X).
    • Modified strophic (AA’A”…An)
      • The music for the first stanza of the text acts like a theme and the remaining stanzas of the text are set to variations on that theme.
    • Ternary (ABA or ABA’)
      • Similar to the instrumental ternary form, but the demands of the text (for example, the text’s structure or its content) often mean that the sections are less strongly differentiated or independent from one another than they might be in an instrumental ternary-form work.
    • Through-composed (ABCD…Z)
      • Each stanza of text has new music
    • Unique repetition scheme
      • Many stanzas of text have new music, but one or more repeat music from earlier stanzas, or
      • The song may feature a refrain that recurs between passages of new music
    • Bar form (AAB)
      • The first two stanzas are set to the same music, while the second stanza is set to contrasting music
      • Occasionally a piece will exhibit an ABB form, and although not technically an example of “Bar form,” it does seem to bear a strong relation.
• Lieder
  • Earlier (18th century)
    • While Lieder certainly existed before the 18th century, in the first half of that century a new style began to take hold in Hamburg, one that was described by J.A. Scheibe (year).
      • In this new style, Scheibe says composers should focus on the melody, which must be “expressive, skillful, and affecting.” The melody shouldn’t wanger too far from the tonic, it should have a moderate range, and be “free, flowing, pure and really natural.” By “natural,” he means that the melody can be “sung at once and without particular effort by anyone inexperienced in music.” Scheibe emphasizes modesty and simplicity, where the melody is not obscured by the accompaniment. The melody is normally composed to make the words easily understood by the audience.
      • Most early Lieder are in strophic form, something Scheibe acknowledges when he indicates that composers should study their texts first, and that when they write the melody it must work for all stanzas.
        • “Work” means that the melody doesn’t force repetition of words or lengthen a syllable that would affect someone’s understanding of the text.
    • Summary:
      • Most early Lieder are in strophic form
      • There’s an emphasis on writing melodies that:
        • clearly convey the text
        • are easily song by amateurs
        • are modest in range and length
        • don’t start far from the tonic
      • Accompaniments are simple to avoid interfering with the melody.
    • Analytical example
  • Height (19th century)
    • Partly as a result of a new style of poetry championed by Goethe–one that was more engaged with exploring the range of human emotion–nineteenth-century Lieder tend to differ from earlier models in several ways:
      • They become more concerned with expressing the content of the text as opposed to only conveying its words
      • While strophic forms are still very common, composers frequently use other forms (such as those listed above); particularly popular are modified strophic, ternary, and through-composed forms.
        • These other forms often allow the composer to match a text’s structure or to better reflect the content of an individual stanza rather than setting each stanza with the same music as in strophic form.
      • Composers use a wider variety and greater complexity of accompanimental styles, and the accompaniment plays a role in expressing the content of the text
      • The harmonic language is more adventurous, and chromatic harmonic materials such as tonicizations, modulations, and mixture, make frequent appearances
    • Analytical examples
• Melodie
  • In many ways, the development of secular solo song in the French tradition bears similarities to the development of solo song in the German tradition
  • Earlier (late 18th century, early 19th century): the Romance
    • Secular solo songs began to see revived interest in the later 18th century, with perhaps the most popular genre being the Romance.
      • Similar to the early German Lied, composers of Romance tend to focus on the melody. Romance melodies tend to use proportional phrase structures, simple rhythms, and a relatively modest range.
      • Romances tend to employ simple accompanimental styles that do not compete with the melody for attention, such as the alberti bass.
      • Harmonically, the Romance is also similar to the early Lied, never straying too far from the home key tonic.
      • Most Romances are in strophic form
  • Height (mid 19th century onward): the Melodie
    • As the 19th century wore on, composers became less interested in the Romance and more interested in composing in a new genre, the Melodie. Composers such as Berlioz and Niedermeyer began to showcase the full expressive potential of French song, and Schubert’s Lieder, with their tendency for the music to express the content of the text, also gained popularity in France.
    • In contrast to the earlier Romance, Melodie tend to be harmonically adventurous with accompaniments that often rival the melody for attention. Although some melodie continue to be written in strophic form, other forms such as those listed in the summary above also become more popular. Many melodie are through-composed or are written with unique repetition schemes. The melodic lines of the melodie also tend to be more virtuosic with larger ranges and more expressive settings.
  • Analytical example