Canzonetta

In music, a canzonetta (pl. canzonette or canzonettas) was a popular Italian secular vocal composition which originated around 1560. In its earlier versions it was somewhat like a madrigal but lighter in style; but by the 18th century, especially as it moved outside of Italy, the term came to mean a song for voice and accompaniment, usually in a light secular style.

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In its earliest form, the canzonetta was closely related to a popular Neapolitan form, the villanella. The songs were always secular, and generally involved pastoral, irreverent, or erotic subjects. The rhyme and stanza schemes of the poems varied but always included a final "punch line." Typically the early canzonetta was for three unaccompanied voices, moved quickly, and shunned contrapuntal complexity, though it often involved animated cross-rhythms. It was fun to sing, hugely popular, and quickly caught on throughout Italy, paralleling the madrigal, with which it later began to interact. The earliest books of canzonettas were published by Giovanni Ferretti and Girolamo Conversi in 1567 and 1572, respectively.

Italian: Italian may refer to:...

Madrigal: Madrigal may refer to:...

18th century: As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800 in the Gregorian calendar....