Ballade (forme fixe)

The ballade (; ; not to be confused with the ballad) is a form of medieval and Renaissance French poetry as well as the corresponding musical chanson form. It was one of the three formes fixes (the

Musical form#

The musical form of a ballade stanza is a bar form ( \mathrm AAB ), with a first, repeated musical section (stollen) setting the two initial pairs of verses (rhyme scheme \mathrm ab ,, ab ), and the second section (abgesang) setting the remaining lines including the refrain verse ( \mathrm bcbC ). The two statements of the " \mathrm A " section often have different endings, known as “ouvert” and “clos” respectively, with the harmony of the “ouvert” ending leading back to the beginning and that of the “clos” ending leading forward into the " \mathrm B " section. In many ballades, the final part of the " \mathrm B " section may reintroduce melodic material referring back to the end of the \mathrm A part, a feature known as “musical rhyme” (or, in German, Rücklaufballade). An alternative form employed by Machaut, known as ballade duplex or balladelle, has the \mathrm B part also divided into two repetitions, with the refrain line sung as part of the repetition. A famous exception to the normal form is “Se la face ay pale” by Guillaume Dufay, where the entire stanza is through-composed, i.e. without a repetition between the two " \mathrm A " sections.

Notable writers of ballades#

Guillaume de Machaut wrote 42 ballades set to music. A few of them set two or even three poems to music simultaneously, with different texts sung in different voices. Most of the others have a single texted voice with either one or two untexted (instrumental) accompanying voices. One of the most notable writers of ballades in the 15th century was François Villon.

Variations#

There are many easy-to-identify variations to the ballade; it is in many ways similar to the ode and chant royal. Some ballades have five stanzas. A seven-line ballade, or ballade royal, consists of four stanzas of rhyme royal, all using the same three rhymes, all ending in a refrain, without an envoi. A ballade supreme has ten-line stanzas rhyming \mathrm ababbccdcD , with the envoi \mathrm ccdcD ,, ccdccD . An example is Ballade des Pendus by François Villon. There are also instances of a double ballade and double-refrain ballade.

Genre family: Medieval music genres