Frottola: Italian secular song of the Renaissance
The frottola was the leading secular song form in late 15th–early 16th century Italy, simple and homophonic, often for voices with lute or chordal accompaniment and a direct connection to the later madrigal.
Overview
The frottola (plural: frottole) was the most popular secular song form in Italy during the late 15th century and early 16th century. It supplied courtly and urban audiences with accessible, often light-hearted pieces intended for performance by small vocal ensembles or by a single singer with instrumental support.
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Musical characteristics
Frottole typically emphasize a clear melodic line in the top voice while the lower voices provide chordal backing rather than independent counterpoint. This homophonic texture produces immediate, tuneful music with straightforward rhythms and syllabic text setting. Common traits include strophic forms or repeating patterns, brief length, and texts in the vernacular concerned with love, humor, or everyday themes. The accompaniment could be improvised or written, and sources show both small-group vocal performance and solo song with lute or plucked instruments.
Performing forces and notation
- Ensembles: three or four voices with the melody in the highest part and supporting voices forming simple harmonies.
- Solo performance: a single voice accompanied by lute or similar plucked instrument, illustrating the link between vocal and instrumental practice; see the role of the lute and the possibility of solo singing.
- Texture: often non-contrapuntal, using chords to accompany a principal tune (chords).
History and development
The frottola emerged from late medieval Italian song traditions and became a dominant secular genre at courts and in urban centers. Composers such as Bartolomeo Tromboncino are closely associated with high-quality examples. Even composers better known for polyphony, like Josquin, produced pieces in a similar vein—his popular El Grillo ("The Cricket") imitates insect chirping, a playful effect in which singers mimic a cricket’s sound (chirping).
Legacy and importance
Printed collections and court patronage helped distribute frottole across northern and central Italy, and the genre played a formative role in the emergence of the madrigal. By about 1530 the frottola’s straightforward style had evolved into the more text-driven and expressive madrigal, which absorbed and expanded the frottola’s interest in vernacular poetry and soloistic expression while developing richer contrapuntal and expressive techniques.
Today frottole are studied for their insight into Renaissance popular taste, performance practice, and the transition from medieval song forms to the expressive secular music of the High Renaissance. Recordings and modern editions make many frottole accessible to listeners and performers interested in early music repertoire.
Questions and answers
Q: What is a frottola?
A: A frottola is the most popular secular song in Italy during the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
Q: How were frottole sung?
A: Frottole were often sung by small groups of singers. Sometimes they might have been sung by a solo voice with a lute accompaniment.
Q: Were frottole contrapuntal?
A: No, they were not contrapuntal, but they had a tune in the top part while the other singers sang chords to accompany the tune.
Q: Who was the most famous composer of frottole?
A: The most famous composer of frottole was Bartolomeo Tromboncino.
Q: Did Josquin compose frottole?
A: Yes, Josquin also composed frottole, although that is not what he called them.
Q: Can you give an example of a frottola?
A: El Grillo (The Cricket) is a well-known frottola in which the singers try to sound like the chirping of a cricket in the grass.
Q: What did the frottola develop into?
A: About the year 1530, the frottola developed into the madrigal.
Author
AlegsaOnline.com Frottola: Italian secular song of the Renaissance Leandro Alegsa
URL: https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/36844