Song forms
Ayre
From the Renaissance period, this style of song could be sung by a solo voice or several voices singing in harmony and accompanied by a lute. The most prolific composer of this style was John Dowland, who wrote several books of 'Songes and Ayres'. Listen to this example sung by a counter tenor accompanied by a lute. Notice the arpeggios in the lute accompaniment, the timbre of the counter tenor voice and the rubato in this style of singing.
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Lied
This term (the German word for song) refers specifically in the Romantic era to works for solo voice and piano. The text is in German; the structure of the verses could be strophic or through composed. An important feature is that the voice and piano are equally important with the piano often setting the atmosphere for the text of the song in the accompaniment. Listen to a baritone singing an excerpt from 'Standchen' (Serenade) by Schubert, who wrote over two hundred songs of this style.
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Other composers such as Schumann and Brahms also wrote large numbers. Listen to this example by Schumann sung by alto voice.
See Strophic and through composed below
Song Cycle
A group of songs linked by a common theme or with a text written by the same author, usually accompanied by piano but sometimes by small ensembles or full orchestra. There could be no limit to the number of songs and this excerpt, 'Der Lindenbaum' (The Linden Tree), is from 'Winterreise' (A Winter's Journey), a cycle of 20 songs by Franz Schubert. You can clearly hear the composer describing the breeze in the tree in the piano part.
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There are also excellent examples from the twentieth century, particularly by the English composer Vaughan Williams. Listen to this example from 'The Songs of Travel' and notice that the whole accompaniment is built on arpeggios.
Other examples from later in the twentieth century are by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett in his suites of songs, 'The Aviary' and 'The Insect World'.
Strophic
A vocal or choral composition in which each verse has the same music. This style is most common in folk songs and here is an example of an English folk song, The Sally Gardens in which the melody is strophic but the composer of the accompaniment, Benjamin Britten, changes this in the last verse to add atmosphere to the words.
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Now listen to another example by the same composer, sung by a baritone voice. Notice that although the melody of the song is strophic, the accompaniment changes with each verse.
´ In verses one and two the piano part plays in canon with the baritone melody.
´ In verse three it is in canon and in the bass part of the accompaniment.
´ In verse five not only is the accompaniment in canon with the solo voice but it is also in a different key and is a very clear example of polytonality.
Through composed
A vocal or choral composition in which there is little or no repetition of the music. Listen to a song from 'The Songs of Travel' by Vaughan Williams. Notice how the accompaniment is played staccato on the piano, how this is then interspersed with arpeggios and the frequent use of rubato in the music.
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