Lyrics

Text and Music

Ancient and medieval music made little distinction between poetry and lyrics. Ancient Greek lyric poetry (fl. 700–500 B.C.E.), also known as “melic” poetry (from melos, or “song”) was created by known lyricists such as Sappho and Pindar. The word lyric derives from lyrikos, meaning “singing to the lyre.” While melic poetry was sung or chanted to the accompaniment of a lyre, the songs bear little resemblance to modern-day lyrics. The cansos of the medieval troubadours, probably influenced by Moorish Spain, bear some resemblance to modern strophic songs; however, [Page 662]most sources for troubadour music include only the lyric. English verse became separated into lyrics and poetry in the first half of the 16th century when the English sonnet brought spoken poetry into dominance; however, sung lyric did not vanish. From its beginnings in the 17th century, opera set words to music, and became one of the most significant genres of Western art music.

A precursor to popular song was the art song, a classical genre usually scored for voice and piano. The lied, a 19th-century German art song, popularized the form; however, the texts of these songs were not lyrics in the modern sense, but poems set to music. German composers such as Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms were inspired by romantic German poets such as Matthias Claudius (“Der Tod und das Mädchen”), and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (“Gretchen am Spinnrade”). Composers tried to reflect the intent of the poem in the music using word-painting, modulation, rhythm, range, and other musical devices, and the poem was dominant. Other national traditions contributed their art songs, notably Russia (Modest Petrovich Mussourgsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff) and Great Britain (Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten).

The art song sired a popular form, the parlor song, which was also scored for piano and voice, but was less technically demanding of both. They were particularly popular in the United States. The texts were usually sentimental, and used themes such as affection for a loved one (“The Hazel Dell”), home (“Home, Sweet Home”), mortality (“Come Chance that Starting Tear Away”), and estrangement (“Alone, Alone”). Lyrics were written by a professional lyricist or by the composer, and the text was usually simply and syllabically set. The structural form customarily involved multiple quatrain verses, followed by a repeated couplet chorus.

...