Villanella

Italian influence is especially evident in the first book, but all of the songs display the essential features of the villanella – dancelike rhythms, moments of homophony, simple harmony and melodies the latter often confined to the top voice in the texture, as well as parallel 5ths. ❋ Lu (2009)

The results were good, certainly; but his position in the history of the lied has been described by Osthoff, 1938 as that of an innovator who discarded German tradition, that of the Tenorlied, in favour of a style mixing elements of the madrigal, the villanella and the chanson. ❋ Lu (2009)

Relationships to the villanella and lighter madrigal may of course be seen Lassus knew the celebrated German villanella collections of Regnart, and the presence of chanson-like rhythms is frequent. ❋ Lu (2009)

His achievement in these songs lay in bringing the genre, which with other composers still adhered to the imitative style of classical vocal polyphony, closer to the popular style of the villanella. ❋ Lu (2009)

This ‘villanella’ style see Boetticher, perhaps better termed ‘canzonetta style’, may indicate a desire for a more up-to-date vocabulary on Lassus’s part. ❋ Lu (2009)