View source for Frottola

The '''frottola''' was a northern [[Italian]] [[polyphony|polyphonic]] song type of the period between about 1470 and 1530 that catered for humorous or sentimental verses popular at the time. Verses were set for three – later four – voices, usually with a soprano main melody. Occasionally the supporting voices were replaced by instruments, usually viols, or winds or even by a single [[lute]]. It was similar to the later [[English]] ''Ayre'' (See [[madrigal]]) and the Neapolitan ''“[[villanella]]”'' in that multiple verses were each sung to the same tune. 
It was taken over by the more sophisticated and flexible [[madrigal]] which was more suitable for the increasingly varied texts of interest to the [[Renaissance]] Italians.


References:

“Oxford Companion to Music”

“The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music”

[[Category:Musical Forms]]
[[Category:Songs]]