Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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590 SONG
Ex 5
SpotUed op da Bossu.^
d-pael, dit had ick mij >
lose their classical character of regularity of
form.
Belginm being a bilingual country the folksongs
are divided into two classes, Flemish and
Walloon.^ The Flemish are more numerous
and widespread ; indeed they extend north
into Holland, where they intermingle with the
Dutch. The Walloon songs are more local,
though they include all those sung in French
or in the curious Walloon dialect. ' Just as the
Flemish people show affinity with the German,
the Walloons resemble the French. The grace
and liveliness of the French cfiamson, the love
the French have for satirical words and strongly
marked dance-rhythms,^ are qualities exhibited
by the Walloons. In the district round Li^ge
a particular genre of satirical song exists, called
la pasqueye, and amongst the numerous Belgian
dance -songs, the 'Cramignons' of the same
district should be especially noticed. The
following is a favourite :
Ex. 6.
Cramignon.^
tu! Wise' dont po drl lea ca bus.
The traditional ballads of the old French
1 This song does not appear In the first editions of the Gneux
soug-bpok, but the melody is given in Luther's hymn-book of 1524
to words by Speratus, Bs * ist das Hell ' ; afterwards it was used by
the Bohemian Brothers, and by the Lutherans in Antwerp in 1573.
Winterfeld says in his Evans/.' KircheTigesang, 1. 41, that in its
original form It was undoubtedly a secular folk-song.
2 '
Chansons pop. des provinces Beiges ' (preface), Ernest Closson.
» This dialect was dying out, but within the last twenty years
efforts have been made by the Lidge poet Nicolas Defrecheux and
by folk-lorists to preserve it.
* 3-4 and 6-8 time are very common among the Walloon songs.
6 Terry and Ohaumont's collection, from which the above is
taken, includes over 200.
provinces, Lorraine, Picardy, Auvergne, and
Provence, survive in the Ardennes. In the
Walloon songs the refrains follow much the
same lines as other countries ; rhyme is by no
means universal, and is often replaced by mere
assonance ; the dialogue form is very common,
and consists of innumerable strophes.' Modal
melodies are frequently found amongst the
Noels and other religious songs. The profound
sincerity and naivete of the Woels must appeal
to all, and if a vein of realistic familiarity,
attractive to the peasantry, is repellent to the
more cultivated taste, none will deny tha,t
they possess a touching charm of their own,
difficult to convey in words.
It is inevitable that songs handed down
century after century should undergo changes,
but this is less so in the Netherlands than in
most other countries. Conscious of their value,
Flemish and Dutch musicians have at all times
been assiduous in forming collections of their
songs and thus preserving them in their original
condition.' This has not been the case with
the French and Walloon-speaking inhabitants
of the country. They have depended on oral
tradition, and hence their songs have suffered
considerable deterioration in the course of time.
Indifference to the folk-song steadily gained
ground among this people, and their preference
for debased tunes from the vwudemlle and opSracomique
was fostered by inferior composers,
who wrote in accordance with the prevailing
taste. Fortunately this evil is now being
counteracted by earnest musicians,^ who are
devoting themselves to the task of rescuing the
folk-songs from neglect, and issuing exhaustive
collections from the various districts. The
wealth of songs and their beauty have fully
justified their labours.
After the 16th century, the glory of the
Flemish school ' waned ; the contrapuntal age
was over and monody reigned in its place.
From henceforth very few musicians of any
importance devoted their talents to vocal music.
As representative songs of the 18th century we
may mention those by the Flemish composer
G. de Fesch, who came over to England about
1730 and published there a volume entitled
'
Canzonette ed Arie a voce sola,.' They are
sentimental like the French songs of the period,
regular in form, with fairly agreeable harmony.
Of greater interest are the songs interspersed in
6 The (Flemish) lace-makers for instance have their own especial
songs with apparently meaningless words, but which represent to
them a given number or kind of stitch. Each worker takes up
one of these endless verses in turn. See Lootens and Fey's ' Chants
pop. Flamands.'
^ The efforts of the members of the Maatschapplj tot bevordering
der Toonkunst and their Intei«etlng publications have greatly
contributed to this end. H. Bogge, J. P. Land, A. D. Loman,
•T. BSnligen, F, van nuyae, D. F. Scheuleer, and Ensched^ also
deserve special recognition in this connection.
B Among these the names of L. Terry and Chaumont, Lootene and
Feys, L. Jouret, E. Cloeson, O. Colson (the director of the LI^
review Weitlonia, which contains much information about the
WaUoon folk-songs), and the curd J. Bols hold an honoured place.
9 Technically, the term Flemish has no' longer the same significance
as it had earlier ; that is to say, it is now more identified
with Belgian than with Dutch art.