romance

la romance (FR N-F) from the Provencal romans, denoting any work of literature not in Latin, but in the vernacular. In music, a song, generally melodically simple or accessible, with verses and a refrain. The romance can be seen as a precursor to the true French mélodie, though the poetry of the romance was usually not of the highest artistic value and the accompaniments were rarely independent of the voice parts. First appears in French in the 18th century, (1599: Spanish poem). (Bourget…