A song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in sequence as a single entity. Usually all of the songs are by the same composer and use words from the same poet. A song cycle is unified by reference to a particular theme or by telling a story.
The term originated to describe cycles of songs (often called lieder) in classical music, and has been extended to apply to popular music.
Song cycles in classical music
The first example of a song cycle is generally thought to be Ludwig van Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte (1816). The genre was firmly established by the cycles of Franz Schubert: his Die schöne Müllerin (1823) and Winterreise (1827), based on poems by Wilhelm Müller, are among his most greatly admired works. Schubert's Schwanengesang (1828) is also frequently performed as a cycle, though it was not intended as such by Schubert - the songs were instead collected together by his publisher and his brother following the composer's death.
Song cycles has also been written by rock musicians. Many pop albums have included a short series of songs that tell a story, thus resembling a rock opera. Two early examples are The Who's "A Quick One While He's Away" (from A Quick One, which may have influenced Pete Townshend's rock operaTommy), and James Pankow's "Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon" (from Chicago's album Chicago II).
Popular music song cycles that focus on a particular theme rather than a narrative include concept albums such as Marvin Gaye's 1971 What's Going On and Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989), both of which address contemporary social and political issues.
The words of songs are typically of a poetic, rhyming nature, although they may be religious verses or free prose.
Art songs are songs created for performance in their own right, or for the purposes of a European upper class, usually with piano accompaniment, although they can also have other types of accompaniment such as an orchestra or string quartet, and are always notated.
The German word for song, "Lied" (plural: "Lieder"), is used in French and English-speaking communities to refer to the serious art song, whereas in German-speaking communities the word "Kunstlied" (plural: "Kunstlieder") is used to distinguish art song from folk song ("Volkslied").
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