barcarole

noun

1. A Venetian folk song traditionally sung by gondoliers, often in ⁶⁄₈ or ¹²⁄₈ time with alternating strong and weak beats imitating a rowing motion.

   “Venice! dear beautiful Venice! scene of harmony and love! where all was gayety and mirth, revelry and pleasure, with what warm feelings do I recall thee to my memory; day and night were the gondoliers singing barcarolles, or the verses of [Torquato] Tasso and [Ludovico] Ariosto to Venetian airs; […]”

   “In Venice! This night is so delicious—its air / Full of moonlight and passionate snatches of song, […] / —with a song full of dole, / A forlorn barcarole, / As my gondola glides.”

2. A piece of music composed in imitation of such a song.

   “A Barcarolle, with variations for the Pianoforte and flute, ad lib. by [Jean Théodore] Latour, opens with an introduction of great feeling and elegance. The Barcarolle is composed by [Jacques Féréol] Mazas, the great violinist, and has been played by him at the Philharmonic Concerts, and is original and graceful.”

   “But perhaps the best airs are those of Italy (particularly the Venetian) and Spain. […] The bolero, the barcarole, the canzonetta, and romance, have all the gaiety, softness, tenderness, and chivalry, which we associate with the troubadours, the gay squires, and sprightly dames, of the early ages of poetry and music.”

   “[H]e was in the drawing-room before any of us; and I heard him at the piano while I was yet looking after my housekeeping, singing refrains of barcaroles and drinking songs Italian and German by the score.”

   “Later in the evening Mr. [Anton] Rubinstein played his smaller pieces, such as the march from "The Ruins of Athens," his own "Barcarolle," and "Valse Caprice," and the enthusiasm and appreciation of his intelligent audience grew greater and greater.”