Song cycles : a brief history with examples

However carefully critics and historians outline the past and the present state of music, analyze its trends, and attempt to predict its future course, new developments are almost always a surprise. The appearance of a new musical technique or style usually seems to be both natural and inevitable. The new is then seen as an outgrowth of existing patterns and conditions. In just such a manner the appearance of the song cycle as an art form developed out of a long, pre-existing tradition.