Sound Doctrine The Refrain WAV-FANTASTiC

I struggled to understand the title 'Refrain.'

"Is there a difference between a chorus and a refrain? Many people often find this distinction confusing."

In fact, it highlights a common oversight in music terminology throughout the 20th century, as the term 'refrain' has often been conflated with 'chorus,' leading to its widespread misuse in numerous significant texts over the decades.

There is no scholarly work prior to the 20th century that refers to this as a refrain. This confusion persists today, and the appropriate term remains 'chorus.'

So, why did the term 'refrain' come to be used so extensively? It originates from poetry, where it signifies a pause or freezing, derived from the Latin word 'refringere.'

This is relatively straightforward for speakers of languages directly descended from Latin, such as Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. However, for speakers of languages like German and English, the misunderstanding can be attributed to some bad musicologists.

However, it's reassuring to know that many esteemed universities, including those in the USA, France, Canada, and Germany, now embrace the correct terminology: CHORUS, rather than avoiding it.
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I will cite a perfect example from 'Dante Gabriel Rossetti' poetry, in bold parentheses is the refrain, the freezing of poetry

Heavenborn Helen, Sparta's queen,
(O Troy Town!)
Had two breasts of heavenly sheen,
The sun and moon of the heart's desire:
All Love's lordship lay between.
(O Troy's down,
Tall Troy's on fire!)

(notice that the refrain contains a clever phrase or word that explains or sums it all up.)
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While the chorus may not share this concern and allows everyone to sing freely without being constrained by a single idea, it resonates powerfully and lingers in the listener's mind:

We will, we will rock you
We will, we will rock you