laforte
About the Laforte Catalogue
Conrad Laforte
Conrad Laforte (1921–2014) was a Canadian folklorist at Université Laval in Quebec City who devoted his career to preserving and classifying the French-language folk song tradition. His monumental work, the Catalogue de la chanson folklorique française (6 volumes, 1977–1987, Presses de l'Université Laval), remains the definitive reference for Francophone folk music scholarship.
Classification System
The catalogue organizes songs into six broad categories based on their poetic and musical structure, each divided into sub-categories and individually numbered entries.
| Category | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| I | Chansons en laisse | Epic-style songs built on monorhyme verses |
| II | Chansons strophiques | Strophic songs — the largest category |
| III | Chansons en forme de dialogue | Songs structured as dialogues |
| IV | Chansons énumératives | Cumulative or enumerative songs |
| V | Chansons brèves | Short songs, refrains, and ditties |
| VI | Chansons sur les timbres et les airs à danser | Contrafacta and dance songs |
How to Read a Laforte Number
Each entry in the catalogue is identified by a three-part code such as II-A-1:
- The Roman numeral identifies the category (I–VI above)
- The letter identifies the sub-category (A, B, C…)
- The final number is the sequential entry number within that sub-category
Metre Notation
Each song in the catalogue is assigned a metre code describing the syllabic structure of its verse. The code takes the form type:subtype(syllabic_pattern), where the type and subtype are numbers indicating the broad metrical class, and the parenthetical describes how many syllables appear in each line of a strophe.
| Symbol | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
8 |
A plain number gives the syllable count of a line | (8) |
+ |
A plus sign marks a hemistich — an internal rhythmic break within a line | (4+6) |
*N |
An asterisk followed by a number means that line type is repeated N times | (8*4) |
/ |
A slash indicates alternating line lengths | (11/10) |
, |
A comma separates different line types within the same strophe | (14,6+6) |
R: |
R: introduces the metre of the refrain, separated from the verse by a semicolon | 4:6(8); R:2(8) |
In This Database
Songs in this database include their Laforte catalogue number where it has been identified, allowing researchers to cross-reference individual songs with the broader corpus of Francophone folk music.