In vocal music, contrafactum (or contrafact, pl. contrafacta) is "the substitution of one text for another without substantial change to the music".[1] The earliest known examples of this procedure (sometimes referred to as ''adaptation'') date back to the 9th century used in connection with Gregorian chant.[2]
Translations meant for singing are not usually intentional "substitution". Types of contrafacta that are wholesale substitution of a different text include the following:
An existing tune already possessing secular or sacred words is given a new poem, which often happens in hymns, and sometimes, more than one new set of words is created over time. Examples include:
A lyricist might re-cast his/her own song (or someone else's song) with new lyrics. Examples include:
Intentional parodies of lyrics, especially for satirical purposes. Examples include;
Writers of contrafacta and parody tried to emulate an earlier song's poetic metre, rhyme scheme, and musical metre. They went further by also establishing a close connection to the model's words and ideas and adapting them to a new purpose, whether humorous or serious.[5]
The Australian music quiz show, Spicks and Specks has a game called Substitute, in which players have to identify a popular-music song from someone singing completely unrelated words, such as from a book about knitting, to the tune of that song.
Other notable songs with significantly-different lyrics in different languages include the following:
Songs which have been re-written by the same writer with different lyrics include:
Contrafactum has been used in writing several national anthems, such as those of the United States,[8] the United Kingdom, Russia, Estonia and the Netherlands.