1. a type of Italian folk song or dance from the 16th century, typically in a simple rustic style
Usage: music; historical

Examples

• The Renaissance composer wrote several villanellas for the court entertainment.
• The villanella was popular among Italian peasants in the countryside.
• Musicians performed a lively villanella at the festival.
• The collection included both madrigals and villanellas from the period.
• She studied the structure of the traditional villanella in her music history class.