Schlager music (German: Schlager, loosely translated as "a hit") is a style of popular music prevalent in Central and Northern Europe and the Balkans (in particular Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Flanders, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Switzerland, Scandinavia and the Baltic States) and also (to a lesser extent) in France and Poland. In Portugal, it was adapted and became pimba music. Typical schlager tracks are either sweet, highly sentimental ballads with a simple, catchy melody or light pop tunes. Lyrics typically center on love, relationships and feelings. The northern variant of schlager (notably in Finland) has taken elements from Nordic and Slavic folk songs, with lyrics tending towards melancholic and elegiac themes. Musically, schlager bears similarities to styles such as easy listening music.
The word schlager is also a loanword in some languages (Hungarian, Russian, Hebrew, Romanian, and Slovenian, for example), where it retained its meaning of a "(musical) hit". The style has been frequently represented at the Eurovision Song Contest and has been popular since it originated in 1956, although it is gradually being replaced by other pop music styles.
Famous quotes containing the word music:
“Orpheus with his lute made trees
And the mountain tops that freeze
Bow themselves when he did sing.
To his music plants and flowers
Ever sprung, as sun and showers
There had made a lasting spring.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)