BARCAROLLE or BARCAROLE, properly a musical term for the songs sung by the Venetian gondoliers, and hence for an instrumental or vocal composition, generally in 6-8 time, writ ten in imitation of their characteristic rhythm. Famous examples are those of Chopin (one of his greatest works), Offenbach (the well-known number in Les Contes d'Ho ff mann), and Mendelssohn (in his Songs without Words).