The term mélodie refers to a genre of art-songs that appeared in France during the 19th century. It is usually compared with the Lied, its German equivalent, and contrasted with the chanson, a French form of folksongs. Though the Lied was already popular in the early 1800's, the mélodie grew independently, strongly influenced by the romance (a form of less serious art-song). The most popular composers to write in mélodies were Berlioz, Massenet, Fauré, Duparc, Debussy, Ravel, and Roussel.