The first composers of villanellas were the Neapolitans Giovanni Domenico da Nola and Giovan Tomaso di Maio; later composers of villanellas, no longer from Naples, included Adrian Willaert, Luca Marenzio, Adriano Banchieri, Orlande de Lassus, Eva Dell'Acqua and others.
Villanella, tudi "canzona vilanesca", (množina villanelle — kar ne smemo zamenjevati s francosko pesniško obliko villanelle) je posvetna večglasna italijanska glasbena oblika, ki se je pojavila tik pred polovico 16. stoletja.