Fauxbourdon (was Re: Digest Number 3460)

Thanks, Daniel!

On Fauxbourdon, from www.klassik-heute.com (Classics Today), in German:

"Bei den Begriffen Falsobordone, Faburden, Fauxbourdon handelt es sich nicht
um blo�e Sprachvarianten von musikalisch vermeintlich gleichen
Sachverhalten. Der Faburden ist eine mehrstimmige Improvisationspraxis im
15. Jahrhundert in England. Hierbei wird die gregorianische Choralmelodie
(cantus firmus, c.f.) parallel eine Quart h�her verdoppelt, als dritte
Stimme tritt eine flexibler gestaltete Unterstimme hinzu, die sich im Terz-
und Quintabstand zur Choralmelodie bewegt. Dadurch entstehen
Terz-Sextakkordketten mit Quint-Oktav-Kl�ngen am Anfang und Ende und
zwischendurch. Der c.f. liegt hier in der Mittelstimme. Der franz�sische
Fauxbourdon (ebenfalls 15. Jahrhundert) dagegen stellt eine
Kompositionspraxis dar, die aber im Ergebnis ganz �hnlich aussieht. Zum
cantus firmus (in der Oberstimme!) wird eine zweite Stimme im Sext- und
Oktavabstand komponiert, die Mittelstimme wird nach festen Vorgaben
hinzuimprovisiert. Die sich ergebenden Quartparallelen zur Oberstimme (die
nach der damaligen Musiktheorie verboten waren!) tauchen somit nicht im
Notenbild auf. Dreistimmig wird der Fauxbourdonsatz erst bei der Ausf�hrung.
Der Falsobordone schlie�lich ist eine Form der mehrstimmigen Vertonung von
(haupts�chlich) Psalmen im ausgehenden 15. Jahrhundert. Die Psalmverse
werden dabei in einer Art mehrstimmigem Sprechgesang Silbe f�r Silbe auf dem
gleichen Akkord rezitiert, nur die Mittel- und Schlu�kadenzen sind
kunstvoller polyphon auskomponiert."

My attempt at producing a readable English translation follows -

"The concepts Falsobordone, Faburden, Fauxbourdon are not mere linguistic
variants of the apparently same musical circumstances.

The Faburden is a multivoiced improvisation practise in the 15th century in
England. This involved doubling a Gregorian Chorale melody (cantus firmus,
c.f.) by a parallel fourth above, while the third voice provided a more
flexibly formed lower voice moving at thirds and fifths to the Chorale
melody. From this practice there arises a harmony in six-three chords, with
fifths and octaves at the beginning and end; and occasionally the cantus
firmus lies in the middle voice.

The French Fauxbourdon (likewise 15th century) shows a composition practise
which seems quite similar, however, differing in its results. The second
voice was composed in sixths and octaves below the cantus firmus (in the
upper voice!), the middle voice eventually becoming by necessity improvised
within this range. The parallel fourths to the upper voice arising from
this (which the music theory at that time forbade!) therefore do not appear
in the notation. The Fauxbourdon becomes three-voiced only in execution.

Finally, the Falsobordone is a form of multivoiced setting of (principally)
psalms at the close of the 15th century. Besides, the psalm verses are
recited in a kind of multivoiced speech song, syllable for syllable on the
same chord, only the body and closing cadences being more skillfully
composed polyphony."

This tells me that the musical effect of each of these three practices would
have been remarkably different.

"faux bourdon" in modern French means a male bee, a drone. Literally, it is
a false "bourdon". "Bourdon" itself means a pilgrim's staff; a bumble-bee:
a great bell; and a bass organ voice. Or so I understand my _Larousse de
Poche_ to say ... .

Regards,
Yahya

-----Original Message-----
________________________________________________________________________
Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2005 20:06:46 +0200
From: Daniel Wolf
Subject: Re: Digest Number 3460

> Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2005 02:36:23 +1000
> From: "Yahya Abdal-Aziz"
> Subject: RE: Digest Number 3458
>
>
>
> Hi Daniel,
>
> I'm familiar with the term "Fauxbourdon" as an organ stop, and had
> read of "faburden" as being a form of descant singing in Western
> Europe. I had always assumed some connection between the two ...

Fauxbourdon, fabourdon, falsabordone etc. are variants.

>
> Can you point me to a (preferably online) reference giving more
> detail about the character and practice of "fauxburdon" as
> "a semi-improvised form of polyphony"?
>

try the New Grove, but if you read German, here's a quick summary:

http://www.klassik-heute.de/lexikon/lexikon_fauxbourdon.shtml

> BTW: "Islamdom" ??? Did you just make that up? In Arabic, we speak
> of the Jama`ah Islamiyyah, the Islamic community. YA
>

I follow the terms of Marshall G.S. Hodgson, whose three volume "The
Venture of Islam" is a genuine triumph of open-minded scholarship.

Daniel Wolf

________________________________________________________________________

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Yahya Abdal-Aziz" <yahya@m...> wrote:
>
Der französische
> Fauxbourdon (ebenfalls 15. Jahrhundert) dagegen stellt eine
> Kompositionspraxis dar, die aber im Ergebnis ganz ähnlich aussieht.

your translation:

> The French Fauxbourdon (likewise 15th century) shows a composition
practise
> which seems quite similar, however, differing in its results.

is not right, in fact has the opposite meaning.

It should be:

The French Fauuxbourdon (likewise 15th century), in contrast, presents
a compositional practice, one, however which appears quite similar in
result>

Gabor

PS Daniel is now in Greece for two weeks researching.

Gabor,

Yes, I struggled with making sense of that sentence; my German
was ever imperfect and is now very rusty.

From the descriptions of the French and English Fauxbourdon
practices, I suspect that they would sound quite different.

Does anyone have a link to some sound samples that attempt to
recreate the practices of Faubourdon in differnet countries?

Regards,
Yahya

-----Original Message-----
________________________________________________________________________
From: "alternativetuning"
Subject: Fauxbourdon (was Re: Digest Number 3460)

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Yahya Abdal-Aziz" <yahya@m...> wrote:
> Der franz�sische
> Fauxbourdon (ebenfalls 15. Jahrhundert) dagegen stellt eine
> Kompositionspraxis dar, die aber im Ergebnis ganz �hnlich aussieht.

your translation:

> The French Fauxbourdon (likewise 15th century) shows a composition
> practise which seems quite similar, however, differing in its results.

is not right, in fact has the opposite meaning.

It should be:

The French Fauxbourdon (likewise 15th century), in contrast, presents
a compositional practice, one, however which appears quite similar in
result.

Gabor

PS Daniel is now in Greece for two weeks researching.

________________________________________________________________________

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