New user seeking tips on fauxbourdon
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,211
    This discussion was created from comments split from: Forum etiquette: say who you are.
  • Donrita
    Posts: 1
    Hi everyone,
    I'm a newbie, Donrita, from Sydney, Australia. I direct several Catholic Church choirs, including the John Paul Singers, originally set up by my late mentor, Br Colin D. Smith. This choir aspires to tour to Clifton and Wells, UK, in July 2014. The catch is that we will be singing Anglican Evensong, Sunday Matins and Eucharist at Wells, which means a steep learning curve for me in particular, including learning Gregorian chant of the psalter. I am particularly interested in including Faux Bourdon for some of the psalm verses. Any tips will be gratefully received.
    Thanked by 1noel jones, aago
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,211
    Welcome, Donrita!
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    Donrita - Looks like we're both exploring similar things. In Voce Editions (on Score Exchange) sells a set of Fauxbourdon tones. They're on my rather long list of things to buy.

    I've sung a couple of responsorial psalms set up as Fauxbourdons - The one for Ash Wednesday is also the seasonal psalm for Lent.
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,778
    When we have sung Fauxbourdons, we have never had music, either it has been an extra part singing higher, and a fixed drone. Or groups singing higher and lower than the original.

    The differences can vary... sometimes a 4th or a 5th... Our occasional choir director seems to have little difficulty setting it up, and can do it with random pieces of chant.
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    Are you looking for hints for singing Fauxbourdons (as tomjaw described above) or polyphonic Folsobordone chants (by Lassus, for example)? There's quite a difference!

    For the Folsobordone try looking at CPDL or IMSLP
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    Just so I'm clear, is this an example of fauxbourdon singing?

    (It's a YouTube video of a student schola singing the Simple English Propers at the Liturgical Institute of St. Mary of the Lake University in the summer of 2011. The harmonization starts just before the 1:00 mark.)
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,778
    I would suggest this as an example of the drone,

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmkhk9Z8Lu4

    And this as an example of the higher and lower, the Kyrie lends itself to add the extra parts with each invocation.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sVt4Ni1z3U

  • rich_enough
    Posts: 1,047
    I've posted a large number of my responsorial psalms with verses in fauxbourdon (mostly adapted from Renaissance composers) at the Chabanel psalms website, if these would help you at all.

    Sam Schmitt
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