This collection of fauxbourdon Magnificats, one for each of the eight tones, originated in a request to add to the settings available for the office of Vespers on Sundays at Buckfast Abbey. Fauxbourdons have been sung alternatim with chant for hundreds of years, and a considerable repertoire exists, particularly from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Many are in four parts and deploy a restricted ambitus across the texture; they can consequently feel rather plain on Sundays and feastdays when heard alongside ornate motets and organ music. The Magnificat, the Gospel Canticle, is the climax of Vespers, and requires a degree of solemnity on these occasions. Yet, while it has inspired many exceptional polyphonic and through-composed works, a more concise form of choral response to the chant suits the setting for which these fauxbourdons were commissioned.

This set is based on the model composed for Westminster Cathedral by David Bevan, a master of the form. They provide dignity and solemnity to the Magnificat, even – perhaps especially – on the greater festivals, and are an ideal length, neatly embracing the censing of the altar; yet each fauxbourdon encompassed an interesting and comfortably repeatable harmonic journey.

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