Falsobordone

Most often associated with the harmonization of Gregorian psalm tones, it is based on root position triads and is first known to have appeared in southern Europe in the 1480s.

There is no consensus on the exact relationship between falsobordone and the etymologically related fauxbourdon, and the historical use of the terms is not consistent.

Thus, strictly applying Guilielmus’ rules makes forbidden parallels impossible, even without preplanning the harmony.

The recitation is followed by an elaborate cadence in which the chord changes every beat, more or less in the manner described above, but rarely in an absolutely strict alternation of 1-3-5-8 and 1-5-8-10 voicings.

Since most tenors (cantus firmi, traditional chant melodies) would have ended with a descending step to the finalis (the tonal center of a mode, comparable to a tonic), the bass voice would consequently approach the finalis from a fourth below, resulting in a chord succession that anticipates the dominant–tonic relationship that would govern later music.

Relative to tonal music, this ending could be described as a Perfect Authentic Cadence, with the soprano ascending from the leading tone to the tonic.

For example, the harmonization of a descending scale with the strict alternation of 1-5-8-10 and 1-3-5-8 voicings generates the traditional voice leading of the descending thirds sequence that famously forms the basis of Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D; this sequence can be seen in the hypothetical falsobordone example provided above (in the section “Construction and Relationship to Fauxbourdon”).

A comparison of fauxbourdon and falsobordone through a hypothetical example applying each technique to a descending scale. Both techniques maintain parallel sixths between the soprano and tenor. However, in fauxbourdon, the countertenor maintains strict parallel fourths below the soprano, while in falsobordone, the fourths alternate with thirds and a bass voice is added, alternating between fifths and thirds. The Roman Numeral/Figured Bass analysis is anachronistic, but demonstrates that while fauxbourdon produces a succession of first-inversion triads in close position, falsobordone produces root-position triads in close position in which the soprano alternately carries the root or the third of the triad. In a descending scale such as this, falsobordone also produces the traditional voice leading of the descending thirds sequence common in tonal music.
A falsobordone setting of Dixit dominus, originally from Barcelona, Bibl. cent. 454 (f. 177v). Adapted from Trumble, Falsobordone: An Historical Survey , 55. After a single chord change intonation, the falsobordone harmonizes the reciting tone of the second psalm tone, complete with mediant, followed by an elaborate medial cadence. Another single chord intonation leads back to the recitation tone, followed by another elaborate cadence. The recitation and the last few chords of the cadence follow the traditional alternation of chord voicings; the rest is more varied, but are almost entirely root position triads with the upper three voices in close position.