Fauxbourdon is often seen as polyphony’s poor relation, suitable only for congregational Mass settings or choirs with too little rehearsal time. Frequently lacking the authority of authorship, these chant harmonisations have struggled to gain status. The booklet-notes for ‘Polyphonies oubliées’ go even further, claiming that fauxbourdons ‘cannot be regarded as musical works as such’ but rather ‘a collective means of expressing plainchant’. So why bother to record two discs of them?

Fauxbourdon represents perhaps the single longest continuous musical tradition in church music, one extending from the medieval period to the 21st century. Despite this, it is also the least recorded and studied genre. Enter FABRICA, a research project involving the Ensemble Gilles Binchois and academics from the universities of Toulouse. Over four years they rediscovered a lost repertoire in both research and performance, and this recording reflects the results in all their diversity, from the earliest improvised note-for-note harmonisations of the 16th century to the sophisticated fauxbourdon psalms and Magnificats of Charpentier and Sermisy.

In many ways fauxbourdon is a blank canvas, an invitation to each age to paint plainchant melodies with their own colours. By programming these two discs chronologically, the musicians offer listeners the opportunity to trace a gradual and evolving classical style, always with a melodic touchstone at their core.

Under director Dominique Vellard, the Ensemble Gilles Binchois prove their flexibility, stepping outside their usual sound world for the thick harmonies of the 19th century. Intonation, expression and ensemble remain an impeccable constant, and character and variety are aided by the contributions of the children’s choir Maîtrise de Toulouse. Would you listen to these discs straight through? Possibly not; but as a resource, an education, they are invaluable.