faburden Music. Obs. exc. Hist.
Forms: 5 faburdon, -thon, -thyn, 6 fabourdoun, 6–7 faburthen, 6– faburden.
[a. Fr. faux-bourdon (Ch. D'Orléans a 1466), i.e. faux false + bourdon bourdon2.]
1. ‘One of the early systems of harmonizing a given portion of plain-song or a canto fermo, afterwards used as a term for a sort of harmony consisting of thirds and sixths, added to a canto fermo’ (Stainer and Barrett).
| 14.. Chilston in Hawkins Hist. Mus. (1776) II. 228 Faburdun hath but two sightis, a thyrd aboue the plain⁓song in sight, the which is a syxt fro the treble in uoice; and euen wyth the plain-song in sight, the wheche is an eyghth from the treble in uoise. [1462 W. Wey Itin. ii. (Roxb.) 96 Cantabamus in honore Dei et beate Marie Magnificat, in faburthon. 1484 Visitations of Southwell Minster (Camden) 46 In cantando faburdon non servat ritum chori.] 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. i. xlii, In modulation hard I play and sing Fabourdoun, pricksang, discant. 1529 Will J. Robynson (Somerset Ho.), Preestes..whiche shall singe playn songe and faburden. 1590 J. Burel Queen's Entry Edin. xx. in Collect. Scot. Poems ii. (1709) 5 Fabourdon fell with decadence, With pricksang, and the singing plane. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. Annot., Here is an example, first the plainsong, and then the Faburden. a 1789 Burney Hist. Mus. (ed. 2) II. ii. 139 What has since been called Counterpoint or in old English, Faburden. |
2. a. The undersong; = burden n. 9.
| 1587 Gascoigne Flowers Wks. 94 When the descant sings in treble tunes above..let fa burthen say below I liv'd and dide for love. 1587 ― Ferdinando Y ij b, His mistresse liked..to sing faburden under him. 1609 Pammelia 70 The fourth must sing the Faburthen [Bome, bome on the first line of the stave]. 1622 R. Tisdale Lawyer's Philos., Sighing a sad faburthen from my quill To thy more nimble warblings. |
b. The refrain; = burden n. 10.
| 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 308 Least thou come in againe with thy fa-burthen. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden K iv b, Hee was accustomed to make it the Fa burden to annie thing hee spake. a 1636 C. Fitzgeffrey Bless. Birthd. (1881) 137 Be sure no better straine then this can be The sweet Faburthen, to their melodie. |
3. A legend, motto.
| 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. 52 On his target he had a number of crawling wormes kept vnder by a blocke, the faburthen speramus lucem. |
4. attrib. quasi-adj. ? High-sounding.
| 1596 Lodge Wits Miserie 9 Mirabile, miraculoso, stupendo, and such faburthen words. |