Collectio Musicorum - Media

In the Magnificat, the composer allows the voices to move within carefully considered vertical sonorities. The Magnificat is in the Third Mode and is constructed in alternatim praxis through all twelve verses; i.e. the plainsong begins the first verse and then alternates with polyphonic settings of the even verses. The first plainsong formula for Tone 3, with the ending on A, remains in the superius part throughout.  Here Pipelare looks to the future, not only in his careful treatment of dissonance but also in his sense of balance both among the voice parts and in the phrase structures.