In the preface, Titelouze explains that this structure makes these Magnificat settings usable for the "Benedictus." Save for the introductory ones, all of the versets are fugal. Most feature two main points of imitation: the first concludes on the mediant cadence of the mode, and so, Titelouze writes, the organist can shorten any verset during the service by substituting this cadence with one on the final. Most fugue subjects are derived from the chant; there are many double fugues and inversion fugues in the collection. Four-voice polyphony is employed throughout the collection. The music is much more forward-looking than in the "Hymnes" (see "Example 2" for an excerpt from one of the inversion fugues).