Goodall - Enchanted Voices

Enchanted Voices

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Goodall
‘Enchanted Voices’
Beati 1, Pro curatis. Beati 2, Pro alios curantibus. Beati 3, Pro eis solitariis. Beati 4, Pro eis sine domo. Beatitude 1, Beati pauperes. Beatitude 2, Beati mundo corde. Beatitude 3, Beati qui esurient. Beatitude 4, Beati qui lugent. Beatitude 5, Beati qui persecutionem. Beatitude 6, Beati misericordes. Beatitude 7, Beati mites. Beatitude 8, Beati pacifici. 
Enchanted Voices / Howard Goodall
Classic FM CFMD7

Blessed are those that hunger and thirst… for modulation
Howard Goodall’s “Enchanted Voices” sets the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount to “the unique sound of 21st century chant” (to quote the album’s cover). It’s scored for a small choir of female sopranos and solo cello, supported by a latter-day continuo ensemble (including an “Enchanted Keyboard”). The ensemble is heavily post-produced, and is no doubt intended to sound that way.

Goodall is the first to say that the chants are of his own devising, and the best of them do share some of the characteristics of chant: a narrow intervallic range, a free approach to meter, and an avoidance of wide leaps (as in the fourth Beatitude, Beati qui lugent – “Blessed are those who weep”). With one notable exception, the shorter and more energetic Beati misericordes (“Blessed are the merciful”), the tone is reverential, invoking the “churchy” vibe in which monody invariably requires chordal accompaniment. But as so often happens with “the real thing”, the imposition of harmony clips the wings of monody: it may sound familiar and comforting, but it cannot take flight. Another inherent risk is that the music will begin to sound like folk music (specifically, Celtic – think Enya) that’s been similarly bowdlerized – a pitfall that claims several of these settings.

Ultimately, what’s missing is any sense of real engagement with the subject matter. Are we meant to feel compassion towards the downtrodden, grieve with those who mourn, identify with the meek, or admire the peacemakers and the merciful? All well and good; but surely that’s not enough. If music serves a purpose, it is to suggest (to take the value-system we’re dealing with here on its own terms) how such sentiments might be transmuted into a lasting effect. The question is: can chill-out music have a soul? Fabrice Fitch