Howard Goodall: Choir Works / Choirs Perform

I bought this solely for Howard Goodall's discussion of Metered Singing of the Deep South. It's a dying form of Gospel that you will only see in the oldest of black churches in the southern United States. It's only a short segment of the video, but I've never found another video that documents it. I'm glad I've got it, because the last time I visited my Mother's church, they sang fewer metered songs. Everybody is passing on.

Howard Goodall presents his wealth of knowledge in a wonderfully effective manner.

HOWARD IS FABULOUSq

This program is actually 10 years old, but it doesn't look dated at all. In it, composer Howard Goodall travels the world to observe choral traditions in Africa, America, Estonia, and at home in England. Each one of the choirs makes fantastically beautiful music, and the DVD includes uninterrupted performances from all of them.Howard Goodall never disappoints as a presenter. Not ever. Placing him in front of a camera works so well that it's astonishing that he didn't begin doing these things until the mid-1990s. The fact that he writes all (most?) of the words that he says makes him seem all the more brilliant.It is entirely appropriate that this documentary series be presented as a personal journey, as the emotional content of the music necessitates something more than film and a factual voice-over (and there is some of that for support, also). Goodall's relations with the singers as they tell him about why they sing and what it means are politely curious and enthusiastic. Sometimes he can get "naff" or cheesy, but even watching that happen is supremely pleasurable because his bravery is so inspiring.I await eagerly the release of more of his television work.

There's no denying that Howard Goodall is a very talented musician and TV presenter. I've got many of his other offerings and was a little disappointed with this, which I thought was a little formulaic. The captions looked the same, the episode structure looked familiar.. If you liked "Big Bangs" (without doubt his best, I think) you'll probably want to see this, but prepare not to see fireworks. Incidentally, one of the choirs featured is South Africa's Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Paul simon has produced a DVD called "Under African Skies" which is significantly more enmtertaining.

Excellent!

This whole series is fantastic. Very interesting with bits of historical information that most are not familiar with. Great video and great commentary and easy to understand. Makes you want to go and take a music history degree. I saw this on TV years ago and have been looking for it ever since. ThanksAmazon