Women in Harmony.

I’m currently listening to an album by the Hebridean singer, Julie Fowlis. My favourite song includes a backing track of female voices in harmony, and I’ve noticed many times in my life that female voices raised in harmony cause a curious ripple of pleasure somewhere in a deep part of my mind. Whether it be Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, my favourite chorus from the Polovtsian Dances, or a trio of Scottish lassies singing in Gaelic, the effect is always the same. I find it uplifting and even empowering.

So why is this? Could it be because my mother was a reasonably accomplished soprano who sang around the house when I was a child? I doubt it because it takes more than one voice to produce harmony, and it’s the harmony which produces the effect. I really have no idea. Maybe I’ll find out when the day of the big debrief finally arrives.