Libera Dreams

Thank you for the wonderful reviews of what sounds like an extraordinary concert! I LOVE Christmas music and I LOVE Libera, and with this combination (with the addition of the legendary deep voices in white robes!!!) I can't wait for the DVD to be released and I do hope that Voca Me is included somewhere on it. Whew, that was a mouthful! What a treat for those who were fortunate enough to be able to attend, and what a continuance of excellence for Robert Prizeman and Libera!

Well worth the few hours drive north of the border.

Loved the concert, and enjoyed very much the banter with the other fans.

Until November in London (probably!)

I just wanted to chip in a little info about Angels We Have Heard On High, since I've heard it every Christmas for my entire life. It's not exactly the same as Angels from the Realms of Glory. I can't say I'm very familiar with Angels From the Realms of Glory, but the version I've mostly heard in the US (although I haven't heard it often here) does not have the "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" line and instead has the lyrics "Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn king." It also has a different tune. I looked it up on Wikipedia and here's an quote from the page that may be helpful:

"Before 1928, the hymn [Angels from the Realms of Glory] was sung to a variety of tunes, including "Regent Square", "Lewes" by John Randall, and "Wildersmouth" or "Feniton Court" by Edward Hopkins.[1] In the United States, the hymn is today most commonly sung to the tune of "Regent Square" by Henry Smart.[1] In the United Kingdom, however, the hymn came to be sung to the French carol tune "Iris"[2] (Les anges dans nos campagnes, the tune used for "Angels We Have Heard on High") after this setting was published in the Oxford Book of Carols,[1] except that the "Gloria in excelsis Deo" refrain is sung in place of Montgomery's original "Come and worship Christ the new-born King' refrain. "

Also, if you listen closely, there are some differences to the melody even when they're officially using the same tune. For instance, listen to the first line of each song - in Angels from the Realms of Glory, the second part of the word "glory" drops to a lower note, but in Angels We Have Heard On High there is usually no drop to the lower note. (Of course, depending on how RP arranged it, it might not actually make any difference.) Here's a pretty ordinary version of Angels We Have Heard On High which you can compare with the video Yorkie posted.

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Also, although the sound quality/singing isn't the best, here's the version of Angels From the Realms of Glory that I've heard here in the USA:

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Probably the bigger difference between the two songs would be the lyrics. Here are the first two verses of each for comparison:

Angels We Have Heard On High:

Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o’er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.

Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heavenly song?

Angels From the Realms of Glory:

Angels from the realms of glory
Wing your flight o'er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation's story
Now proclaim Messiah's birth

Shepherds, in the fields abiding,
Watching o'er your flocks by night,
God with man is now residing,
Yonder shines the infant light.

The rest of the verses are also different, but there are quite a few so I'm not posting them all. The Wikipedia pages are pretty informative about the lyrics, so here are the links if anyone wants them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_fro ... s_of_Glory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_we_ ... rd_on_high

That's probably way more information than anyone wanted to know, but I thought it was kind of interesting.

Defo had the Gloria chorus & lyrics were more like the first that you published.

The "Regent Square" tune for "Angels from the Realms of Glory" is also the one that I've sung in choirs in Anglican churches here in southwestern Ontario, Canada. I remember it being used at carol services close to Christmas.

Hey gang, great reviews of the Armagh concert, thanks for sharing them. I live in the Pacific Northwest, US and just happened to be in Ireland on business last week on route to Asia so needless to say that I was delighted to hear about the impromptu concert in Armagh. It was my 6th Libera concert in all but my first since they performed in Edinburgh, about 3 years ago?? I am not that familiar with the names of the boys but was very impressed with Michael, Thomas and Isaac. They all did wonderfully well on their solo's. Highlight's of the night for me were 'What Child is this' (I agree with Yorkie - Love this) 'The Wexford Carol', 'Carol of the Bells' and 'Still, Still, Still' .... can't wait for the DVD to come out in time for Christmas.

Nor'wester wrote: Highlight's of the night for me were 'What Child is this' (I agree with Yorkie - Love this) 'The Wexford Carol', 'Carol of the Bells' and 'Still, Still, Still' .... can't wait for the DVD to come out in time for Christmas.

It was great wasn't it. I didn't find the waits between songs to be a problem - in fact it helped to draw out the pleasure. oh, and you have impecable music taste too, not like the fans I ended up spending time with

So, I think we are getting nearer to the Angels from on High thing with the help from everybody. Per wiki:

Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o’er the plains
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains

CHORUS:

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Where the sung vowel sound "o" of "Gloria" is fluidly sustained through a lengthy rising and falling melismatic melodic sequence:

Glo-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-O-ri-a in Ex-cel-sis De-o!

Whilst looking at YouTube videos of the songs I found a nice version of the Wexford Carol - I don't mean to imply that this sounds the same as the Libera version, but it gives the flavour. I'll leave it for you to compare to the DVD and decide which version you like more!

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I just realized that this concert was missing something, I think anyway, and if this is the beginning of a new CD then that CD will be missing it too. Maybe it's just me, but does anyone else miss the song "In The Bleak Midwinter?" I know it was done on the Angelvoices 3 CD, but it's just a beautiful song and the harmonics would sound stunning. With the addition of "The Wexford Carol" this would be a good combination in my mind.

Anyone else? Am I just crazy or weird or something?

Yes........

LuxVenit wrote:I just realized that this concert was missing something, I think anyway, and if this is the beginning of a new CD then that CD will be missing it too. Maybe it's just me, but does anyone else miss the song "In The Bleak Midwinter?" I know it was done on the Angelvoices 3 CD, but it's just a beautiful song and the harmonics would sound stunning. With the addition of "The Wexford Carol" this would be a good combination in my mind.

Anyone else? Am I just crazy or weird or something?

Probably my favourite carol if it is the Darke arrangement. What was the AV version, Holst or Darke? I would always welcome a Libera version but overall I was pretty satisfied with what we got.

Yorkie wrote:Probably my favourite carol if it is the Darke arrangement. What was the AV version, Holst or Darke? I would always welcome a Libera version but overall I was pretty satisfied with what we got.

Pretty sure the one on the CD is the Holst version, which I tend to like a bit more, but both are indeed beautiful. And don't get me wrong, that song lineup (there was NO way I could have gone to the concert, but hoping for the DVD by Christmas) was quite enough newish seasonal material to keep me happy for awhile. Don't want to seem like the spoiled brat, always demanding more more more and screaming when I don't get it, lol. I just love the sounds of the Christmas season, especially when presented by Libera.

Yes, I think AV3 had the Holst version (which I also slightly prefer) but I do like both. It would have been great if they'd recorded that, but I'm pretty happy with the songs they chose also (except I really wanted to hear Veni Emmanuel, but I already mentioned that ). Actually now that I think of it, I'm a bit surprised that they didn't sing it, since they've sung it a few times in the last few years during interviews, but they haven't recorded it since way back then. Once was in this video in 2011, which you probably remember - In the Bleak Midwinter starts around 4:11.

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Also, they sang it in 2010 - the song starts around 5:39:

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On a different subject, does anyone know if the version of Away in a Manger in that first video (right after In the Bleak Midwinter) is the same one that they sang in the concert? I've been wondering about that, since there are at least two tunes that I hear frequently for Away in a Manger, and another tune for it that I've heard on a few rare occasions.

chris17 wrote: On a different subject, does anyone know if the version of Away in a Manger in that first video (right after In the Bleak Midwinter) is the same one that they sang in the concert? I've been wondering about that, since there are at least two tunes that I hear frequently for Away in a Manger, and another tune for it that I've heard on a few rare occasions.

Yes I do.

chris17 wrote:On a different subject, does anyone know if the version of Away in a Manger in that first video (right after In the Bleak Midwinter) is the same one that they sang in the concert? I've been wondering about that, since there are at least two tunes that I hear frequently for Away in a Manger, and another tune for it that I've heard on a few rare occasions.

Oh, you want me to tell you which version it was???

It was the arrangement used in AV3 which is the version that 99% of Brits would be familiar with from school as that is the De facto version overhere. I just listened to the next track on AV3 whislt confirming the Away in a Manger arrangement (which is God Rest You Merry Gentlemen) and the arrangement on that is almost identicle to Armagh too, including drum beat and flute parts.