Libera Dreams

Thanks "kinda_k00l" for giving us another review to read and react to. I will say that I loved "Three Ravens" from the first listen, but I can definitely understand how it may sound peculiar to some music listeners at first. While Bach is my favorite composer, I also listen to plenty of twentieth-century composers like Bartok and Stravinsky, so the modern harmonies of "Three Ravens" were no big problem for me. I agree that Gregor was great as the soloist. His sense of rhythm and phrasing was impressive from beginning to end. It feels as if this piece was just waiting for the right soloist to come around before he joined Libera. With "Salve Regina" I also find the instrumental parts to be the best thing about the song, although I still only get mild enjoyment out of the song. I also found Alex M.'s voice to be perfect for "Angele Dei", because it fits the mysterious, nighttime atmosphere of the song. The two climactic sections are a nice contrast to the rest of the song, like heavenly visions lighting up the night sky. When you mention the special chord(s) used by Robert in "Stabat Mater", they remind me of chords I've heard in some jazz and jazz-influenced music (even the way the French horn is used reminds me of that musical genre). I'm glad you mentioned the key changes in "Benedictus Deus". I hadn't thought about them much, but they really make the piece more exciting. By the way, if you want to hear orchestral music that takes key changes to an extreme, you should try listening to Carl Nielsen, although some of his music is pretty dissonant. I also have a slight preference for Sam W.'s voice in "Wayfaring Stranger" although the main reason is because of a couple "technical" issues in Alex G.'s voice(for example, the way his voice sounds nasal on "sickness", and the strained sound of his voice the two times he sings "I'm going there"). Outside of those technical issues, I think his voice is just as good.

bachmahlerfan wrote: ↑<span title="Tue Jul 25, 2017 1:19 am">6 years ago</span> ... although the main reason is because of a couple "technical" issues in Alex G.'s voice(for example, the way his voice sounds nasal on "sickness", and the strained sound of his voice the two times he sings "I'm going there"). Outside of those technical issues, I think his voice is just as good.

Yes, I agree about these "technical" issues on the CD. But I had the chance to hear Alex sing the song live in Ely. I paid special attention to it, as this was a song I was especially curious about. I must say, that Alex's voice was better, stronger and absolutely flawless during the live performance. Maybe it's the couple months of time between the recording and the concert which made such a difference, or maybe it was the cathedral ambience.

(With that amount of so called research but I'm still mistaken... Maybe I should stalk them further )
If 'Three Ravens' has not been performed live before, it is unlikely that the boys will sing it live for the time being, in my opinion. Dissonances, instead of being used on purpose to add some effects to a song, can easily cause pain to the ear when they are not performed flawlessly.
I've heard that Libera has never sung 'Touch The Sky' live, and my guess is that it was because of the dissonances in that song were very difficult to recreate perfectly - well when it comes to dissonances, 'Three Ravens' is like 'Touch The Sky's great grandpa or something (it's a bad analogy but I'm sure you guys get my point)...

Well, I can be wrong too; actually, in this case, I'm pretty much hoping I'm wrong since I want Libera to sing every single one of their song live.

Very nice reviews !
Read almost everything, thanks !

Very busy recently but here is my short review.

Missed everything but not Hope and that feels good !
It's a great CD with many great numbers like Stabat Mater and Three Ravens.
But my favorite is Venite Adoremus.
It entered easily my top 5 and that is a big achievement because the past is hard to beat.
It's simple but powerful.
This number makes me smile from the beginning until the end.
Hope to see it one day live.

I agree about Venite Adoremus, it's not just simple but powerful, it's absolutely hypnotic. I listen to the CD in my car. I'll be driving at night on a nearly deserted winding road, moon-beams piercing between the leaves of the trees, then Venite Adoremus comes on. It's quite a rush, a lifting transporting feeling. I have to remind myself to pay attention to following the road.

TullyBascombe wrote: ↑<span title="Sun Aug 20, 2017 4:24 am">6 years ago</span> it's not just simple but powerful, it's absolutely hypnotic.

Agreed, that's a better word

TullyBascombe wrote: ↑<span title="Sun Aug 20, 2017 4:24 am">6 years ago</span> I agree about Venite Adoremus, it's not just simple but powerful, it's absolutely hypnotic.

Yes, it is. But at the very first I didn't like the song, to be honest. I found it somehow boring and monotonous. Then, which each subsequent listening to it, it grew incredibly and now it belongs definitely to my top 14 favourite songs on the Hope album .

By the way, I was wondering about the introduction of Venite Adoremus. You can hear the same note sung for a very long time (mmm....aahhhhh....mmmm....). I wonder if the sound was sung live or perhaps a boy's voice was sampled and played electronically. Actually, it might be quite demanding to hold the note for such a long time.

andmar wrote: ↑<span title="Mon Aug 21, 2017 9:55 pm">6 years ago</span> By the way, I was wondering about the introduction of Venite Adoremus. You can hear the same note sung for a very long time (mmm....aahhhhh....mmmm....). I wonder if the sound was sung live or perhaps a boy's voice was sampled and played electronically. Actually, it might be quite demanding to hold the note for such a long time.

I think it's the boys' voices put in the synthesizer. I do notice those long notes (but it is not very clear & some parts are louder than others - if they're real voices singing, they may take a super short break to inhale some air at those times). As for the winner of the ultimate note holding competition, I would nominate the 'Amen' at the end of 'Benedictus Deus' (25 seconds long - I am sooooo looking forward to seeing how they manage that part in live concerts, but they haven't done this song so far).


Also I think I have to withdraw from my first impression about Alex G's version of Wayfaring Stranger. After seeing the live broadcast of the church service in Tulsa (where he did a solo of How Great Thou Art), I realized he's had what it takes all along.

I've always suspected that they manage to breath from time to time, just never all at the same time. I'm pretty sure some of them do breath during Sanctus' longs sentences, when I'm watching the DVDs.
And all the boys do not have the same ability to hold the notes ; I remember for example Nano-Ben, who's voice was beautiful but he needed to breath a lot. I guess that's something you can improve though.

I don't know how that would be called in english, in french we call that "un tuilage", it means "a tiling"... the tiles adjust to each other so that there will be no gap.

As for Venite Adoremus, it has never been performed on stage and maybe that's because these parts are really hard to perform and indeed they might have been "computerized". I hope someday they will do some arrangement that might be easier to sing live.

We call that "breathe choir-like" (chorisch atmen). Breathe alternately, like Padmachou explained. Never where your neighbour breathes. Doing this, the sound is not interrupted.

Impossible for a soloist, obviously! And when the soloist is nervous - something I can relate to very well, I always admire them for managing their solos - then his breath will go shorter. But I find that they do really fine most of the time!

filiarheni wrote: ↑<span title="Wed Aug 30, 2017 6:12 pm">6 years ago</span> We call that "breathe choir-like" (chorisch atmen). Breathe alternately, like Padmachou explained. Never where your neighbour breathes. Doing this, the sound is not interrupted.

It must be difficult for a choir to sing that way. I'd prefer that explanation much more over the one with recording the voice and playing it back, as I'm not a great fan of too much electronic manipulation of the natural voices.

Well, like filiarheni pointed out, it can't be "breathe-choir like" in Venite Adoremus, as the voices we hear are soloist voices. So, probably a manipulation... But that's why I said I would enjoy a "live" arrangement a lot, they would probably do it differently.

Not so hard, really, you just have to decide who will breath at which time. It isn't necessarily each a different time, you can cut the group in, like, 4 parts and there will always be 3/4 of the group singing when 1/4 will breath. The hard thing is to remember when you're supposed to breath, I used to forget my time and then would be too short

I second Padmachou, it's really easy, andmar. The conductors I have experienced simply told us that we should breathe choir-like - can any native speaker name the right English expression? - and let us do the rest on our own ("you here, me there") or sometimes we breathe when we are sure that our neighbours don't ... and anyway, it's a short breathing only - grab (nip? snap?), so that everyone's interruption of the song is as short as possible.

Well. One of a choir conductor's best-practised arts is to forbid breathing.

Sure if you're good enough not to breath
I remember I liked to work in pairs so that I would know when to breath and when the other one would breath. Libera boys MUST do the same, seeing how much they like eyeing each other during concerts

Interesting discussion. I have nothing to add but I find the idea of 'choir breathing' kind of fascinating