Speculations about the Christmas concert 2016

[fan_de_LoK]

I made a little study based on the songs that were sung at recent Christmas concerts and at the last concert :
- St Patrick RC, Armagh, 2013 "Christmas in Ireland",
- St George, London, 2013
- St John the Evangelist, Upper Norwood, 2014
- St George, London, 2015
- Vallendar, Germany, 2016


I looked for the songs that were returning most frequently, how many songs were identical from a year to another, how many were new or how many were returned after an absence, etc.

I assigned coefficients to the songs based on the age of the concert where they were sung, which gave me a score by song and I made a ranking.
The most likely song that will be sung is Sanctus , which should not be a surprise for anyone

I then adapted the ranking, taking into account several criteria, a percentage of turnover of 30% from a year to another, the Christmas songs being back after being absent in previous concerts, also the preservation of the new songs from the most recent concert, and also some of my personal tastes (exit Exsultate! ... hopefully).

By integrating all of this, here is my predictive list of 18 songs for the concert at St George in one month
I expect the concert to have 20 songs but I according my grid there should be 2 surprises, so I limited myself to 18.

Angel
Angels We Have Heard on High
Away In A Manger
Carol Of The Bells
God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
In Dulci Jubilo
Joy To The World
Joyful Joyful
Libera
Salva Me
San Damiano
Sanctus
Silent Night
The Prayer
The Wexford Carol
Voca Me
Wayfaring Stranger
Wonderful world


I hope I'm not too right, otherwise this would be a bit repetitive, isn't it ?

Perhaps they will renew the playlist more widely if they introduce to us some of the songs they recorded recently ?
But I'm not counting too mush on this, there is no announce for a new CD so far, and the concert was presented as a 'Christmas concert', so it restricts a bit the kind of song that may be sung.

In my list, at first there should have been Sacris Solemnis, as it was one of the highlights this summer, but I removed it because it doesn't fit too well with Christmas, I think.

And for you, what would be your prediction playlist for this Christmas concert ?

[Surpinto]

It must have taken a lot of time to perform this analysis in such detail, thank you for doing so . I concur with your findings and see no flaws there.

It would be surprising if some of the new music did not make its way into the concert if you consider that they have already rehearsed it considerably so as to make a recording. As of right now we only know that they have recorded a minimum of two songs ("We're back in the studio recording some new songs.") but there may be more.

[TullyBascombe]

Trying out the new songs before putting them in plastic would seem a sensible idea, but for a Christmas concert wouldn't you expect a preponderance of Christmas songs?

[Surpinto]

Trying out the new songs before putting them in plastic would seem a sensible idea, but for a Christmas concert wouldn't you expect a preponderance of Christmas songs?

To some extent, yes. But these Christmas concerts, as fan_de_LoK has pointed out, consist of twenty songs with maybe half or less being Christmas songs and the rest being regular Libera songs. The last Christmas concert in 2015 had 13 out of their 20 songs being those that were unrelated to Christmas. So there is good reason to believe that a similar ratio would hold this time around.

[JimmyRiddle]

I'm not attending this time, but if I were, I would like if a few new/different Christmas songs were performed. Such as 'Ding Dong Merrily...' or maybe a return of 'Veni, Veni Emmanuel'. I remember Josh performing his last solo, alongside Ralph with this a few years back and it was stunning.

I'd probably go with the list Patrick has forensically analysed, it seems the one with the short odds.

[dani]

Santa will find you I think will be on there (all though I hope I'm wrong)


With no tour in October I'm hoping for some surprises as they have had loads of time to prep for this one.


I would love something like In the bleak midwinter or O Magnum Mysterium

[fan_de_LoK]

Santa will find you I think will be on there (all though I hope I'm wrong)

Santa is on the Christmas mini-CD so there is indeed a threat to have it sung at the concert
But thankfully I'm quite sure we will be saved from that. For a simple reason, Isaac's voice.
At the lasts concerts this Summer, some of his usual solos were already sung by other boys. It seems to me not plausible that he can now in December reach the highest notes of 'Santa', and I feel unlikely that Robert bothered to train another boy on that song.
Well, I hope I'm right

[fan_de_LoK]

Today Yorkie mentioned 'Still Still Still' in a tweet.
Good choice !
Remembering it makes me to change a line in my prediction, I remove 'Away in a Manger' and put Still Still Still instead.
The rendition of it they did in Armagh was so wonderful.

Also , I now worry about Wexford Carol.
In the recent performances of it, Camden replaced Isaac on the solo but Isaac still had the intro sung in Irish.
A lot of time has passed since last Summer. If Isaac now can't sing the intro, sadly that song may not be sung.

[dani]

Patrick you have raised a very good pointe about songs that Isaac used to sing may now not be in the set list. The same goes for Ciaran who's voice has changed as well.

So this could lead to us getting new songs or new renditions of older songs

[danny-bulgaria]

At the lasts concerts this Summer, some of his usual solos were already sung by other boys. It seems to me not plausible that he can now in December reach the highest notes of 'Santa'

This is the saddest thing I've read today. I wasn't aware that this is already happening...

[JimmyRiddle]

At the lasts concerts this Summer, some of his usual solos were already sung by other boys. It seems to me not plausible that he can now in December reach the highest notes of 'Santa'

This is the saddest thing I've read today. I wasn't aware that this is already happening...

Yep... I'm guessing maybe only Alessandro from the America DVD soloists can still reach the high registers, and that could have changed by now. The cycle goes on for Libera and new opportunities will open up for the next set of youngsters to share their singing skills.

ontic5 has kindly revealed the setlist for tonights concert;



A few surprises;

Angele Dei (Angels of God)

From wiki;

Angel of God is a Roman Catholic traditional prayer for the intercession of the guardian angel, often taught to young children as the first prayer learned. It serves as a reminder of God's love, and by enjoining the guardian angel to support the child in a loving way, the prayer echoes God's abiding love.

It goes like this;



...and Libera bring back a souvenir from Krakow... 'Total Praise'
Relief for some that 'Santa won't be on the look-out' tonight...no room for 'Santa Will Find You'

P.S. Patrick https://twitter.com/fan_de_LoK also updating on Twitter and others sharing pictures.

[Surpinto]

I expect the concert to have 20 songs but I according my grid there should be 2 surprises, so I limited myself to 18.

Angel
Angels We Have Heard on High
Away In A Manger
Carol Of The Bells
God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
In Dulci Jubilo
Joy To The World
Joyful Joyful
Libera
Salva Me
San Damiano
Sanctus
Silent Night
The Prayer
The Wexford Carol
Voca Me
Wayfaring Stranger
Wonderful world

Only the songs crossed out were not played. 14 out of 18 songs were guessed correctly and the guess about two surprises ("Total Praise" and "Angele Dei") was correct too! Good job FDL.

Angel
Angels We Have Heard on High
Away In A Manger
Carol Of The Bells
God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
In Dulci Jubilo
Joy To The World
Joyful Joyful
Libera
Salva Me
San Damiano
Sanctus
Silent Night
The Prayer
The Wexford Carol
Voca Me
Wayfaring Stranger
Wonderful world

[Yorkie]

I expect the concert to have 20 songs but I according my grid there should be 2 surprises, so I limited myself to 18.

Angel
Angels We Have Heard on High
Away In A Manger
Carol Of The Bells
God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
In Dulci Jubilo
Joy To The World
Joyful Joyful
Libera
Salva Me
San Damiano
Sanctus
Silent Night
The Prayer
The Wexford Carol
Voca Me
Wayfaring Stranger
Wonderful world

Only the songs crossed out were not played. 14 out of 18 songs were guessed correctly and the guess about two surprises ("Total Praise" and "Angele Dei") was correct too! Good job FDL.

Angel
Angels We Have Heard on High
Away In A Manger
Carol Of The Bells
God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
In Dulci Jubilo
Joy To The World
Joyful Joyful
Libera
Salva Me
San Damiano
Sanctus
Silent Night
The Prayer
The Wexford Carol
Voca Me
Wayfaring Stranger
Wonderful world

To be fair to Patrick he replaced away in a manger in his list with Still still still a few days ago (on my advice :-;) so his prediction was even better.