New album is called Hope

[filiarheni]

One of my favorite songs of the Hope album is: Benedictus Deus.

I can listen to it over and over again (with headphone - volume high) and its makes very happy

So i was wondering if any of the Libera fans in this forum has the same thing and perhaps has an explanation, why this song is so exceptional beautiful.

Greetings, Harry

My favorite is Benedictus Deus too. And I love it because it touches my heart and soul. Although the entire album is great, I can't stop listening to Benedictus Deus again and again.

Indeed it touches the hart and soul. BTW, just like Paradisum

I had also noticed that Benedictus Deus is a song that is perceived especially well by the Libera fans and this in rare unanimity. In fact, I've been wondering myself what the reason could be. I am terribly interested anyway to always find out what it is that attracts someone in a piece of music. My thoughts on Benedictus Deus are these:

With regard to the music Libera sings, it feels more like an elaborated "opus" than just a song. This makes it stand out so that it gets more attention. It has a classical touch and the music is very festive, which is supported by a particularly sparkling sound of the voices. All this causes an undeniably positive basic attitude of the song, which I think we feel and which attracts us.
So this distinguished Libera song together with such bright gladness is uplifting, and this is, in my opinion, the reason for the listeners to appreciate the song so much.

Is that something you could agree with?

[seraphita]

My favorite is Benedictus Deus too. And I love it because it touches my heart and soul. Although the entire album is great, I can't stop listening to Benedictus Deus again and again.

Indeed it touches the hart and soul. BTW, just like Paradisum

I had also noticed that Benedictus Deus is a song that is perceived especially well by the Libera fans and this in rare unanimity. In fact, I've been wondering myself what the reason could be. I am terribly interested anyway to always find out what it is that attracts someone in a piece of music. My thoughts on Benedictus Deus are these:

With regard to the music Libera sings, it feels more like an elaborated "opus" than just a song. This makes it stand out so that it gets more attention. It has a classical touch and the music is very festive, which is supported by a particularly sparkling sound of the voices. All this causes an undeniably positive basic attitude of the song, which I think we feel and which attracts us.
So this distinguished Libera song together with such bright gladness is uplifting, and this is, in my opinion, the reason for the listeners to appreciate the song so much.

Is that something you could agree with?

Yes, i can absolutely agree the way you described it. Couldn't do it better.

Perhaps I can tell something what had happen during a Libera concert a few years ago: it was during a break at the St. Georges Cathedral and I went outside. There was this older man who also attended the concert and started a talk with me. He told me he had been seriously ill that year and during his stay at the hospital he constantly listened to Libera music. He said that this helped him getting better and he wanted to thank Robert Prizeman for that.

A touching and beautiful story, I guess and this is what you mean with 'uplifting'?

[filiarheni]

I had also noticed that Benedictus Deus is a song that is perceived especially well by the Libera fans [...]
So this distinguished Libera song together with such bright gladness is uplifting, and this is, in my opinion, the reason for the listeners to appreciate the song so much.

Perhaps I can tell something what had happen during a Libera concert a few years ago: it was during a break at the St. Georges Cathedral and I went outside. There was this older man who also attended the concert and started a talk with me. He told me he had been seriously ill that year and during his stay at the hospital he constantly listened to Libera music. He said that this helped him getting better and he wanted to thank Robert Prizeman for that.

A touching and beautiful story, I guess and this is what you mean with 'uplifting'?

I'm not sure. I find the man's story very touching, sweet and powerful! Encouraging also for other people! What I meant with "uplifting" in the case of this song however is - maybe not correctly used? - a feeling of increased joy, which is energising as well as deep and calm in us. A feeling of secure gladness, no blind euphoria. Oh, really hard to express.

I can well imagine Benedictus Deus as a part of a celebration with classical music.

[seraphita]

I had also noticed that Benedictus Deus is a song that is perceived especially well by the Libera fans [...]
So this distinguished Libera song together with such bright gladness is uplifting, and this is, in my opinion, the reason for the listeners to appreciate the song so much.

Perhaps I can tell something what had happen during a Libera concert a few years ago: it was during a break at the St. Georges Cathedral and I went outside. There was this older man who also attended the concert and started a talk with me. He told me he had been seriously ill that year and during his stay at the hospital he constantly listened to Libera music. He said that this helped him getting better and he wanted to thank Robert Prizeman for that.

A touching and beautiful story, I guess and this is what you mean with 'uplifting'?

I'm not sure. I find the man's story very touching, sweet and powerful! Encouraging also for other people! What I meant with "uplifting" in the case of this song however is - maybe not correctly used? - a feeling of increased joy, which is energising as well as deep and calm in us. A feeling of secure gladness, no blind euphoria. Oh, really hard to express.

I can well imagine Benedictus Deus as a part of a celebration with classical music.

Again you described it very well. Thank you.
Benedictus Deus should absolutely be a part of a celebration with classical music ( with Libera ofcourse ).

[ludwig1874]

I am now in love with "Veni sancte" (Album: Luminosa). The combination of matured older voices in cwith the younger is for me incredible. This is one thing, that I am missing on the other newer Albums. Or have I forgotten Songs with this merging of old and new voices?

[seraphita]

I am now in love with "Veni sancte" (Album: Luminosa). The combination of matured older voices in cwith the younger is for me incredible. This is one thing, that I am missing on the other newer Albums. Or have I forgotten Songs with this merging of old and new voices?

A Libera pearl indeed. Merging old and new voices with the right song would be a good idea.

[LoriMoreno]

In our choir, we refer to it as 'stagger your breathing'.

If you just say that to the whole group, then you risk too many of them taking a breath at the same time, especially since is started taking phen375 the tendency for most people is too wait and take their breath near the end of the phrase, instead of some taking it right away at or neaear the beginning. So I suppose if you wanted to be more precise, you would have to designate who breatthes where.

I usually pick an unimportant syllable, like 'of' or 'the', and breathe in on that note. That way I'm still mouthing all of the words, and it's more difficult to tell who's breathing.

If it's simply a long sustained note, then of course it is more challenging to go out and come back in gradually so that you don't make a noticeable dropout or entrance. If I was a choir director, it might even be worth it to hand mark everyone's music differently, so that areo that you get the effect you want.

raig, I'm really going to miss your smiling face and silly antics on the morning show. I can't tell you how many times I've laughed out loud ...

[LoriMoreno]

Without derailing this into an audio equipment discussion, the real problem with some digital music that turned people towards LPs is that a lot of music downloads (think earlier days of iTunes) were low quality highly lossy compressed MP3's. To make matters worse, some genres of music mixed the tracks to be very loud (brickwalling). Many of those same people listened to these sub-par tracks on a pair of cheap, low-quality earbuds which made things no better. In contrast, LPs are audio lossless and usually come with hifgher quality speakers than a pair of $5 earbuds; and so people got the impression that LPs themselves were a superior product compared to digital.

Of course some people have audio preferences for the "warmth" of an LP or a cassette that has nothing to do with the raw quality of a CD and that's a whole other discussion.

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk are good at offering FLACs that aren't normally released by the label directly, although they only have one Libera album at the moment. it was featured on theskinnyvibes review of phenq is excellent Hyperion also offer FLACs of most of their catalogue and they have quite a few choirs singed up e.g. Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.

I see the Libera album they have on offer but it's basically a FLAC rip of the CD. We can do that ourselves by buying the CD and then using ripping software. and more we cannot get is a copy that is of a higher quality than a CD. It's not that anyone would really be able to hear the difference, it's more about the prestige of releasing an audiophile grade product. Doing so would showcase the high quality of their mixing and audio production which I have remarked upon many times and for which they seem to get little recognition.

Not here to point out mistakes, just wanted to convey that received Hope CD a couple of hours back. Listened to all the songs and liked Smile, From A Distance and Angel the most. It is the first time I've listened to you guys (a friend of mine recommended you, thanks Jay!) and I'll be getting all your CDs! I love you guys!

[TullyBascombe]

Looking at the posts above, people are now quoting from messages which will be posted thousands of years from now. It's good to know that Libera's music will continue to be appreciated so far into the future.

And yes, back in the heydays of LP records regular people often spent a fair amount of time and money into developing their personal audio systems - the finest diamond styluses, carefully balanced turntables, state of the art amplifiers and speaker systems. A man's audio system ( this was usually a male obsession) was often the center of social life for himself and his friends. Evenings would be spent listening to music while relaxing and drinking and smoking, uh, consumables. Their would be heated discussions about which turntable, which amplifier, and which speakers were the best. We didn't have VCR's, DVD's, Blu-Rays, cable TV, streaming services, PC's or console systems.
When CD's arrived the paraphernalia of audio systems were no longer necessary. A cheap boombox with a CD player could deliver sound quality equal to an expensive turntable based audio system. At the same time the other stuff (VCR's, Cable TV, console gaming systems) appeared in stores. Audio systems became less important.

[LoriMoreno]

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

Yes, it's a very good thing. I've been telling my choir this, but they tend to forget where they're supposed to breathe most of the time.

Libera boys MUST do the same, seeing how much they like eyeing each other during concerts

Totally!! No matter how skillful they are, their lungs have not yet fully developed to have enough storage for all the air required (and we adults also have problems with it, let alone boys from 7-16). And yes, they DO take frequent breaths in 'Sanctus'. However, they do that so skillfully & smoothly that I sometimes have to remind myself that these are a group of young boys, these are a group of young boys...

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.

Agree, but I have to say although the concept seems easy, my (children) choir has quite a difficult job doing that smoothly enough (well, not to my ears). I have to think of a strategy for them and am hoping it will work.

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.

I still think that the opening of 'Venite Adoramus' is synchronized (also the legato in 'From A Distance' at the point where Alex M begins to sing his solo). It does not sound very natural - I think even if they really sing that, their voices must have been edited pretty much (in that case I really want to see these songs in lives with the real voices). Some of you have come to the concerts where 'From A Distance' was sung, may I ask if the choir joined the accompaniment in the first solo verse?

Jim Lauderdale Announces New Studio Album 'Hope,' Including Final ... his final collaboration with Robert Hunter, a track called “Memory.”.

[john45]

There would be heated discussions about which turntable, which amplifier, and which speakers were the best.

...and how boring they were.

[Surpinto]

There would be heated discussions about which turntable, which amplifier, and which speakers were the best.

...and how boring they were.

[TullyBascombe]

There would be heated discussions about which turntable, which amplifier, and which speakers were the best.

...and how boring they were.

True, and yet vinyl-mania is back.

Sorry for getting us so far off topic.