Origin of Various Libera Songs

[TullyBascombe]

Welllllllll……………. Maybe Barry and Robert were both inspired by Chopin.

[bachmahlerfan]

Welllllllll……………. Maybe Barry and Robert were both inspired by Chopin.

Well, ultimately they are both inspired by Chopin, and Robert used the source material in a way that is quite different than the Barry Manilow song. Nevertheless, Barry Manilow's song may have planted the thought of using that musical material into Robert's head, and he eventually acted on it.

[filiarheni]

Nevertheless, Barry Manilow's song may have planted the thought of using that musical material into Robert's head, and he eventually acted on it.

Hmmm ... the Chopin Prélude is a well-known piece of music, to a musician anyway, and in consideration of the fact that it was Robert's repeated practice to convert classical instrumental pieces into sung songs long before, like even four of them on the album "Luminosa" (Lacrymosa, Sacris Solemnis, Luminosa, Sanctus II) over the time up to today with Salve Regina, I find this thought too speculative.

But well, speaking of the original of The Fountain, let's take the opportunity to go on with the listing and post it here : the Prélude in C minor, op. 28, no. 20 by Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849). This Prélude is part of a 24 préludes cycle, which covers all 24 keys, in the order of the circle of fifths with major and related minor key directly following one after another.




For more background, see here:
http://en.chopin.nifc.pl/chopin/genre/detail/id/13

https://culture.pl/en/article/breaking- ... 4-preludes

[TullyBascombe]

The question is, is Robert Prizeman more likely to have drawn inspiration from a well known, well respected classical work or from an American soft pop star. Which of the two has he tended to use in the past?

[bachmahlerfan]

The question is, is Robert Prizeman more likely to have drawn inspiration from a well known, well respected classical work or from an American soft pop star. Which of the two has he tended to use in the past?

I was only suggesting that his initial thought of arranging that Chopin piece (which could've been many years before he wrote his arrangement) may have been inspired by hearing the Manilow song "Could it Be Magic", because it's obvious that "The Fountain" bears little resemblance to that song except for some chords that are from the original Chopin prelude. So, when the time came for Robert to compose "The Fountain", I would guess that his inspiration was primarily coming from Chopin. I wouldn't have brought this up if it wasn't for Robert arranging the Barry Manilow song "One Voice" on two albums from the early 90's. I will also say that I am not a Barry Manilow fan. While "One Voice" and "Could it Be Magic" are decent, I find most of his music to be a bore. Anyways, I don't really have anything more to say about this. I just enjoy some harmless speculation once in a while.

[filiarheni]

I just enjoy some harmless speculation once in a while.

There is nothing wrong with speculating I find. Sharing it publicly however will inevitably provoke others to form an opinion about it, which of course is a speculation on its part again. But I believe we all are aware of that. The only dissatisfactory point in this special "story behind" issue is that it's unlikely to ever get an answer ...

And having spoken of Chopin's Prélude, it's obvious to continue with the next piano piece Robert used and which appeared with Libera as Salve Regina.

[filiarheni]

Libera's Salve Regina uses the Impromptu op. 90 no. 3, Gb major by Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828). "Impromptu" means improvised, offhand, instantanous idea. Schubert composed eight impromptus in two groups, op. 90 (D. 899) and op. 142 (D. 935), all of them in b keys and all of them in the year 1827. They belong to his most played piano works.

For Salve Regina, Robert took the very calmly flowing first part of the Impromptu, which is repeated at the end before the coda, leaving the more dramatic middle part away.

Schubert was the representative of the genre piano art song, and this Gb major Impromptu is a particular "cantabile" one so that one is almost inclined to ask: Was it a vocal piece before, of which this is a piano version, or is it the other way round?

Here it is, played by Alfred Brendel:




See more information via the following links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impromptus_(Schubert)

https://translate.google.de/translate?s ... s-100.html

http://www.good-music-guide.com/reviews ... hubert.htm


[Edited 05.08.2021 due to the deletion of the presented video on YT and replacing the gap by a new one.]

[TullyBascombe]

The question is, is Robert Prizeman more likely to have drawn inspiration from a well known, well respected classical work or from an American soft pop star. Which of the two has he tended to use in the past?

I was only suggesting that his initial thought of arranging that Chopin piece (which could've been many years before he wrote his arrangement) may have been inspired by hearing the Manilow song "Could it Be Magic", because it's obvious that "The Fountain" bears little resemblance to that song except for some chords that are from the original Chopin prelude. So, when the time came for Robert to compose "The Fountain", I would guess that his inspiration was primarily coming from Chopin. I wouldn't have brought this up if it wasn't for Robert arranging the Barry Manilow song "One Voice" on two albums from the early 90's. I will also say that I am not a Barry Manilow fan. While "One Voice" and "Could it Be Magic" are decent, I find most of his music to be a bore. Anyways, I don't really have anything more to say about this. I just enjoy some harmless speculation once in a while.

Ah, I admit that I did not know that "One Voice" was written by Barry Manilow. I don't think I've ever heard his version.

[The Furby]

Thank you for this very interesting thread!

Is anybody keeping a master list of all this on a central site that can be updated and accessed?

I started linking filiarheni's posts to the corresponding songs in our songs database at LP (see an example here with Three Ravens: https://t.co/Hq3UMnBnMr). I'll try to check this topic regularly to keep up with new additions.

Also I suggested filiarheni splits her Voca Me / Sacris Solemnis post so that both songs get their own post (for the sake of efficient linking )

[filiarheni]

Thank you, The Furby! Hopefully, this can already be a good response to Amie's suggestion.

I started linking filiarheni's posts to the corresponding songs [...]

... and Surpinto's and kinda_k00l's and others to come and hopefully contribute to this thread.

Also I suggested filiarheni splits her Voca Me / Sacris Solemnis post so that both songs get their own post (for the sake of efficient linking )

Yes, ok.

[filiarheni]

So the original music of Sacris Solemnis is:

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), Symphony N° 7, A major, op. 92, 2nd movement (Allegretto) from 1811/1812

[BBvideo=560,315] https://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J12zprD7V1k[/BBvideo]

The full symphony:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYSooMonRv8

Background info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_ ... Beethoven)

[maartendas]

Libera's Salve Regina uses the Impromptu op. 90 no. 3, Gb major by Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828).

A brand new recording by Khatia Buniatishvili, a hugely impressive artist. The rumblings by the left hand are reminiscent of the thunderstorms across the Netherlands tonight, revealing a whole new side of this piece which I love so much. A deeply sensitive rendition.

[maartendas]

—edit:
Here is Clair de lune by Claude Debussy, which was the inspiration for the title track of Luminosa.
Menahem Pressler played this in a Dutch live television program, aged 94 at the time.
(Previously I had posted a recording by Khatia Buniatishvili, but since that video was taken down, I replaced it with this - and I am glad for the opportunity to hear this one )

I'll leave the historical details to filiarheni and just let the music speak for now:

[BBvideo=560,315] [/BBvideo]

[fan_de_LoK]

A detailled article about hymn All Things Bright And Beautiful

https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the ... -beautiful

Libera is mentionned among the videos used in the article to illustrate the song.

[Surpinto]

That version is completely new to me! I was previously only familiar with the Angel Voices 2 version. I had no idea they had sung an alternative rendition.

For those who do not want to go through the article here is the song.


And for comparison here is the version they sang on their album Angel Voices 2 before they were called "Libera".


Nice find, fan_de_LoK.