Libera Dreams

And on this talk about the UK's culture, here's a quirky-but-cool example. This is a car commercial, done with typical British sophistication:

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How to know you're potentially the most civilised people on earth? You can turn something as crass as a car commercial into a work of art!

Supercool commercial I likke it

Thanks for that detailed background/information on the treble choirs in Britain, it makes sense to me now that I understand the origins better. Coming from a strict Roman Catholic state, we don't have the tradition of singing in church nor do we have a good understanding of anything non-RC. And we are much the poorer for it.

Roman Catholics don't sing in church?

We Roman Catholics are obedient: when they see "Refrain" in the hymnals, they do so.

In that respect, I'm a very disobedient RC.

As for the RC Church not singing, it has only been since the Second Vatican Council (in the early-mid 1960's) in which the types of music used in Church has become more varied and (dare I say) modern. Throughout the 1970's and 1980's, "folk choirs" began to spring up in many churches, utilizing guitars, woodwinds, and many other instruments while de-emphasizing the use of the organ, while singing more "folky" songs instead of the traditional hymns. Since then, some folk choirs have become more formalized into "traditional" choirs, mixing more modern songs with hymns of old, while also occasionally using some choral music from gread composers over the past few centuries.

My own parish choir (in New Jersey) is a blend of the old and new: We take from Haugen, Haas, Schutte, and many others that have composed in the past couple of decades, however we also draw from the hymns of the 19th and 18th centuries, as well as (on rare occasions) plainchant or plainchant-inspired music. For non-congregational music, we opt for anything from Palestrina to 20th century compositions. I run my music ministry at my university the same way.

hehe i remember that advert was played alot on tv, it is rather amazing the noises those people make lol

"I posted that and yes, he is still working on it. He's been very involved with school and has lately won Britain's most prestigious poetry award for young poets. He was ranked #1 in the nation. However, I think that the album will be more along the lines of a single for the moment. There will be a full album, but I'm not sure when yet." tcliffy.


Tcliffy posted this to me about a question I had about Joseph McManners and this fits into our earlier discussion about culture in the UK. Just imagine if a 15 year old boy in the US won an award for poetry. He be ranked out and be called anything but cultured for being involved in this instead of being involved with sports
I recently played some of Joseph's cd for a friend who said something along the lines said by others about our boys. I was told that if he ( Joseph) was involved with sports as opposed to music, he wouldn't sing like a "sissy". I told him, with a straight face, that he may think Joseph sings like a "sissy" but at 15, he is probably a millionare and is set for life with a wonderful career instead of one(sports) that he would be too old for by the time he is 25. Music is a career that will last a lifetime and sports is only for so many years.

Roman Catholics do sing in church! Sadly, some of the songs sung during mass belong probably in a parish social gathering, but not in mass.

Depends on the song. Although I've had a few songs "ruined" for me, where the tunes/lyrics are changed (or referenced to another tune) and cause a good amount of laughing during practice. Two examples (both clean ones):
Song: Here I Am Lord (Dan Schutte)
Start singing it like normal "Here I Am Lord. Is it I Lord?"
Now start thinking of the Brady Bunch song (...who was bringing up 3 very lovely girls). It sounds almost identical to "I have heard you calling in the night."

Song: Remember Your Love (Daigle)
Beautiful song, but the verses sound like a song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the musical one with Gene Wilder). I think the song was called "Pure Imagination"

TEB wrote:"I posted that and yes, he is still working on it. He's been very involved with school and has lately won Britain's most prestigious poetry award for young poets. He was ranked #1 in the nation. However, I think that the album will be more along the lines of a single for the moment. There will be a full album, but I'm not sure when yet." tcliffy.


Tcliffy posted this to me about a question I had about Joseph McManners and this fits into our earlier discussion about culture in the UK. Just imagine if a 15 year old boy in the US won an award for poetry. He be ranked out and be called anything but cultured for being involved in this instead of being involved with sports
I recently played some of Joseph's cd for a friend who said something along the lines said by others about our boys. I was told that if he ( Joseph) was involved with sports as opposed to music, he wouldn't sing like a "sissy". I told him, with a straight face, that he may think Joseph sings like a "sissy" but at 15, he is probably a millionare and is set for life with a wonderful career instead of one(sports) that he would be too old for by the time he is 25. Music is a career that will last a lifetime and sports is only for so many years.

Amen to that. I wish I had invested my time in learning to sing when I was younger. It would have benefited me alot.

*nudge