Libera Dreams

I recently subscribed to the ad-free version of the online program-your-own-radio-station called Pandora.

(For those not familiar with this phenomenon, one starts personalized “channels” by selecting and adding to a list of desired artists. The algorithm will then not only play music by those artists, but will generate additions based on previous selections. One can then respond by clicking a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” icon, or by just allowing a new selection to remain.)

About a year ago, Pandora introduced what they call “modes” for tuning one’s station output; these included the option to play only music from a single album; to listen to music by a single artist; “deep cuts”—rarely played songs by one’s chosen artists; and “crowd favorites”—songs preferred by everyone in the Pandora system who listens to a particular artist/group.

Of course, Libera was one of my original selections when I started a favorite channel about five years ago. Recently, with no ads to distract and distort, I decided to keep track, during the entire month of February, of which Libera songs were played most frequently in the “crowd favorites” mode. The results were a bit surprising.

As I listened (one to four hours a day), 48 songs by Libera and five by St. Philip’s or Angel Voices showed up during the month, with Libera selections playing from one to four times per hour. It will probably come as no surprise that two clusters of the same songs came in first and second:

1. “Sanctus” in three versions (including the 2006 “Locus Iste”), with the most popular rendition being the newest, from HOPE.

2. “Ave Maria,” in both the 2007 Cacchini choral arrangement and the more spectacular Vavilov/Cacchini variation as sung by Tom Cully. No votes for Schubert.

3. Of single songs, the clear favorite was “O Lord, Support Us.”

4. Equally ranked next were “O Sanctissima,” “The Fountain,” and “Lamentione.”

All of the following numbered groups ranked equally in descending order:

5. Veni Sancte Spiritu
Gloria
Lead Kindly Light
Nearer My God to Thee (from IF)
The Tallis Canon (Ed Day soloing)
Cum Dederit
Stay With Me (Joe Platt)
How Can I Keep From Singing (Liam O’ Kane version)

6. Faithful Heart
Sacris Solemnis (Ben Crawley)
Ave Virgo
May the Road Rise Up
Once an Angel
Recordare
In Paradisum (Rocco Tesei)
Never Be Alone
Nunc Dimittis

7. Salve Regina
Angel
Eternal Light
Te Lucis (Steven Geraghty)
Salva Me (Joe Snelling)
Dreaming of Home
I Vow to Thee My Country (Ben Crawley)
Always There (St Philip’s)
Pie Jesu (St Philip’s)

And last, at a single play each:

8. Always With You
Deep Peace (from IF)
Exultate
Adoramus
Lachrymosa (Ben Philipp)
Love and Mercy
Total Praise
Semele
Libera
A New Heaven
Lux Aeterna (from IF)
Glory to Thee (Angel Voices)
Sing Forever (Jaymi Bandtok)

I don’t know what all this proves (except that I have a lot of time on my hands, or the fact that my dad was a market researcher), but I was intrigued by the mix of old and new, the trending of newest songs, and by the popularity of not-often-referenced songs like “Lamentione” and “Recordare.”