Chris Dodd, Fiona Pears, Anthony Chadney, Ben Crawley, Christopher Robson, Raoul Platt - Free

English composer Robert Prizeman has taken a conventional English boy's choir--usually a haven for sweet songs and ecclesiastical renderings--and made them contemporary without selling out any of their intrinsic charm. Their stacked choral voices and lead sopranos, dressed up with electronica rhythms, synthesizers, and strings still sound like they could be coming from the church balcony, even while they exude an Enya-like appeal. While there are adaptations of Gregorian chants and Sibelius hymns, most of the songs are Prizeman originals based on those styles, with texts often drawn from Latin Liturgy. Except for the chilled romanticism of "Stay With Me," and the rhythm driven "Adoramus," whose chorus sounds like a Harry Potter incantation, few of the songs on Free have the anthemic pop appeal of "Salva Me" or "Vespera" from previous albums. Instead, Prizeman has opted for a more serene sound on Free, even with their first video from the disc, the yearning "I Am the Day." Some of it, like Prizeman's setting of a Walter de la Mare poem on "A Song of Enchantment," gets lugubrious. But most of Free floats on gentle soprano breezes, intrinsically innocent, even if the boys might be smoking cigarettes behind the altar. --John Diliberto Amazon.com

wonderful and enlightening

I first heard of this choir group in a you tube video. It was beautiful. Something I had to have. Good thing Amazon had it. The CD is great for meditation and its very peaceful. Enjoy! K.Borges July 17, 2008

A little more daring.

Libera is not "classical" music, per se...judging them by that standard is absurd and unfair (I say this as a trained musician and Bach aficionado). Their style is their own, let them have it! The choir isn't supposed to be John Eliot Gardiner or Mahler (thank God).

The whole disc is worth the recording of "Adoramus." Instead of the flute solo that opened the live performance of the piece at Leiden, Holland, in December 2007, here the choir uses one of the higher trebles vocalizing those same notes. The difference is astounding.

Overall, "Free" breaks away from the almost total use of plainchant themes (as in "Luminosa") in favor of a series of original works by director Robert Prizeman and others. The dancelike ambience of "Free" demonstrates the choir's technical ability and versatility.

Some highlights:

* The haunting, meditative text of the poem "Do not stand at my grave and weep" is united with music underscoring the elegiac air of resigned acceptance evoked by the poem; one of their best English-language settings.

* "I vow to thee my country" (better known in the U.S. as the "Jupiter Chorale") is an intensely devotional moment that eschews obnoxious bursts of sound in favor of the choir's warmer, more subdued ambience.

* "Stay With Me" is a gently rhythmic piece that shows off the choir's lower altos in contrast to the piercing high trebles. The effect has to be heard.

* "Adoramus Te" opens with an ethereal vocalization by one of the younger trebles that seems to float overhead until the rest of the ensemble enters. A fast-paced piece, "Adoramus" combines a Gregorian theme with modern rhythms to show off the choir's virtuosity and technical precision. One of Libera's best tracks so far.

For people new to Libera, it would be better to start with "Luminosa" (Luminosa), since much of the choir's most well-known work is there or on the later "Angel Voices." But "Free" is a fine album, as is par for Libera.

Ultrapurists should avoid (and be avoided) like the plague. May 23, 2008

Libera - "Free"

Unbelievable music from a London Boy's Choir. If you've never heard them you owe it to yourself to listen. March 24, 2008

Cherub voices

Do you enjoy listening to quiet inspiring music? The kind that lets you find that feeling of joy and hope? Then this is an album you certainly will enjoy! The technical workings of this album will have to be explained by someone else - I don't enjoy taking music apart to see the dynamics.....I just know how music affects me and this album has a most positive effect!
Begin this album, be quiet, listen with your heart, and soon you feel peace and serenity - you will be attuned to the good and gentle things of life.
VERY POWERFUL IN A POSITIVE WAY! March 15, 2008

heavenly

WOW, this was a real surprise to hear the whole Libera free cd.
This music is heavenly. Voices are of angels singing.
This is a keeper. just so amazing. February 10, 2008

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