Carter on Libera

Lovers of the British cathedral sound, and of the boychoir sound (and I count myself among these happy few), were in blissful delight as Libera worked their way through two long sets. To be clear, theirs was music that was not too difficult, repetitive in an Enya-esque way, redolent of New Age harmonies (and technology), and incredibly over-produced. Think rock concert meets the Basilica. The texts they sang – liturgical and vaguely religious poetry sitting side by side – didn’t matter as much as the sound itself. But what an ethereal joy it was, too, and a guilty pleasure for those of us who consider ourselves pure choral musicians.

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And what of the music? While I was enamored throughout the concert, I noticed after fifteen minutes a sameness in the arrangements. Music was borrowed from Pachelbel, Saint-Saens, Dvorak, and others, but nearly every arrangement was cut from the same cloth. Since most of the arrangements (and many of the compositions themselves) were by the group’s leader Robert Prizeman, this trait may be understandable. One would hope, however, than other composers and arrangers might be called on to supplement and stretch the scope of what this group does.