Libera in America

Libera, the celestial-sounding, chart-topping boys' choir, recorded a live concert for CD and DVD in Washington, D.C. at the spectacular Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. With Libera in America, the young Londoners pay tribute to their host country with a characteristic blend of sacred and secular music in both the classical and popular traditions, bringing together innovative textures, meditative solos and shimmering, ecstatic choral harmonies. The album opens with Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, inspired by Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and among the following tracks are some of Libera’s greatest hits – including Sanctus, inspired by Johann Pachelbel’s famous Canon, and Song of Life by the Japanese composer Takatsugu Muramatsu. These numbers are complemented by such universal sacred favourites as the haunting Amazing Grace and Schubert’s soaring Ave Maria. An American folk song taken around the world by the voices of singers like Johnny Cash and Eva Cassidy, Wayfaring Stranger, also features, as does What A Wonderful World, which was a huge hit for the great Louis Armstrong in 1967.