Libera - Semele (Ben Crawley)

Libera singing "Semele" (from Semele by Handel).

Album: Luminosa
Song: Semele
Artist: Libera
Soloist: Ben Crawley

Lyrics:
Whereer you walk
Cool gales shall fan the glade
Trees where you sit
Shall crowd into a shade
Trees where you sit
Shall crowd into shade

Whereer you walk
Cool gales shall fan the glade
Trees where you sit
Shall crowd into a shade
Trees where you sit
Shall crowd into shade

Whereer you tread
The Blushing flowers shall rise
And all things flourish
And all things flourish
Whereer you turn your eyes
Whereer you turn your eyes
Whereer you turn your eyes

Whereer you walk
Cool gales shall fan the glade
Trees where you sit
Shall crowd into a shade
Trees where you sit
Shall crowd into shade

Whereer you walk
Cool gales shall fan the glade
Trees where you sit
Shall crowd into a shade
Trees where you sit
Shall crowd into shade

I've noticed that Libera sings a lot of tunes to famous classical pieces. It's truly amazing, this and the song Luminosa (Claude Debussy: Clair De Lune) are really amazing.

About the Song:
In one version of the myth, Semele was a priestess of Zeus, and on one occasion was observed by Zeus as she slaughtered a bull at his altar and afterwards swam in the river Asopus to cleanse herself of the blood. Flying over the scene in the guise of an eagle, Zeus fell in love with Semele and afterwards repeatedly visited her secretly.[5]

Zeus' wife, Hera, a goddess jealous of usurpers, discovered his affair with Semele when she later became pregnant. Appearing as an old crone,[6] Hera befriended Semele, who confided in her that her lover was actually Zeus. Hera pretended not to believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semele's mind. Curious, Semele demanded of Zeus that he reveal himself in all his glory as proof of his godhood. Though Zeus begged her not to ask this, she persisted and he agreed. Mortals, however, cannot look upon Zeus without dying, and she perished, consumed in lightning-ignited flame.[7]

Zeus rescued the fetal Dionysus, however, by sewing him into his thigh (whence the epithet Eiraphiotes, "insewn", of the Homeric Hymn). A few months later, Dionysus was born. This leads to his being called "the twice-born". [8]

When he grew up, Dionysus rescued his mother from Hades,[9] and she became a goddess on Mount Olympus, with the new name Thyone, presiding over the frenzy inspired by her son Dionysus.[10]

About Libera:
There wasn't a music video for this, but I make one later. And
Libera is an all-boy vocal group directed by Robert Prizeman. Their name comes from their signature song "Libera," which is based on the Libera Me portion of the Requiem Mass. "Libera" is the Latin word for "free". Most of the boys in Libera come from the parish choir of St. Philips, Norbury, in South London. The albums, tours and TV appearances the boys do as Libera are in addition to their regular singing as part of the full choir of men and boys at parish choral services. While the exact number changes from year to year, Libera has approximately thirty boys between the ages of seven and sixteen. This includes new boys that are not yet ready to fully participate in albums or tours. Nineteen boys participated in their 2008 US tour. Twenty four boys sung for their latest album, New Dawn. The boys come from a variety of schools and backgrounds in the London area.[1]. An affiliation with the Anglican Church is not required.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Ben
• Crawley
• Libera
• Michael
• Horncastle
• boys
• choir
• London
• England
• uk
• sing
• singing
• music
• light
• airy
• beautiful
• angels
• voices

[biyeon0735]

big Ben is my most favorite soloist and I love Adam Harris, Steve Geragthy, and Tom Cully too :-). by the way, Ben had sung longer than others as a soloist, but why can't find his live video anywhere?

[DarthYoungling]

@biyeon0735 live video of this song? There are a few concerts he participated in floating around.

[ladylightning]

Ben Crawley definitely deserves the Title of one of the legendary soloists of Libera. (: props to him :D

[nhgirl16]

those that don't sing the solos are just as, if not more important. they build the entire backbone of the piece, giving it depth and balance.

[jualkyn]

@chocchipcookiegirl Don't worry. They are both my favourites so far but this boy does take the cake for me. He does vibrators, ACTUAL vibratos that none of the other boys seem to quite able to get. His voice is so beautiful

[chocchipcookiegirl]

I prefer his voice to Tom's (don't kill me!)

[Fanzize]

Beautifull voice

[ifuliki]

He had a truly magnificent voice did Ben. There is a load of info on Google

Aled

[picardythirds]

@biyeon0735

there's a few - for example, the version of sanctus (II) with all the lights and a very young tom cully standing next to big ben.

Alas, Big ben is from an era of few live concerts (except for asia tours)

Also, there is a live version of verespera with Aled Jones singing the lead part where ben is in the choir.

For solos - I think from the Japan videos there are a few studio performances.

[Amunhotep4th]

I would never have in my wildest dreams hearing a treble singing this aria and I must admit it is done exceptionally well indeed :-)

[chrisjames147]

Ben is an exceptional talent. I was very pleased to see him credited on the Peace album for composing Touch the Sky, a wonderful ode to childhood. His work still serves Libera in good measure, thank you Ben.

[1974USM]

Hm, perhaps I'm doing the other soloists (who were / are very good or even excellent as well) injustice, but the niveau Ben C. had was singular at Libera. It had never been reached before nor has it been since then.

I've been singing for nearly 20 years now in many choirs since I was 7 years old and I've heard many other choirs, but I think nothing has impressed me more.

I know of no other version of Semele by Libera (besides this on Luminosa). Has it ever been performed again by someone else?

[Ravensbread]

Thanks you for this beautiful offering, DarthYoungling. It is nice to know that Ben is still with LIBERA.

[thethinker133]

.....wow. 0_0 epic. very epic.