"The Armed Man: Mass for Peace"

The Armed Man: Mass for Peace by Karl Jenkins is being presented by the Vero Beach Choral Society in collaboration with the Vero Beach High School Choir.
Directed by Dr. Jacob Craig

Karl Jenkins was born and grew up on the Gower Peninsula, the son of a local organist and choirmaster. He studied music at Cardiff University and then at the Royal Academy of Music. Originally an oboist, he took to the saxophone and established himself early on as a jazz musician. He then introduced the oboe as a jazz instrument.

As a composer he manages to combine very different styles of music from classical to pop and to draw on different cultures from around the globe. His Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary (1994) topped the classical album charts. His Requiem, which we sang in 2006, is enjoyed by choristers and audiences alike.



The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace was commissioned by the Royal Armouries to mark the transition from one millennium to another. It reflects on the passing of ‘the most war-torn and destructive century in human history’ and looks forward in hope to a more peaceful future. The Armed Man is dedicated to the victims of the Kosovo conflict, whose tragedy was unfolding as it was being composed. It was first performed in 2000 by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, conducted by Jenkins himself.

The texts were chosen jointly by the composer and the then Master of the Royal Armouries, Guy Wilson. A framework for the work is provided by the traditional Catholic Mass and includes settings of the Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei and Benedictus, some of which have become popular self-standing pieces to be heard, for instance, on ClassicFM. But what makes the work distinctive are the lyrics drawn from many parts of the world and from diverse religions and cultures. The music too is cosmopolitan in its inspiration.

Movements:

1 L’homme armé (‘The Armed Man’)

2 The Call to Prayers

3 Kyrie eleison (‘Lord have mercy’)

4 Save me from bloody men

5 Sanctus (‘Holy, Holy, Holy’)

6 Hymn before action

7 Charge

8 Angry flames

9 Torches

10 Agnus Dei (‘Lamb of God’)

11 Now the guns have stopped

12 Benedictus (‘Blessed is he ...’)

13 Better is peace