Karl Jenkins - The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace

My apologies to one and all for filling their Friends pages with mostly Zelda-related drivel over the past couple of months.  I didn't intend that to be the bulk of my LJ entries, I truly didn't!

I therefore present:   A serious post!  With real content!  Let there be rejoicing!

A while ago, stolen_tea posted about the music of Karl Jenkins.  Jenkins is probably most widely known for his compositions for his group Adiemus.  He's also written somewhat more traditional choral works, including a requiem and a mass.  The huz and I were lucky enough to sing his The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace back in August of 2005. 

This happened to be, amusingly enough, the first FULL performance of the piece in the U.S., even though it was written some years ago and has been wildly popular in Europe.  Jenkins really really wanted the U.S. premiere of the piece to be in Carnegie Hall, and the powers that be at Carnegie Hall finally agreed - at which point, the person in charge of directing the local community summer chorus said, "Yahoo!  We'll perform it here a month after that!"

Well, there was a performance at Carnegie Hall. But for reasons unknown, they decided to do only the 'pretty' movements out of the mass, leaving out the darker (but highly effective) movements.  So we did the first full performance.  :)

( And now, about the music. )

It was quite possibly one of the most emotional choral singing experiences I've ever had, and I feel very fortunate to have been introduced to the piece.