The Armed Man
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- This article is about the modern Mass. For the French Renaissance song, see L'homme armé.
| The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace | ||
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| Studio album by Karl Jenkins | ||
| Released | 2001 | |
| Recorded | Air 2000,2001; Angel 2001 | |
| Genre | Classical | |
| Length | 67:22 | |
| Label | Virgin | |
| Producer(s) | Karl Jenkins | |
| Karl Jenkins chronology | ||
|---|---|---|
| Adiemus IV: The Eternal Knot (2001) |
The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace (2001) |
Adiemus V: Vocalise (2003) |
The Armed Man is the name of a Mass by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins, subtitled "A Mass for Peace". The piece was commissioned by the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds for the Millennium celebrations and was initially dedicated to victims of the Kosovo crisis. Like Benjamin Britten's War Requiem before it, it is essentially an anti-war piece. Also like Britten's work, this piece is based on the Christian Mass which he combines with other sources, principally the fifteenth century folk song L'homme armé in the first and last movements.
The text includes words from the Islamic call to prayer, the Bible (e.g. the Psalms and Revelation), the Ordinary of the Mass (e.g. Kyrie Eleison, Sanctus), texts from authors such as Rudyard Kipling and Alfred Lord Tennyson, as well as a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing.
The piece begins with a representation of marching feet, overlaid later by the shrill tones of a piccolo emulating the flutes of a military band. It stirs images of the Napoleonic age, of "Redcoats" and war being glorious. The Sanctus seems to continue this theme as God is praised even as we proceed into war. Perhaps this is symbolic of "holy war" - God is on our side. Kipling's Hymn before Action stirs the listener much as Roman gladiators would with their "We, who are about to die, salute you, Caesar." Then the charge with blaring trumpets, crashing drums ending in the agonised screams of the dying. This is followed by an eerie silence, broken by the evocative sound of a lone trumpet playing the Last Post.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- "The Armed Man" – 6:25
- "The Call to Prayers (Adhaan)" – 2:04
- "Kyrie" – 8:12
- "Save Me from Bloody Men" – 1:42
- "Sanctus" – 7:00
- "Hymn Before Action" – 2:38
- "Charge!" – 7:26
- "Angry Flames" – 4:44
- "Torches" – 2:58
- "Agnus Dei" – 3:39
- "Now the Guns Have Stopped" – 3:25
- "Benedictus" – 7:36
- "Better is Peace" – 9:33
[edit] Personnel
- London Philharmonic Orchestra
- Karl Jenkins - Conductor
- National Youth Choir of Great Britain
- Mohammed Gad - Meuzzin
- Guy Johnston - Cello
- Tristan Hambleton - Treble Vocals
- Jody K Jenkins - Additional Percussion
- Dave Hassell - Additional Percussion
- Neil Percy - Additional Percussion
[edit] Alternate Versions
The track "Sanctus" shares its theme with the Adiemus piece "Immrama" which was introduced on the album set More Journey: Adiemus New Best & Live. "Benedictus" borrows its theme from "The Eternal Knot" from Adiemus IV: The Eternal Knot. The work has been transcribed for numerous media, the most notable being a full arrangement by Andrew Wainwright and Duncan Gibbs for brass band, choir and organ.
