THE SEQUEL TO HIS BEST-SELLING CHORAL WORK THE ARMED MAN: A MASS FOR PEACE
UK release date:
26 March 2012084 1732
(2CD) /
5099908417350
View a short behind-the-scenes film about the making of the album:
‘Music has the capacity to breathe harmony into the soul. The Peacemakers breathes the harmony of peace.’ Terry Waite CBE
‘As a composer, he recognises no boundaries - musical, commercial, geographical or cultural. His is a way of thinking and composing that is perfectly in tune with the spirit of the times.’ Classic FM Magazine
The Peacemakers, a brand new choral work composed by Karl Jenkins, offers inspiration and solace for a time in need of both. It features texts from some of the greatest peacemakers throughout history, including Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Anne Frank and Mother Teresa, as well as words from the Bible and the Qur’an with some new text specially written by Terry Waite.
The 17 short movements are performed by various combinations of the London Symphony Orchestra, the Rundfunkchor Berlin, City of Birmingham Youth Chorus and 1000-strong choral society The Really Big Chorus, made up of members of UK choirs from across the country brought together in one studio. Guest artists include violinist Chloë Hanslip, soprano Lucy Crowe, Davy Spillane on Uilleann pipes, Indian bansuri (ethnic flute) player Ashwin Srinivasan and jazz greats Nigel Hitchcock and Laurence Cottle.
Karl Jenkins conducted the world premiere of The Peacemakers at Carnegie Hall on 16 January 2012 and will introduce the work in the UK in May 2012, conducting performances at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, Royal Festival Hall, London, St. David’s Hall, Cardiff and Symphony Hall, Birmingham.
“The Peacemakers is dedicated to the memory of all those who lost their lives during armed conflict and, in particular, innocent civilians,” Karl Jenkins said recently. “When I composed The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace for the millennium, it was with the hope of looking forward to a century of peace. Sadly, nothing much has changed.” The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace has been enormously successful, having been performed nearly 1000 times in 20 different countries since the CD was released in 2001. In a sense, The Peacemakers could be seen as a sequel to The Armed Man.
“In The Peacemakers,” Jenkins continues, “one line from the 13th-century Persian mystic poet Rumi sums up the ethos of the piece: ‘All religions, all singing one song: Peace be with you’. Many of the other ‘contributors’ are figures who have shaped history, others are less well known. I have occasionally placed some text in a musical environment that helps identify its origin or culture: the bansuri (Indian flute) and tabla in the Gandhi; the shakuhachi (a Japanese flute associated with Zen Buddhism) and temple bells in that of the Dalai Lama; African percussion in the Mandela; and echoes of the blues of the deep American South (as well as a quote from Schumann’s Träumerei (Dreaming) in my tribute to Martin Luther King. ‘Healing Light: a Celtic prayer’ is with uilleann pipes and bodhrán drums. “
Karl Jenkins is widely recognised as one of the world’s most popular and widely performed living composers. Born in Wales, he studied the oboe and graduated from Cardiff University before doing post-graduate studies at London’s Royal College of Music. A passion for jazz – he was a member of the bands Nucleus and Soft Machine – led him to composition. Classically trained, but drawing on a diverse range of global influences, Jenkins’s composing style has transcended musical boundaries. In addition to his hugely popular Adiemus albums, which have sold over three million copies in 50 countries, his music has successfully spanned many genres and media, from ballets, oratorios and symphonic music to BAFTA-award-winning soundtracks and Montreux Festival-winning jazz groups. His inclusive approach translates into working with professional, amateur and children’s choirs locally and internationally and alongside professional orchestras and world musicians to promote classical music. H.R.H The Prince Of Wales, The Royal Ballet, The BBC, the Welsh National Eisteddfodd, Evelyn Glennie and Bryn Terfel are among those who have commissioned music from him.
Jenkins is a Doctor of Music and holds Fellowships, Honorary Doctorates and Professorships at five universities or conservatoires, including the Royal Academy of Music. In recent years, he has consistently been the highest placed living composer in Classic FM’s “Hall of Fame” and holds the Classic FM ‘Redf’ award for ‘outstanding service to classical music’. In 2009 he was given the Cymru For The World Award and the following year he was honoured with the Hopkins Medal by the St. David’s Society of the State of New York. He was awarded an OBE, by Her Majesty The Queen, in the 2005 New Year’s Honours List and a CBE in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours.
KARL JENKINS LIVE
Karl Jenkins conducts a superb concert featuring excerpts from his most popular works: Adiemus, The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, Requiem, Palladio and the UK premiere of his new work The Peacemakers
Saturday 19 May 7.30pm
Manchester The Bridgewater Hall
0161 907 9000 www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk
Tickets: £37.50 £32.50 £26.00 £19.50 £15.00
Sunday 20 May 7.30pm
London Royal Festival Hall
0844 847 9910 www.southbankcentre.co.uk
Tickets: £42.50 £36.50 £27.50 £22.50 £16.50
Wednesday 23 May 7.30pm
Cardiff St. David’s Hall
029 2987 8444 www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk
Tickets: £32.50 £29.50 £26.50 £23.50 £15.50
Sunday 27 May 7.30pm
Birmingham Symphony Hall
0121 780 3333 www.thsh.co.uk
Tickets: £37.50 £32.50 £27.50 £22.50 £16.50 £12.50
Friday 6 July 8.00pm
Llangollen International Eisteddfod 01978 862000 www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk