It has been a busy week and today is Father’s Day, so I have promised myself not to spend too much time on the computer. There are a few things I would like to write about, but for now this will have to suffice.
This week I have been involved in the first webinars for the ‘Stay At Home Choir’ recording project of Karl Jenkins’ choral work ‘The Armed Man’. This is a piece I have never sung before and it has been good to start working on some new music. It was written for a performance in 2000 when most of the Royal Armoury’s collection was moved to Leeds and Karl Jenkins was commissioned to write a commemorative composition. The work is also entitled ‘A Mass for Peace’.
At the first webinar it was interesting to hear Karl Jenkins talk about his life and the controversy over one of the movements of the work caused by the text from the Islamic call to prayer. He also referred to himself as a ‘Musical Tourist’ and certainly his music has embraced music from many different cultures. He said that his career had been a musical journey.
The movement I was asked to teach to the choir was ‘A Hymn to Battle’. This uses the poem written by Rudyard Kipling. Written in 1896 it carries the sentiments of that time. A time of imperialism and the ‘need’ to imprint British rule across the world. When Karl Jenkins wrote this piece he dedicated it to those who were suffering at the time from the war in Kosovo.
I wonder if composers writing works right now will be influenced by the present situation the world finds itself in? I also wonder whether we will learn from the lessons of today, so that future generations can benefit.