Jenkins: The Armed Man (A Mass for Peace) / London Orchestra da Camera
Signum Classics
CD
$20.99Jan 12, 2024
Their third release on Signum Classics, David Temple and Hertfordshire Chorus present Karl Jenkin’s The Armed Man. This is the first recording of the ensemble version of The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. It was conceived by the composer as an alternative where performances of the full symphonic version are not possible. The work loses none of its impact, retaining the same big sound with driving rhythms, thundering climaxes, fearful moments and tender, memorable melodies. This recording features celebrated mezzo soprano Kathryn Rudge as well as muezzin Osama Kiwan and cellist Jamal Aliyev.
Peaceful Choir: New Sound of Choral Music / Meijer, Matt, World Choir for Peace
Sony Masterworks
CD
$11.98Sep 04, 2020
“Peaceful Choir” by harpist Lavinia Meijer and chamber choir World Choir of Peace is a relaxing musical journey through the manifold colors and sounds of contemporary choral music. Renown international composers have contributed entirely new works or arrangements for this unique recording project, including Sir Karl Jenkins, Grammy-nominated composer and pianist Hauschka, San Fermin mastermind Ellis Ludwig-Leone, composer icon John Rutter, Estonian pop-violinist Maarja Nuut and German soundtrack composer David Reichelt (8 Days). The album includes 15 world-premiere recordings and music by house-hold names such as Ola Gjeilo, Eric Whitacre, Max Richter, Hans Zimmer and Arvo Pärt. Next to them, critically acclaimed composers of choral music have contributed to the album, such as Grammy-nominated Norwegian composer Kim André Arnesen and American composers Dan Forrest, Jake Runestand and Elaine Hagenberg.
For some pieces, the chamber choir is accompanied by an ensemble of additional instruments. Next to harpist Lavinia Meijer, violinist and influencer Esther Abrami, pianist Tim Allhoff or cellist Gereon Theis join the choir. The “World Choir for Peace” consists of 24 professional singers from 15 countries worldwide and was founded by conductor Nicol Matt. Matt has been involved in the production of more than 100 choral music recordings in his career. For this particular recording he collaborates with Grammy-winning sound engineer Gregor Zielinsky.
In his Four-Part Consorts, John Jenkins (1592–1678) parades his much-vaunted contrapuntal prowess that is marked by a fanatical devotion to the equality of four independent parts. Frequently turbulent and given to frenetic activity, this music charts the interactions of a band of like-minded spirits obsessed with lively struggle and restless soul-searching. The incessant peregrinations of Jenkins’s roving harmonies are heady stuff and make moments of calm and valediction all the more deserved and poignant. This recording brings to fruition Phantasm’s long-standing project to issue Jenkins’s complete consorts for four to six viols complemented by ‘Jenkins: Six-Part Consorts’ and ‘Jenkins: Five-Part Consorts’ (both released by Linn). In over half of the four-part pieces, the viols are joined by organist Daniel Hyde whose sensitive shaping of original accompaniments on a fruity seventeenth-century-style instrument helps nurture Jenkins’s grandiose ambitions.
