The Armed Man
A Mass for Peace
Voted by The Friends of Choir of the Earth as the most demanded choral work:
THE ARMED MAN - A MASS FOR PEACE
by Sir Karl Jenkins
Taught and conducted by Ben England BEM.
Sir Karl Jenkins
Click on the tracks below to listen
The Armed Man is a Mass by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins, subtitled "A Mass for Peace". The piece was commissioned by the Royal Armouries Museum and it was dedicated to victims of the Kosovo crisis. It begins with a representation of marching feet (which we shall learn and record), overlaid later by music impersonating the flutes of a military band with the 15th-century French words of "The Armed Man". After the reflective pause of the Call to Prayer and the Kyrie, "Save Us From Bloody Men" appeals for God's help against our enemies in words from the Book of Psalms (Psalm 59).
The Sanctus has a military, menacing air, followed by Kipling's "Hymn Before Action". "Charge!" draws on words from John Dryden's "A song for St. Cecilia's day" (1687) and Jonathan Swift citing Horace (Odes 3,2,13), beginning with martial trumpets and song, but ending in the agonised screams of the dying. This is followed by the eerie silence of the battlefield after action, broken by a lone trumpet playing the Last Post. "Angry Flames" describes the appalling scenes after the bombing of Hiroshima, and "Torches" parallels this with an excerpt from the Mahabharata (book 1, chapter 228), describing the terror and suffering of animals dying in the burning of the Khandava Forest. Agnus Dei is followed by "Now the Guns have Stopped”.
After the Benedictus, "Better is Peace" ends the mass on a note of hope, drawing on the hard-won understanding of Lancelot and Guinevere that peace is better than war, on Tennyson's poem "Ring Out, Wild Bells" and on the text from Revelation 21:4: "God shall wipe away all tears".
Join us for
The Armed Man
Please see tiered pricing system at the bottom of this webpage if you’d like to see more pricing options.
How It Will Work
The choral parts will be taught by none other than our Course Director Ben England BEM. We shall add our own sound effects (such as the marching feet at the beginning). Starting on 21st March 2022, he will teach us in Full Choir sessions and then voice part rehearsals. We shall sing to music played by Richard Gowers and to backing tracks provided by FIERI Consort. The usual VOICE LOUDER parts will be prepared.
At the end of the course, we shall invite you to record your own voice and send this to us. We shall then combine all voices in the studio to create the choir. We shall then add a cello for BENEDICTUS and other instruments as necessary before broadcasting the entire work in a Concert Performance in July 2022.
Sound Effects
Sound effects at the very start of the work and others as we progress will be recorded by the choir.
Please note: the CALL TO PRAYER will not be taught and will be sung solo by a Muezzin for the performance.
Rehearsals
(These will all be at 17:00 UK time unless otherwise stated)
WEEK 1
21st March - FULL CHOIR
22nd March - Soprano
25th March - Bass
26th March (Saturday) - Alto at 15:00, Tenor at 16:00
UK CLOCKS GO FORWARD ONE HOUR on 27th MARCH
WEEK 2
28th March - FULL CHOIR
29th March - Soprano
30th March - Alto
31st March - Tenor
1st April - Bass
WEEK 3
4th April - FULL CHOIR
5th April - Tenor & Bass
6th April - Soprano & Alto
WEEK 4
11th April - FULL CHOIR
12th April - Soprano
13th April - Alto
14th April, 16:00 - Tenor
14th April, 17:00 - Bass
We then take a break for Easter
WEEK 5
25th April - FULL CHOIR
26th April - Soprano
27th April - Alto
28th April - Tenor
29th April - Bass
WEEK 6
2nd May - FULL CHOIR
3rd May - Soprano
4th May - Alto
5th May - Tenor
6th May - Bass
Sing Through - 7th May
START OF RECORDING - 11th May
CLOSE RECORDING - 11th June
CONCERT - To be confirmed
Course Fee
We are introducing a tiered pricing system for 2022, which we hope will allow everyone to take part. There are significant extra costs to the publishers for this wonderful work and so we hope you will bear this in mind when you choose your price band:
£37.50 - Low price (50% discount price reserved for those on a budget)
£75 - Course Price (actual price of
the course)
£95 - THANK YOU (for those who feel they can assist further)
Scores
As this work is in copyright, the full vocal score is available at extra charge as a digital document here: https://www.musicroom.com/karl-jenkins-the-armed-man-a-mass-for-peace-dam462423
There are several regional retailers of this score worldwide from the exclusive publishers, Boosey & Hawkes. Please contact www.boosey.com/shop to find your local supplier. It costs approximately £17 before postage.
