Island Choral Society: The Armed Man: a Mass for Peace
The Island Choral Society will present The Armed Man: a Mass for Peace at 2:30 pm on April 27 at St. Paul’s in Charlottetown.
In 1999, Welsh composer Karl Jenkins was commissioned to create a work that would mark a new chapter for Britain’s Royal Armories Museum, celebrate the Millennium, and honour the victims of the 1998-99 war in Kosovo. Jenkins created a progression of moods which runs from martial bravado, through the ghastly horrors of war, to a resolution in joyous peace.
While the framework is that of a church mass—with Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and Benedictus—its sections draw on a wide-ranging variety of other religious and historical sources. The piece begins with a threatening march—a drumbeat and the tune of the 15th-century folk song “The Armed Man is to be Feared.” After a Muslim call to prayer and a traditional Kyrie, soldiers implore God to help them against enemies, chanting “Save Me From Bloody Men” using text from Psalm 59. A menacing Sanctus follows, then “Hymn Before Action” (from Rudyard Kipling’s poem) and “Charge!” — with words from John Dryden, Jonathan Swift and Horace — tells them they will be blessed to die for their country. But battlefield glory fades into eerie silence and the strains of The Last Post. Horror grows with “Angry Flames” (words of a Hiroshima victim), and “Torches” (from the Mahabharata) which describes the burning of animals. The mood shifts through Agnus Dei and “Now the Guns have Stopped,” conveying the guilt felt by some returning survivors of World War I. The mass ends with “Better is Peace,” words from Sir Lancelot, Tennyson’s poem “Ring Out, Wild Bells,” and from Revelations, “God Shall Wipe Away All Tears.”
The Island Choral Society is led by Dr. Margot Rejskind, noted for her leadership of the professional Luminos Ensemble and the Forte Men’s Choir. The gripping instrumental backing for this concert is provided by members of Margot’s Luminos Chamber Orchestra. The piece features the rich mezzo-soprano voice of Hannah O’Donnell.
Tickets are available online at islandchoralsociety.ca or cash-only at the door. For more information, email islandchoralsociety@gmail.com or phone 902-628-6778.
