Still with the Music by Karl Jenkins

Author:Karl Jenkins
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783961382
Publisher: Elliott & Thompson

I once had an enquiry about the possibility of a performance in Russia to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the brutal Battle of Stalingrad, one of the bloodiest of the Second World War. A perusal score of this Mass for Peace was sent, only for the message to come back eventually that the work was not suitable for the occasion. Something that marked and celebrated the glorious victory of the Russian Army over the German invaders was apparently required.

Over the years, I have collaborated many times with the filmmaker and musician Hefin Owen – and at this point, I hand over to him to offer his reflections on the film he made that was inspired by what is, I suppose, my most famous and most celebrated work to date:

Following the filming of the Celtic Adiemus IV concert in St David’s Hall, I received a copy of the Armed Man CD in the post from Karl. I sat in the office on a work day and listened through to it from beginning to end, and was very moved. Later that afternoon I took it to J. Mervyn Williams (who had been my boss at the BBC but now we were partners in Opus Television) who also listened to it in his office. I told him how I thought it was a very visual piece of music with a strong narrative – something that we were always looking for when proposing something for television.

I noted that Karl’s sixtieth birthday was on the horizon; therefore I proposed an S4C special from St David’s Hall when we would use some of Wales’s finest choirs and soloists, but more importantly have the story of the work told in film behind the performance. The aim was to enhance the audience’s experience of the music but not dominate to the extent that the music became subservient to the film. It would be important that the film followed the performance, as opposed to the tempo of the performance being dictated by the film.

Karl gave me contact details for Guy Wilson, as I was keen that my interpretation would echo – wherever possible – his vision when choosing the text for the work. I went and met Guy, who showed me around the Royal Armouries museum in Leeds, and over an evening meal we talked through what might be possible as appropriate archive footage.

A researcher in Opus – Luned Phillips – set about finding what footage might be available to an independent TV company. Such material can be very expensive to incorporate in a TV programme, which is why it is often used sparingly. Derek Blades from Images of War came to the rescue, and his terms were very reasonable. However, his material effectively ran out in the 1950s and we wanted the footage to be as all-encompassing as possible, especially with the Afghanistan/Iraq hostilities that were occurring at the time.

I managed to obtain the services of the film editor Chris Lawrence for three weeks; Chris was a very

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