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Cellist Jamal Aliyev
- Cellist Jamal Aliyev performs 'Benedictus' at Classic FM Live.
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Apr 14, 2024 · The song “Benedictus” is a moving piece from “The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace” composed by Karl Jenkins and performed by Hayley Westenra. This choral composition is a powerful work that highlights the horrors of war and the longing for peace.
- A Simple Beginning
- The Cello Solo
- Beauty in Simplicity
- Expanding The Sound
- So, How Does He Find His Inspiration?
The music begins quietly with two alternating chords in the strings, D major and E major. However, the bass part stays as a D throughout, creating an E major chord over D. “It’s got an opening unlike any other,” Sir Karl explains. “It doesn't sound like an introduction. It's just these two chords stated [D major and E major over D] and it sets it u...
Its unusually high register might fool you into thinking this is a violin or viola solo – but the haunting opening phrase to ‘Benedictus’ is played on the cello. It’s even notated in the treble clef in many publications. “Now, I didn’t believe the cello solo would cause so much anguish, because it’s quite simple. But it’s also very high, and many h...
“[‘Benedictus’ has] quite a simple form: AABA. The opening and the end is just strings; the cello in the first instance, and then choir and cello in the end section. “The middle bit [B] is very very full, and that’s the loudest bit in the whole piece at fortissimo.”
Sir Karl is no stranger to unusual percussion instruments; his previous works, especially Symphonic Adiemus, use them extensively. “There are various different drums [in The Armed Man],” he says. “There’s a bass drum, I also wrote for a taiko drum if it’s available, which is a very deep round Japanese drum. “Tam-tams play the up-beat to that [the h...
“I studied music academically, so I was thoroughly trained, first at the University in Cardiff and then at the Royal Academy, so things like harmony, counterpoint, orchestration, the skill or the craft if you like, I’ve learnt. “But then the other bit is the intuitive bit I suppose, which some might call inspiration. But I don’t use that word, beca...
- Sofia Rizzi
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 for the Millennium celebrations, to mark the museum's move from London to Leeds, and it was dedicated to victims of the Kosovo crisis.
Mar 11, 2022 · ‘Benedictus’, from Sir Karl Jenkins’ work The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace, is one of the Welsh composer’s best-known works and surely one of the most beautiful pieces of choral music from the last 50 years. To find out why the music resonates with so many people, we caught up with Sir Karl backstage at the Royal Albert Hall. Addeddate.
