Newsletter - Past Articles
Chorale to Perform Midwest Premiere of Jenkins’ Requiem
by Janet Tevlin, MDC member
February, 2007 Half Notes Newsletter
Karl Jenkins
Karl Jenkins is, perhaps, one of the best-kept secrets in the field of classical music. In 2004 he was the biggest-selling living classical composer in the United Kingdom, and at the present time, sales of his particular style of choral music are easily into the millions worldwide. However, few people could put a face to the name. The reason may be quite simple: he is something of an outsider in the field of contemporary classical music.
He resists classification. His music synthesizes different styles, often bringing together Western classical principles through orchestration, world or ethnic vocals, pulsating percussion and the use of a creation of his own, phonetic sound. This eclectic approach to music is, in his opinion, more hybrid than classical.
Jenkins spends little time focusing on music criticism, for he often feels that the critics have not “crossed the boundaries I’ve crossed”. He wishes his music to be judged not within the parameters of something else, but as something new, something unexpected—which is often what happens.
The Metropolitan Detroit Chorale
Enter Pasquale Pascaretti. A connoisseur of choral music on a quest for innovative works, Mr. Pascaretti studied Jenkins’ compositions and embraced them as music of the 21st century. So in 2006 the Chorale performed The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. It was the Michigan Premiere. The impact of that performance convinced him that the Chorale audience is ready for new and provocative literature and in June 2007, it will perform Jenkins’ Requiem, yet another Michigan premier performance.
The Requiem
In this composition Jenkins takes the traditional form of the Requiem and remolds it textually and musically. He approaches this “song of death” from a global perspective by successfully blending two differing philosophies—the Latin text representing the West and the Japanese haiku representing the East. The Latin text describes the Western attitude: a plea for mercy and help to avoid punishment. The haiku uses metaphor to describe the Eastern attitudes towards death and dying: a peaceful sense of oneness with nature. Jenkins is successful in fusing the two opposing ideas into a cohesive work. (continued)
