Come & Sing Karl Jenkins Requiem

Danesborough Chorus

From Mozart to Verdi and Faure to Berlioz, an illustrious list of composers have all triumphed with their moving, exquisite and often gargantuan requiems. So what make this one different?
Jenkins has set the usual Latin movements of the requiem mass, but, in keeping with his usual trait of drawing from other cultures, he has also set five Japanese haiku ’death’ poems. Such poems are usually to do with nature, have a single idea, and consist of seventeen syllables divided 5-7-5 over three lines. These describe the Japanese view of nature’s water cycle (precipitation) being synonymous with life.
The Western and Eastern texts are combined in two of the haiku movements, Having Seen the Moon and Farewell, which incorporate the Benedictus and the Agnus Dei respectively.
In the full production, both are intoned by male voices in a monastic style as counterpoint to the Japanese text sung by females. The instrumentation of these haiku settings includes the ancient Japanese wind instrument, the shakuhachi. Elsewhere, as usual, Jenkins has used someethnic drums (e.g. Arabic darabuca, Japanese daiko, frame drums) and even hip-hop rhythm in the Dies Irae.
Led by our esteemed conductor, Ian Smith, join Danesborough Chorus members for a fun day singing the chorus parts of this ever-popular work. We will be accompanied by Tim Grant-Jones.
Tea, coffee and cake provided; bring your own packed lunch.
Tickets are £20 (students £5), including score hire, are obtainable from https://wegottickets.com/event/668268