1. The Armed Man (L'Homme arme)
2. Call to Prayers (Adhaan)
3 Kyrie
4. Save Me from Bloody Men
Psalm 56:1 & 59:2
5. Sanctus
6. Hymn Before Action
Text: Rudyard Kipling
7. Charge!
Text: John Dryden/Jonathan Swift
"Last Call", Jimi Michel, trumpet
8.Angry Flames
Text: Toge Sankichi
Soprano: Heather Ford
9. Torches
Text: The Mahabharata
Matt Lawson, trumpet, Last Call
10. Agnus Dei
11. Now the Guns Have Stopped
Text: Guy Wilson
Mezzo: Amy van Meteren
12. Benedictus
Steve Witkin, cello
13. Better is Peace
Text: Mallory/anon/Tennyson/Revelation 21:4
Benediction
Peter Lutkin
2. Call to Prayers (Adhaan)
3 Kyrie
4. Save Me from Bloody Men
Psalm 56:1 & 59:2
5. Sanctus
6. Hymn Before Action
Text: Rudyard Kipling
7. Charge!
Text: John Dryden/Jonathan Swift
"Last Call", Jimi Michel, trumpet
8.Angry Flames
Text: Toge Sankichi
Soprano: Heather Ford
9. Torches
Text: The Mahabharata
Matt Lawson, trumpet, Last Call
10. Agnus Dei
11. Now the Guns Have Stopped
Text: Guy Wilson
Mezzo: Amy van Meteren
12. Benedictus
Steve Witkin, cello
13. Better is Peace
Text: Mallory/anon/Tennyson/Revelation 21:4
Benediction
Peter Lutkin
Orchestra
Douglas Beck, keyboards/accompanist
Richard Hus, 1st violin
Anna Clement, 1st violin
Lynn Brubaker, 2nd violin
Gloria Vollmers, 2nd violin
Emily Stodola, viola 1
Trevor Andrews, viola 2
Steve Witkin, cello 1
James Adams, contrabass
Megan Howell, piccolo/flute
Harber Turner, oboe
Shane Ellis, clarinet
Peter Ossanna, bassoon
Dain Shuler, horn
Matt Lawson, trumpet 1
Jimi Michel, trumpet 1
Matt Mayo, trumpet 3
Dan Barrett, trombone 1
Adina Salmansohn, trombone 2
Janet Higgins, trombone 3
Adam McLean, percussion
Lynette Woods, timpani
Richard Hus, 1st violin
Anna Clement, 1st violin
Lynn Brubaker, 2nd violin
Gloria Vollmers, 2nd violin
Emily Stodola, viola 1
Trevor Andrews, viola 2
Steve Witkin, cello 1
James Adams, contrabass
Megan Howell, piccolo/flute
Harber Turner, oboe
Shane Ellis, clarinet
Peter Ossanna, bassoon
Dain Shuler, horn
Matt Lawson, trumpet 1
Jimi Michel, trumpet 1
Matt Mayo, trumpet 3
Dan Barrett, trombone 1
Adina Salmansohn, trombone 2
Janet Higgins, trombone 3
Adam McLean, percussion
Lynette Woods, timpani
The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace Lyrics
Movement 1: L’Homme Arme (anonymous, circa 1450)
L’homme armé doit on douter.
On a fait partout crier,
que chacun se viegne armer
d’un haubregon de fer.
L’homme armé doit on douter.
(The armed man should be feared.)
(Everywhere it has been proclaimed,)
(That each man shall arm himself)
(with a coat of iron mail.)
(The armed man should be feared.)
Movement 2: Call to Prayer (Muslim worship)
Allahu Akbar
Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Alla
Ashhadu Anna Muhammadan Rasulullah
Hayya ‘alas-Salah
Hayya ‘alal-Falah
Allahu Akbar
La ilaha illa Allah
(God is the greatest)
(I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except God)
(I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God)
(Hasten to Prayer)
(Hasten to salvation)
(God is the greatest)
(There is none worthy of worship except God)
Movement 3: Kyrie (Catholic Mass)
Kyrie eleison
Christe eleison
Kyrie eleison
(Lord have Mercy)
(Christ have Mercy)
(Lord have Mercy)
Movement 4: Save Me From Bloody Men (Psalms 56:1 and 59:2)
Be merciful unto me, O God:
For man would swallow me up.
He fighting daily oppresseth me.
Mine enemies would daily swallow me up.
For they be many that fight against men.
O thou Most High.
Defend me from them that rise up against me.
Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from bloody men.
Movement 5: Sanctus (Catholic Mass)
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua
Hosanna in excelsis
(Holy, Holy, Holy,)
(Lord God of Hosts)
(Heaven and earth are full of your glory)
(Hosanna in the highest)
Movement 6: Hymn Before Action (Poem by Rudyard Kipling)
The earth is full of anger,
The seas are dark with wrath,
The Nations in their harness
Go up against our path:
Ere yet we loose the legions
Ere yet we draw the blade,
Jehovah of the Thunders,
Lord God of Battles, aid!
High lust and froward bearing,
Proud heart, rebellious brow
Deaf ear and soul uncaring,
We seek Thy mercy now!
The sinner that forswore Thee,
The fool that passed Thee by,
Our times are known before Thee
Lord, grant us strength to die!
Movement 7: Charge! (Poem by John Dryden and Jonathan Swift)
The trumpet’s loud clangor
excites us to arms,
With shrill notes of anger,
and mortal alarms.
How blest is he who for his country dies
The double, double beat
Of the thund’ring drum
Cries, Hark! the foes come;
Charge, charge, ’tis too late to retreat.
How blest is he who for his country dies
The double, double beat
Of the thund’ring drum
Cries, Hark! the foes come;
Charge, charge, ’tis too late to retreat.
Charge!
Movement 8: Angry Flames (Poem by Tōge Sankichi, witness to the bombing of Hiroshima)
Pushing up through smoke
From a world half darkened
by overhanging cloud.
The shroud that mushroomed out
And struck the dome of the sky,
Black, red, blue,
Dance in the air,
Merge, scatter glittering sparks already
tower over the whole city.
Quivering like seaweed
The mass of flames spurts forward.
Popping up in the dense smoke,
Crawling out wreathed in fire,
Countless human beings on all fours
In a heap of embers that erupt and subside,
Hair rent, rigid in death,
There smoulders a curse.
Movement 9: Torches (excerpt from The Mahābhārata, Sanskrit epic poem)
The animals scattered in all directions, screaming terrible screams.
Many were burning, others were burnt.
All were shattered and scattered mindlessly, their eyes bulging.
Some hugged their sons, others their fathers
and mothers, unable to let them go,
and so they died.
Others leapt up in their thousands, faces
disfigured and were consumed by the fire,
everywhere bodies squirming on the ground, wings, eyes and paws all burning.
They breathed their last as living torches.
Movement 10: Agnus Dei (Catholic Mass)
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.
(Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.)
(Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, give us peace.)
Movement 11: Now the Guns Have Stopped (Guy Wilson)
Silent, so silent now,
Now the guns have stopped.
I have survived all,
I who knew I would not.
But now you are not here.
I shall go home, alone;
And must try to live life as before
And hide my grief.
For you, my dearest friend, who should be with me now,
Not cold, too soon,
And in your grave,
Alone.
Movement 12: Benedictus (Catholic Mass)
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis.
(Blessed is the one who comes in name of the Lord.)
(Hosanna in the highest.)
Movement 13: Better is Peace (Poems by Thomas Mallory; Alfred Tennyson)
Better is peace than always war,
And better is peace than evermore war.
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true
(Revelations 21:4)
God shall wipe away all tears
And there shall be no more death,
Neither sorrow, nor crying,
Neither shall there be any more pain.
Praise the Lord.
L’homme armé doit on douter.
On a fait partout crier,
que chacun se viegne armer
d’un haubregon de fer.
L’homme armé doit on douter.
(The armed man should be feared.)
(Everywhere it has been proclaimed,)
(That each man shall arm himself)
(with a coat of iron mail.)
(The armed man should be feared.)
Movement 2: Call to Prayer (Muslim worship)
Allahu Akbar
Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Alla
Ashhadu Anna Muhammadan Rasulullah
Hayya ‘alas-Salah
Hayya ‘alal-Falah
Allahu Akbar
La ilaha illa Allah
(God is the greatest)
(I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except God)
(I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God)
(Hasten to Prayer)
(Hasten to salvation)
(God is the greatest)
(There is none worthy of worship except God)
Movement 3: Kyrie (Catholic Mass)
Kyrie eleison
Christe eleison
Kyrie eleison
(Lord have Mercy)
(Christ have Mercy)
(Lord have Mercy)
Movement 4: Save Me From Bloody Men (Psalms 56:1 and 59:2)
Be merciful unto me, O God:
For man would swallow me up.
He fighting daily oppresseth me.
Mine enemies would daily swallow me up.
For they be many that fight against men.
O thou Most High.
Defend me from them that rise up against me.
Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from bloody men.
Movement 5: Sanctus (Catholic Mass)
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua
Hosanna in excelsis
(Holy, Holy, Holy,)
(Lord God of Hosts)
(Heaven and earth are full of your glory)
(Hosanna in the highest)
Movement 6: Hymn Before Action (Poem by Rudyard Kipling)
The earth is full of anger,
The seas are dark with wrath,
The Nations in their harness
Go up against our path:
Ere yet we loose the legions
Ere yet we draw the blade,
Jehovah of the Thunders,
Lord God of Battles, aid!
High lust and froward bearing,
Proud heart, rebellious brow
Deaf ear and soul uncaring,
We seek Thy mercy now!
The sinner that forswore Thee,
The fool that passed Thee by,
Our times are known before Thee
Lord, grant us strength to die!
Movement 7: Charge! (Poem by John Dryden and Jonathan Swift)
The trumpet’s loud clangor
excites us to arms,
With shrill notes of anger,
and mortal alarms.
How blest is he who for his country dies
The double, double beat
Of the thund’ring drum
Cries, Hark! the foes come;
Charge, charge, ’tis too late to retreat.
How blest is he who for his country dies
The double, double beat
Of the thund’ring drum
Cries, Hark! the foes come;
Charge, charge, ’tis too late to retreat.
Charge!
Movement 8: Angry Flames (Poem by Tōge Sankichi, witness to the bombing of Hiroshima)
Pushing up through smoke
From a world half darkened
by overhanging cloud.
The shroud that mushroomed out
And struck the dome of the sky,
Black, red, blue,
Dance in the air,
Merge, scatter glittering sparks already
tower over the whole city.
Quivering like seaweed
The mass of flames spurts forward.
Popping up in the dense smoke,
Crawling out wreathed in fire,
Countless human beings on all fours
In a heap of embers that erupt and subside,
Hair rent, rigid in death,
There smoulders a curse.
Movement 9: Torches (excerpt from The Mahābhārata, Sanskrit epic poem)
The animals scattered in all directions, screaming terrible screams.
Many were burning, others were burnt.
All were shattered and scattered mindlessly, their eyes bulging.
Some hugged their sons, others their fathers
and mothers, unable to let them go,
and so they died.
Others leapt up in their thousands, faces
disfigured and were consumed by the fire,
everywhere bodies squirming on the ground, wings, eyes and paws all burning.
They breathed their last as living torches.
Movement 10: Agnus Dei (Catholic Mass)
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.
(Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.)
(Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, give us peace.)
Movement 11: Now the Guns Have Stopped (Guy Wilson)
Silent, so silent now,
Now the guns have stopped.
I have survived all,
I who knew I would not.
But now you are not here.
I shall go home, alone;
And must try to live life as before
And hide my grief.
For you, my dearest friend, who should be with me now,
Not cold, too soon,
And in your grave,
Alone.
Movement 12: Benedictus (Catholic Mass)
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis.
(Blessed is the one who comes in name of the Lord.)
(Hosanna in the highest.)
Movement 13: Better is Peace (Poems by Thomas Mallory; Alfred Tennyson)
Better is peace than always war,
And better is peace than evermore war.
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true
(Revelations 21:4)
God shall wipe away all tears
And there shall be no more death,
Neither sorrow, nor crying,
Neither shall there be any more pain.
Praise the Lord.
Director's Program Notes (Extended Notes)
Fourteen years ago, one of my high school students introduced me to the music of Karl Jenkins, and in particular his "Mass For Peace: The Armed Man." His music spoke to me powerfully, as does his overarching message. And despite the gravity of the subject matter and texts, I am deeply drawn to the drama in his music. I have longed to bring this work to life ever since.
The title comes from the fifteenth-century French folk song L’homme armé (“The Armed Man”). In Renaissance music it was repeatedly used as the basis for Mass settings, already a paradox: a sacred Mass built on a secular melody about armed violence. Jenkins takes that inherited ambiguity and turns it into the thematic spine of his entire work, appearing in the opening movement and returning, transformed, at the end. This transformation suggests a hoped-for shift in human identity — from being defined by war to being capable of peace.
The UK Royal Armouries Museum commissioned Jenkins to write a Mass to mark the millennium. In response, he incorporates four of the five parts of the Ordinary of the Mass, but broadens the scope significantly. Texts are drawn from multiple cultures and historical periods, including the Bible, the Islamic call to prayer, poetry by Rudyard Kipling, Alfred Tennyson, the Maharishi Ved Vyasa, Sankichi Toge, as well as writings from war survivors. This wide textual palette reinforces the central idea that the experience of conflict and the longing for peace transcend nationality, religion, and time.
One of the boldest artistic choices is the inclusion of the Muslim Adhan (call to prayer). Dedicated to the victims of the Kosovo conflict, The Armed Man uses Islamic material in a context of Western sacred tradition, creating a striking juxtaposition with L’homme armé and other Christian texts in the work. Rather than dividing cultures, The Armed Man resists the notion that humanity is split into opposing religious or cultural camps, and emphasizes a shared meditation on suffering, violence and peace. The "Adhan -- Call to Prayer" aptly serves as an invitation to engage in serious-minded consideration of the challenging, but intrinsically important, subject of war and peace.
This journey begins in the movement "Bloody Men", with Gregorian chant-like expressions of fear and aversion to violence. Subsequently, "Kyrie" opens with a deeply unsettling overture that foreshadows the tragedies of violence. It then unfolds into Jenkins’ gorgeous, prayerful melody, with its short, pleading gestures filled with yearning, fragility, and uncertainty. Rather than providing warm tonal support, the lower voices and orchestral basses quietly suggest something far more ominous. The "Sanctus" movement is another highlight. A text commonly filled with grandiose praise or humble adoration, Jenkins' setting is uneasy: the whispered “sanctus” a trepidacious invocation; the chant-like “Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua” a sinister and hypnotic incantation -- all punctuated by the militant clarion call of the trumpets, and underscored by a menacing, rhythmic bass line, building tension and evoking a sense of doom.
"Hymn Before Action" and "Charge!" create some of the works’ most electrifying moments. Beginning as a warning, "Hymn Before Action" sets words by Rudyard Kipling, written during the Boer War. On the surface, the text resembles a patriotic prayer before battle, asking for courage and divine protection. Kipling’s language, however, is deeply uneasy, as it creates dissonance between the aggressive theme of martial resolve and the fearful acknowledgement of the terrible consequences of violence. Jenkins amplifies this musically, as the movement does not sound triumphantly militaristic in a straightforward sense. Instead, its tense, weighty, and foreboding sonorities underscore an inner conflict.
What follows is the work’s total psychological and musical rupture, expressed through the belligerent, furious interplay between the trumpets and the trombones. The percussion-driven orchestration transforms abstraction into violence, which immerses us in the chaos, adrenaline, brutality and dehumanizing machinery of war. And one of the most unsettling things about this is that it is thrilling! The pounding ostinatos, explosive orchestral color and the choral dominance are exhilarating! Jenkins deliberately taps into the intoxicating momentum of collective violence, emphasizing its seductive power over humanity. One of the most shocking moments comes when the chorus ceases to function as a refined concert ensemble, and becomes a personification of humanity itself, crying out in horror, shock and anguish. Stripped of words, the cry transcends language and identity. In this moment the performance takes on an air of modernity and is a reminder that no matter the century or nation, mass destruction produces the same elemental human cry. The movement ends in silence, followed by a lone trumpet playing "The Last Post". The final phrase's grim, eerie accompaniment undermines any sense of peace or resolution, suggesting unfading scars of war.
The suffering and anguish that follow in war’s wake are acknowledged through the chant-like narration in "Torches." The bassoon's mournful lamentation counters the frank narration, ultimately culminating in the final choral outcry, which
gathers individual grief into collective expression. Jenkins returns to the Mass with the "Agnus Dei." This movement, a beautiful and expressive plea for mercy, resonates not only within the Christian church, but also across cultures as a universal reflection on loss and the longing for an end to devastation.
“Now the Guns Have Stopped” marks the first truly personal perspective in the work. The poet implies that war does not end when firing stops, and instead, is sustained internally through memory, grief and dislocation. What follows is, in my opinion, one of Jenkins’ most beautiful creations. In "Benedictus," brief string orchestra figures conjure impressions of unburdened breath. These phrases are not decorative, but essential, as they depict the first moments in which peace becomes imaginable. A luminous cello melody emerges in a translucent and vulnerable upper register, not commonly utilized on a cello. It speaks of empathy and compassion through grace and understanding. The effusive Hosanna expands this forgiveness into communal affirmation as voices rise in gratitude.
Finally, "Better Is Peace" brings a radiant transformation of the L’homme armé theme. What was once martial and in minor mode, becomes a bright, buoyant dance, with jig-like energy, a major modality, and bell-like choral writing. Attempts to restate the original martial form are quickly dissolved into rising, celebratory phrases. It suggests that peace requires active commitment — something chosen and continually renewed rather than simply received. The movement becomes a jubilant celebration of shared humanity across race, nation, creed, and circumstance. The work ends with a final motet from the book of Revelation. Stripped of orchestral forces, only voices remain in a moment of intimate reflection. While sacred in text, it is also a broad expression of gratitude, relief, and reverence for life itself. It sits deliberately between prayer and promise, refusing to be confined to either.
For performers, "The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace" is exhilarating in its demands for such range: precision and abandon, restraint and power, vulnerability and force. I hope for you, dear friends, that this work speaks to you as it does to me — in an unforgettable musical language of profound love for one another — and that your next steps are filled with hope and joy.
Bronwyn Kortge, Music Director
Fourteen years ago, one of my high school students introduced me to the music of Karl Jenkins, and in particular his "Mass For Peace: The Armed Man." His music spoke to me powerfully, as does his overarching message. And despite the gravity of the subject matter and texts, I am deeply drawn to the drama in his music. I have longed to bring this work to life ever since.
The title comes from the fifteenth-century French folk song L’homme armé (“The Armed Man”). In Renaissance music it was repeatedly used as the basis for Mass settings, already a paradox: a sacred Mass built on a secular melody about armed violence. Jenkins takes that inherited ambiguity and turns it into the thematic spine of his entire work, appearing in the opening movement and returning, transformed, at the end. This transformation suggests a hoped-for shift in human identity — from being defined by war to being capable of peace.
The UK Royal Armouries Museum commissioned Jenkins to write a Mass to mark the millennium. In response, he incorporates four of the five parts of the Ordinary of the Mass, but broadens the scope significantly. Texts are drawn from multiple cultures and historical periods, including the Bible, the Islamic call to prayer, poetry by Rudyard Kipling, Alfred Tennyson, the Maharishi Ved Vyasa, Sankichi Toge, as well as writings from war survivors. This wide textual palette reinforces the central idea that the experience of conflict and the longing for peace transcend nationality, religion, and time.
One of the boldest artistic choices is the inclusion of the Muslim Adhan (call to prayer). Dedicated to the victims of the Kosovo conflict, The Armed Man uses Islamic material in a context of Western sacred tradition, creating a striking juxtaposition with L’homme armé and other Christian texts in the work. Rather than dividing cultures, The Armed Man resists the notion that humanity is split into opposing religious or cultural camps, and emphasizes a shared meditation on suffering, violence and peace. The "Adhan -- Call to Prayer" aptly serves as an invitation to engage in serious-minded consideration of the challenging, but intrinsically important, subject of war and peace.
This journey begins in the movement "Bloody Men", with Gregorian chant-like expressions of fear and aversion to violence. Subsequently, "Kyrie" opens with a deeply unsettling overture that foreshadows the tragedies of violence. It then unfolds into Jenkins’ gorgeous, prayerful melody, with its short, pleading gestures filled with yearning, fragility, and uncertainty. Rather than providing warm tonal support, the lower voices and orchestral basses quietly suggest something far more ominous. The "Sanctus" movement is another highlight. A text commonly filled with grandiose praise or humble adoration, Jenkins' setting is uneasy: the whispered “sanctus” a trepidacious invocation; the chant-like “Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua” a sinister and hypnotic incantation -- all punctuated by the militant clarion call of the trumpets, and underscored by a menacing, rhythmic bass line, building tension and evoking a sense of doom.
"Hymn Before Action" and "Charge!" create some of the works’ most electrifying moments. Beginning as a warning, "Hymn Before Action" sets words by Rudyard Kipling, written during the Boer War. On the surface, the text resembles a patriotic prayer before battle, asking for courage and divine protection. Kipling’s language, however, is deeply uneasy, as it creates dissonance between the aggressive theme of martial resolve and the fearful acknowledgement of the terrible consequences of violence. Jenkins amplifies this musically, as the movement does not sound triumphantly militaristic in a straightforward sense. Instead, its tense, weighty, and foreboding sonorities underscore an inner conflict.
What follows is the work’s total psychological and musical rupture, expressed through the belligerent, furious interplay between the trumpets and the trombones. The percussion-driven orchestration transforms abstraction into violence, which immerses us in the chaos, adrenaline, brutality and dehumanizing machinery of war. And one of the most unsettling things about this is that it is thrilling! The pounding ostinatos, explosive orchestral color and the choral dominance are exhilarating! Jenkins deliberately taps into the intoxicating momentum of collective violence, emphasizing its seductive power over humanity. One of the most shocking moments comes when the chorus ceases to function as a refined concert ensemble, and becomes a personification of humanity itself, crying out in horror, shock and anguish. Stripped of words, the cry transcends language and identity. In this moment the performance takes on an air of modernity and is a reminder that no matter the century or nation, mass destruction produces the same elemental human cry. The movement ends in silence, followed by a lone trumpet playing "The Last Post". The final phrase's grim, eerie accompaniment undermines any sense of peace or resolution, suggesting unfading scars of war.
The suffering and anguish that follow in war’s wake are acknowledged through the chant-like narration in "Torches." The bassoon's mournful lamentation counters the frank narration, ultimately culminating in the final choral outcry, which
gathers individual grief into collective expression. Jenkins returns to the Mass with the "Agnus Dei." This movement, a beautiful and expressive plea for mercy, resonates not only within the Christian church, but also across cultures as a universal reflection on loss and the longing for an end to devastation.
“Now the Guns Have Stopped” marks the first truly personal perspective in the work. The poet implies that war does not end when firing stops, and instead, is sustained internally through memory, grief and dislocation. What follows is, in my opinion, one of Jenkins’ most beautiful creations. In "Benedictus," brief string orchestra figures conjure impressions of unburdened breath. These phrases are not decorative, but essential, as they depict the first moments in which peace becomes imaginable. A luminous cello melody emerges in a translucent and vulnerable upper register, not commonly utilized on a cello. It speaks of empathy and compassion through grace and understanding. The effusive Hosanna expands this forgiveness into communal affirmation as voices rise in gratitude.
Finally, "Better Is Peace" brings a radiant transformation of the L’homme armé theme. What was once martial and in minor mode, becomes a bright, buoyant dance, with jig-like energy, a major modality, and bell-like choral writing. Attempts to restate the original martial form are quickly dissolved into rising, celebratory phrases. It suggests that peace requires active commitment — something chosen and continually renewed rather than simply received. The movement becomes a jubilant celebration of shared humanity across race, nation, creed, and circumstance. The work ends with a final motet from the book of Revelation. Stripped of orchestral forces, only voices remain in a moment of intimate reflection. While sacred in text, it is also a broad expression of gratitude, relief, and reverence for life itself. It sits deliberately between prayer and promise, refusing to be confined to either.
For performers, "The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace" is exhilarating in its demands for such range: precision and abandon, restraint and power, vulnerability and force. I hope for you, dear friends, that this work speaks to you as it does to me — in an unforgettable musical language of profound love for one another — and that your next steps are filled with hope and joy.
Bronwyn Kortge, Music Director