A Mass for Peace, Commissioned by a Museum of War
by Megan Collier
Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man, A Mass for Peace, was commissioned by the United Kingdom’s Royal Armouries. From its beginning in the 15th century, the Armouries was a department focused on weapons, armor, and war. In the 17th century, its function was absorbed into the Ordnance Board, which was itself abolished in 1855. The armaments themselves remained, and in 1935, the ancient title of Master of the Armories was revived for the head of the museum, who was charged with curating and displaying this oldest and largest collection of arms and armor in the world.
Guy Wilson held the post in 1999 when the mass was commissioned for the Millennium celebrations, and to celebrate the museum’s move from London to Leeds. Wilson collaborated with Jenkins on the selection of texts, which include English poetry, the work of a Japanese poet who survived the bombing of Hiroshima, the Islamic call to prayer, the Bible, and the Mahabharata. Wilson said of the finished work that Jenkins “responded to the commission by composing the most marvellous, varied, accessible, appropriate and singable music that embraces the whole world and the full range of emotions that the subjects of war and peace evoke.” It was dedicated to victims of the Kosovo crisis, and first performed in London on April 25, 2000.