150 singers and conductors attended and were rewarded with a very stimulating and exciting day, going back to their choirs with lots of new repertoire and ideas.
Keith began the day with an enjoyable and energetic warm-up that flowed seamlessly into The Armed Man theme. Keith's attitude to the day was to present the attributes of The Armed Man by enjoying the beautiful melodies and exciting moments in some depth while touching on the more difficult moments without labouring them. He was assisted by a DVD of a local performance that was used to great effect.
The Armed Man was broken into three manageable sections by the composers road show.
First up was Gordon Thornett whose speciality is composing Christmas music for performance by the CBSO in their popular annual concerts. The music has to be, therefore, easily approachable by audience and perfomer. Noel (a setting of The First Nowell) and See amid the winter's snow are published by O.U.P. Setting of Rosetti poems are published in Norway and distributed in this country by Music Makers in Tamworth.
Ben Lamb is director of music at Lichfield Cathedral and directs a professional choral group in Salisbury. He has composed and arranged pieces for both groups. His presentation included Set me as a seal - a challenging anthem, The angel Gabriel - a characterful arrangement of the Advent carol and a beautiful setting of Ave Maria. Ben's music is available directly from him: info@sarumvoices.co.uk
After lunch there was more Armed Man with Keith, finishing with the climax of the battle and its aftermath with some telling images from the DVD. It was the task of Guy Turner to lighten the atmosphere, which he did very successfully with selections from his book of nonsense songs Potato Music. This pie's too big is dedicated to all those who have an aversion to foreign food, The homing pigeon on the banks of the Seine is a sad tale about the pigeon who didn't come back and The potato song is an intricate setting of just one word. Potato Music can be ordered direct from Guy or from Windblowers in Nottingham.
The day ended with Keith going through the final numbers of The Armed Man including the Classic fm stalwarts Agnus Dei and Benedictus. I'm always disappointed by musical friends who look down their nose at the work of such as Karl Jenkins because it is not as musically sophisticated as they would like. The thing about The Armed Man is that it "hits the spot". Its message is relevant to the modern audience. The music is enjoyable to sing and is audience friendly. There is a journey through the work that addresses extremes of emotion.
My final message to the delegates was GO OUT AND TRY SOMETHING NEW
The Armed Man is available from Boosey and Hawkes and all good music retailers.
Click here to see more photos of the day.
