Episodes

SeriesEpisodeTitleFirst
Broadcast
Comments
202401In The Beginning20240212Donald Macleod talks to multi-instrumentalist and composer Sir Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday.

Karl Jenkins has had a career of contrasts – from accomplished jazz fusion, prog rock and the worlds of film and advertising, to phenomenal success in concert halls around the world as a composer of music that delights audiences and often defies categorisation; music that is rhythmic, emotional – and hugely popular: he just might be the most performed living composer in the world.

In these special programmes Karl Jenkins joins Donald Macleod to talk about his life and music, beginning today with his latest large-scale work One World and his musical origins in the village of Penclawdd on the Gower peninsula in south Wales.

Benedictus

Polyphony

Stephen Layton, conductor

In the Beginning, from One World

World Choir for Peace & World Orchestra for Peace

Karl Jenkins, conductor

Let's Go (The Tower of Babel), from One World

Stay at Home Choir

Yet, Here I Am, from One World

Sarakiz

iii Dance

Marat Bisenaliev, violin

London Symphony Orchestra

Stabat Mater

ii Incantation

iii Vidit Jesum In Tormentis

xii Paradisi Gloria

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra & Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir

EMO Ensemble

Pasi Hyökki, conductor

Jurgita Adamonyte, mezzo-soprano

Jody K. Jenkins, percussion

Belinda Sykes, vocals & mey

Tikkun Olam, from One World

Kathryn Rudge, mezzo-soprano

Krzysztof Wisniewski, violin

Valentino Worlitzsch, cello

Donald Macleod talks to multi-instrumentalist and composer Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday.

Tikkum Olam, from One World

202402Fusion20240213Donald Macleod talks to multi-instrumentalist and composer Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday.

In these special programmes composer Karl Jenkins joins Donald Macleod to talk about his life and music. After a rich and creative musical upbringing, and university in Cardiff, Karl Jenkins left his native South Wales in the mid-1960s in order to study music as a postgraduate at the Royal Academy in London. His immersion in classical music ran in parallel with a passion for jazz. After graduating he formed the band Nucleus, which won first prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1970. He then toured the world with the legendary jazz-rock band Soft Machine. We'll end today's programme by returning to South Wales, with his 50th anniversary memorial to those who lost their lives in the disaster at Aberfan in 1966.

Suo Gan

The Cory Band

Only Men Aloud

Quirky Blue

Karl Jenkins, piano

Hazard Profile, pt 1

(Karl Jenkins, Allan Holdsworth, Mike Ratledge, Roy Babbington, John Marshall)

Carol Ann

(Karl Jenkins, Mike Ratledge, Roy Babbington, John Marshall)

La Folia – concerto for marimba and strings

Neil Percy, marimba

London Symphony Orchestra

Karl Jenkins, conductor

Cantata Memoria

iii Cortege

v Lacrimosa Lullaby

Bryn Terfel, bass-baritone

David Childs, euphonium

Catrin Finch, harp

Jody Jenkins, percussion

Joo Yeon Sir, violin

Adult choirs: Cywair, CF1, Cor Caerdydd

Young choirs: Côr Heol y March & Côr y Cwm

Sinfonia Cymru

Donald Macleod talks to composer Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday.

Donald Macleod talks to multi-instrumentalist and composer Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday, today focusing on his immersion in jazz fusion.

Donald Macleod talks to multi-instrumentalist and composer Sir Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday.

In these special programmes composer Karl Jenkins joins Donald Macleod to talk about his life and music. After a rich and creative musical upbring, and university in Cardiff, Karl Jenkins left his native South Wales in the mid-1960s in order to study music as a postgraduate at the Royal Academy in London. His immersion in classical music ran in parallel with a passion for jazz. After graduating he formed the band Nucleus, which won first prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1970. He then toured the world the legendary jazz-rock band Soft Machine. We'll end today's programme by returning to South Wales, with his 50th anniversary memorial to those who lost their lives in the disaster at Aberfan in 1966.

Donald Macleod talks to multi-instrumentalist and composer Sir Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday, today focusing on his immersion in jazz fusion.

202403From Advertising To Adiemus20240214In these special programmes composer Sir Karl Jenkins joins Donald Macleod to talk about his life and music. When the band Soft Machine came to an end in the early 1980s – petering out ‘softly' -- Karl Jenkins had no plan in place for what he would do next. But fate took a hand and he unexpectedly found himself in demand as a composer and arranger for adverts. It was a busy, exciting period which might seem distinct from his later success in the concert hall, but - one thing leads to another – and today we'll be hearing some of his music that crossed over from advertising to the concert hall, in the form of his original Adiemus project – and the concerto grosso Palladio. We end with extracts from Gloria, and an example of his new ‘mission' for the new millennium: to reinterpret the texts that virtually all great composers set, such as Requiem, Stabat Mater, Te Deum etc, but with some of the multicultural elements that made Adiemus so distinctive.

Cantilena

London Philharmonic Choir

Adiemus Symphony Orchestra of Europe

Karl Jenkins, composer

Miriam Stockley, vocals

Jody K Jenkins, percussion

Mick Taylor, flute

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Karl Jenkins, conductor

Hymn

Kayama

Miriam Stockley & Mary Carewe, vocals

Frank Ricotti & Jody K Jenkins, percussion

Mike Taylor, flute

Cancion Plateada

Karl Jenkins, piano

Palladio, concerto grosso for string orchestra

i Allegretto

London Symphony Orchestra

Lullay, from Stella Natalis

Polyphony

Stephen Layton, conductor

Only Heavenly Music, from Stella Natalis

Kate Royal, soprano

Alison Balsom, trumpet

Jody K Jenkins & Zands Duggan, percussion

The Adiemus Singers, Marylebone Camerata, Tenebrae

The Proclamation, from Gloria

London Symphony Orchestra & National Youth Choir of Great Britain

Laudamus Te, from Gloria

Tim Hugh, cello

Donald Macleod meets composer Sir Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday.

Donald Macleod meets Sir Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday, today exploring his years of creativity in the advertising industry and the huge success of Adiemus.

In these special programmes composer Karl Jenkins joins Donald Macleod to talk about his life and music. When the band Soft Machine came to an end in the early 1980s – petering out ‘softly' -- Karl Jenkins had no plan in place for what he would do next. But fate took a hand and he unexpectedly found himself in demand as a composer and arranger for adverts. It was a busy, exciting period which might seem distinct from his later success in the concert hall, but - one thing leads to another – and today we'll be hearing some of his music that crossed over from advertising to the concert hall, in the form of his original Adiemus project – and the concerto grosso Palladio. We end with extracts from Gloria, an example of his new ‘mission' for the new millennium: to reinterpret the texts that virtually all great composers set, such as Requiem, Stabat Mater, Te Deum etc, but with some of the multi-cultural elements that made Adiemus so distinctive.

Donald Macleod meets composer Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday.

Donald Macleod meets composer Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday, today exploring his years of creativity in the advertising industry and the huge success of Adiemus.

202404Peace, Peace!20240215Donald Macleod talks to multi-instrumentalist and composer Sir Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday.

In these special programmes, composer Karl Jenkins joins Donald Macleod to discuss his life and music. Karl Jenkins is treasured by audiences for the serenity of so much of his writing, and admired for the way he has responded to some of humanity's darkest impulses. Today's programme focuses on his hugely successful work The Armed Man – a Mass for Peace. Commissioned by the Armouries Museum in 1999 it is dedicated to the victims of the Kosovo conflict, where horrific events were unfolding as the Mass was being composed.

The Peacemakers

iii Peace, Peace!

London Symphony Orchestra & CBSO Youth Chorus

Simon Halsey, conductor

i The Armed Man

iii Kyrie

v Sanctus

London Philharmonic Orchestra & National Youth Choir of Great Britain

Karl Jenkins, conductor

vi Healing Light

xvii Anthem: Peace, triumphant peace!

Davy Spillane, pipes

Really Big Chorus

x Agnus Dei

Polyphony

Stephen Layton, conductor

xii Benedictus

Donald Macleod talks to composer Sir Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday.

Donald Macleod talks to multi-instrumentalist and composer Sir Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday, today exploring his hugely successful 'mass for peace' The Armed Man.

Donald Macleod talks to multi-instrumentalist and composer Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday.

Donald Macleod talks to composer Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday.

Donald Macleod talks to multi-instrumentalist and composer Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday, today exploring his hugely successful 'mass for peace' The Armed Man.

202405 LASTThe Future20240216Donald Macleod talks to multi-instrumentalist and composer Sir Karl Jenkins. As his 80th birthday approaches, Karl Jenkins show no signs of slowing down. In their final conversation in this special week, he tells Donald Macleod about his recent compositions, including new saxophone concerto, Stravaganza, which has its UK premiere next month – and Fragile Earth, to be performed for the first time in April. We'll end the week by returning to the beginning, in a sense, with an extract from Karl Jenkins' Requiem, dedicated to his beloved father.

Quirk

iii Chasing the Goose

Gareth Davies, flutes

John Alley, keyboards

Neil Percy, percussion

London Symphony Orchestra

Karl Jenkins, conductor

White Water

Karl Jenkins, piano

The Golden Age Begins Anew, from One World

i Renewal

ii Prayer

Jody K Jenkins & Alexander Duggan, percussion

World Choir for Peace & World Orchestra for Peace

Concerto for Euphonium and Orchestra

iii ‘It takes two - ' Seductively

David Childs, euphonium

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Bramwell Tovey, conductor

Over the Stone

iv Tros y Garreg

Catrin Finch, harps

Sakura, Spring has Come, from One World

Lucy Crowe, soprano

World Orchestra for Peace & World Choir for Peace

i Introit

ii Dies Irae

ix Pie Jesu

Serendipity

Cor Caerdydd & Cylgan

West Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra

Donald Macleod talks to composer Sir Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday.

Donald Macleod talks to multi-instrumentalist and composer Sir Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday. Today, looking towards the future.

Donald Macleod talks to multi-instrumentalist and composer Karl Jenkins. As his 80th birthday approaches, Karl Jenkins show no signs of slowing down. In their final conversation in this special week, he tells Donald Macleod about his recent compositions, including new saxophone concerto, Stravaganza, which has its UK premiere next month – and Fragile Earth, to be performed for the first time in April. We'll end the week by returning to the beginning, in a sense, with an extract from Karl Jenkins' Requiem, dedicated to his beloved father.

Donald Macleod talks to composer Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday.

Donald Macleod talks to multi-instrumentalist and composer Karl Jenkins on the eve of his 80th birthday. Today: looking towards the future.