This wildly popular music is a source of pride and sadness

For composer Sir Karl Jenkins, the fact his The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace, remains wildly popular and relevant nearly 25 years after it was first performed is a source of both pride and sadness.

The monumental choral work, which has been performed more than 3000 times and has clocked up more than 1000 weeks in the UK classical music charts, continues to resonate with audiences worldwide.

Karl Jenkins: “It is meant to be a universal message.′Credit: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images

However, the sadness wells because so little seems to have changed since he dedicated the work to victims of the Kosovo conflict.

“The Armed Man is still as relevant now as the day I wrote it,” says Jenkins, 80. “It was dedicated to Kosovo because that was the conflict that was on TV every day. If it had been now it would probably have been dedicated to Ukraine or the Middle East. It’s always somewhere.”

Jenkins’ musical journey is both unusual and eclectic. Born just outside Swansea, south Wales, at the end of World War II, he grew up surrounded by music, due in large part to his father, a music teacher and chapel organist.

At high school, he became enthralled by jazz masters such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Oscar Peterson before formally studying music at Cardiff University and the Royal Academy of Music.

“When I left, I was well versed in the craft of classical music – harmony, counterpoint, fugue, orchestration, all that kind of stuff,” he says.

After his studies, he went on to join jazz fusion outfit Soft Machine and from there began a career writing music for advertising.

“At the time in London the advertising directors were people like Ridley Scott and Alan Parker so production values were quite high,” he says. “And the music wasn’t just jingle or singalong stuff.”

The breakthrough came in 1994 with Adiemus, a short piece written for Delta Airlines, and later expanded into an album-length project combining classical and world music with “lyrics” that have no recognisable words.

“Adiemus was pivotal because its success took me back outside advertising,” says Jenkins.

It was also pivotal in bringing him the commission for The Armed Man from the Royal Armouries Museum. Beyond stipulations that it should include recognisable elements from the Catholic Mass, such as the Kyrie and Sanctus, Jenkins was allowed free reinm and the result is an eclectic work that includes the Adhan, the Muslim call to prayer and an excerpt from the Mahabharata, as well as text from the 16th century French text l’Homme Armé.

“It is meant to be a universal message crossing different creeds and religions but embracing everyone,” says Jenkins. “The plan was in the year 2000 to look forward to a more peaceful millennium, which of course never happened.”

On Sunday, The Armed Man will be the centrepiece of ChorusOz, the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ annual “big sing” at Sydney Opera House.

“In a world where division and absolute notions of right and wrong hold our attention with often devastating consequences, The Armed Man seems a timely work to perform,” says musical director Brett Weymark. “Is peace possible? It might be if more of us come together as one and sing in harmony.”

The Armed Man, Sydney Opera House, June 9, 5pm