Choose artist...

Track Listing:

1
Pitran, patran
 
2
Then Silence
 
3
Cortege
 
4
Lament for the Valley
 
5
Lacrimosa Lullaby
 
6
Did I hear a bird?
 
7
Satin Feathers
 
8
And-a-Half
 
9
And once upon a time
 
10
When the shadow dies
 
11
Lux Aterna
 

Karl Jenkins :

Cantata Memoria


Major new choral work marking 50 years since the Aberfan Disaster SIR KARL JENKINS: CANTATA MEMORIA – FOR THE CHILDREN

New album released on Deutsche Grammophon on 7th October
World Premiere with Bryn Terfel at Wales Millennium Centre on 8th October
Concert also features contributions from Michael Sheen, Siân Phillips & more

Bryn Terfel, bass-baritone
Elin Manahan Thomas, soprano
Catrin Finch, harp
David Childs, euphonium

Choirs:Cywair, CF1, Côr Caerdydd, Côr Heol y March, Côr y Cwm
Sinfonia Cymru, orchestra
Karl Jenkins, conductor

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster in Wales, Sir Karl Jenkins has composed a major new choral work, Cantata Memoria – For The Children,to be released on a Deutsche Grammophon album on 7th October and premiered at the Wales Millennium Centre the following day.  The concert will feature some of Wales' most celebrated artists includingBryn Terfel, Catrin Finch, Elin Manahan Thomas, David Childs, as well as contributions from Michael Sheen and Siân Phillips.

Cantata Memoria was commissioned by S4C, the Welsh language TV channel, to mark 50 years since the Aberfan disaster, when 116 children and 28 adults lost their lives after a colliery waste tip collapsed and engulfed Pantglas school and nearby houses, devastating the local community in South Wales.

The work is 55 minutes long and has been written for soloists, adult choir, children's chorus and orchestra (a massed choir of over 250 singers) – with text in English, Welsh and Latin by multi-lingual Welsh poet and librettist Mererid Hopwood.  Sir Karl Jenkins will conduct the world premiere of the work (with the same cast as appears on the new recording) at The Aberfan Memorial Charity Concert on 8th October, which will be broadcast on S4C the following evening Sunday 9th October at 7.30pm.  The first half of the concert, produced by Stifyn Parri of MR PRODUCER,  features music by Jenkins and others, performed by Sinfonia Cymru, alongside words and poetry read by Siân Phillips and Michael Sheen.  Cantata Memoria will be premiered in the second half.  The first US performance of the work is set to take place at Carnegie Hall in January 2017.

Penclawdd-born composer Sir Karl Jenkins says, "It was a huge honour to be asked to write this work.  Apart from depicting the disaster itself, Cantata Memoria is also a celebration of childhood, gradually moving from darkness to light. I felt privileged and humbled to have been invited to compose this piece, whilst also being mindful of the responsibility the commission carried to create something with integrity and accessibility that would connect and move everyone. Paradoxically, dealing with a subject that lies so deep in the soul of the Welsh was both a harrowing and uplifting experience."

Bryn Terfel adds, "Cantata Memoria is a deeply powerful commemoration of such a sad tragedy in Wales. It has been an honour watching and hearing the piece develop into what will be a work of major significance in Welsh culture and beyond."

Aberfan survivor David Davies, Chairman of The Aberfan Memorial Charity, is a great admirer of Sir Karl Jenkins' works and has come to know the composer personally.  "I was very moved by Cantata Memoria, and I think people will find it a powerful piece. The first 20 minutes or so relate specifically to the events of the disaster, but after that it becomes more universal – a journey to light. When I heard it, I saw people around become teary-eyed, and I'm sure it will have a similar impact elsewhere."

S4C Chief Executive Ian Jonesis proud to have commissioned the work.  He says, "Cantata Memoria reflects on the ability of the human condition to find hope in the face of the greatest despair and light in the deepest darkness. Working closely with a number of key partners, including most crucially, the local community and The Aberfan Memorial Charity, Sir Karl Jenkins and the poet Mererid Hopwood, Wales Millennium Centre and production company Rondo Media we hope to provide the broadcast of a world premiere, befitting of an event of national and international significance." Amongst modern choral circles, Sir Karl Jenkins is a phenomenon. Cantata Memoria is the latest in a series of large-scale works for choir and orchestra following ‘The Armed Man – A Mass for Peace', which apart from becoming the nation's favourite work of recent decades, is the most performed work by a living composer this century with over 2000 performances globally.  Although written to commemorate a profoundly sad event, the music of Cantata Memoria is similarly poignant and uplifting.  As David Davies says, "It's a tribute to the power of the human spirit to rebuild itself."

Karl Jenkins
CANTATA MEMORIA
For the Children • Er mwyn y plant
Libretto: Mererid Hopwood