Signs of hope

Last night the Lanark & Carluke Choral Union, with the help of members of the Scottish Opera Orchestra and a few freelance musicians, put on a performance of two contemporary works that I know pretty well- Karl Jenkin's "The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace" and John Rutter's "Requiem".
It was held in St. Mary's R.C. Church in Lanark. Since I know the conductor, one of the soloists, and several members of the choir, I was keen to go along and I really enjoyed the evening. For an amateur choir they did really well. The orchestra, of course, was excellent.
To be honest I'm not a great fan of Jenkins' music, though it is enjoyable enough. It just seems to me to lack a bit of depth and he can be a wee bit lazy at times, padding stuff out with repeats rather than developing ideas - but who am I to say?
"The Armed Man" is certainly a very dramatic work and, in the context of the violent war-torn world we are living in just now, a very timely one. And last night there were some truly dramatic moments.
To appreciate this you have to try and picture the scene (unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me.)
St. Mary's is a beautiful cathedral-like R.C. Church with some lovely carvings and scultptures and some very attractive "Stations of the Cross." For the Easter season a large 'empty' wooden cross had been erected to one side of the altar. It was draped with a long white cloth.
This formed the backdrop against which the choir and orchestra were arranged.

Section 7 of "The Armed Man" is entitled "Charge" and represents a battle scene which culminates in a minute's total silence followed by 'The Last Post.'
It is always a very poignant moment and somehow even more so in a live performance.
But, for me, the most dramatic and moving part actually came near the beginning.
The work uses the Muslim Call to Prayer near the start and, for the occasion, the choir had invited an Imam to come and give the call to prayer.
It was strange to see him stand there chanting the call "Allahu Akbar" in front of that large empty cross, in a packed Roman Catholic church, followed by the choir singing "Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison" (Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy)
Somehow it felt to me like a sign of hope in an all-too-often hopeless world (which, of course, is exactly what Jenkins means it to be.)
John Rutter's Requiem seemed especially appropriate after that - especially the sublime "Pie Jesu" very well sung by Dorothy Low. (Well done, Dot! )
I like all kinds of music, including rock, indie folk etc. but at the moment I seem to have a thing about classical choral music.