If anyone has been reading the letters to the Irish Times over the last year they will have come an unusual controversy aired from time to time.
It appears that every time Karl Jenkins’ Armed Man (subtitled A Mass for Peace) is produced that there is a rush to the letters pages to declare a side.
It is not be expected that a modern choral and orchestral work would arouse such strong emotions.
Only last week a correspondent to the Times called it the “musical equivalent of the Da Vinci Code” (and this was not intended as praise!).

Jenkins wrote the piece in 2000 on commission from the Royal Armories and since it was first performed it has had both its strong attackers and defenders.
Last night I went to its first performance in Waterford.

Here I must declare an interest.
The performance was given by Madrigallery, a choir of which my wife is a member, and of which I have been a fan for their fifteen year existence.
To further declare an interest I was acting as master of ceremonies for the evening myself.

I wasn’t at all sure I was going to enjoy it.
I have been hearing Sile practicing the alto line of all of the songs sung around out house pretty incessantly for the last six months.
I have also been hearing the more popular bits , the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei, played a fair bit on Lyric FM.
There is no doubting its accessibility.
Jenkins, God Bless Him, writes tunes.
Lovely hummible tunes.
(So did Rossini by the way)
There was still the fear that it was going to sound a little too Hollywood, perhaps even a little more like a musical than a serious choral work.
I needn’t have worried.
The piece , as performed last night, is a triumph.

There is no doubting that Jenkins is a very clever man.
He plays with our emotions and by throwing various styles of music at us, from the simplest of monkish Gregorian chants to the most lavish of numbers in which the choir and orchestra are at full, drum laden, pitch, he carries the whole audience with him right through the work.
Being in the middle of 400 odd Waterfordians all totally at one with the conductor is totally exhilarating.

A mosh pit would not have been out of the question.

Congratulations to Kevin O Carroll, the conductor and to the choir and orchestra.
Ye played a blinder.