The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace was commissioned by the Royal Armouries in Leeds to mark the passing of the 20th century, “the most war-torn and destructive century in human history”. It was first performed in London in 2000 and dedicated to the victims of Kosovo, whose tragic conflict moved the composer whilst he worked on the score.

In a manner reminiscent of Britten’s War Requiem, The Armed Man interpolates a wide range of sacred and secular texts from around the world, all set within the framework of the Christian mass: sacred texts from the Bible and Koran and the Mahàbharata, a 6th century Hindu poem; secular texts by Malory, Dryden, Tennyson, Swift, Kipling, Togi Sankichi (a survivor of Hiroshima who later died of leukaemia caused by radiation exposure) and Guy Wilson, Master of the Royal Armouries, who also selected many of the texts set by Jenkins.

Christian and Muslim traditional texts and from the Hindu epic poem The Mahàbharata, are interspersed with texts on war from some of the finest names in literature. A eyewitness account of the first atomic bomb at Hiroshima, by the poet Toge Sankichi, portrays the shocking devastation of 20th century armoury. There is a progression of conflict throughout the work culminating in the battlefield Charge. Jenkins’ scoring is every bit as exhilarating and dynamic as you would expect from a film score composer.

The point that one death is one too many is made by the Agnus Dei but it is left to the Benedictus to heal the wounds of the survivors. Like Rutter, Jenkins ends with a text from Revelation affirming that change is possible, that pain and death can be overcome.