Adiemus

Adiemus /ædiˈeɪməs/ is a series of vocalise-style albums by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. It is also the title of the opening track called "Adiemus" on the first album in the series, Songs of Sanctuary.

Concept

Each Adiemus album is a collection of song-length pieces featuring harmonised vocal melody against an orchestra background. There are no lyrics as such, instead the vocalists sing syllables and 'words' invented by Jenkins. However, rather than creating musical interest from patterns of phonemes (as in scat singing, or in numerous classical and crossover compositions), the language of Adiemus is carefully stylised so as not to distract the listener's attention from the pitch and timbre of the voice. Syllables rarely end in consonants, for example. In this respect it is similar to Japanese and several other languages. The core concept of Adiemus is that the voice should be allowed to function as nothing more than an instrument, an approach that was a trend in some New Age and World Music choral writing in the mid to late 1990s. (compare, for example Vangelis's score for the film 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), or "Dogora", a symphonic suite by French composer Étienne Perruchon).

Adiemus II: Cantata Mundi

Released in 1997, Adiemus II: Cantata Mundi is the second album by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins as part of the Adiemus project. Building on the style established in Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary, Jenkins broadens his musical approach to Cantata Mundi by including instrumentation and techniques from Eastern Europe, Arabia, and Asia. Compared to the earlier work, the orchestra is also expanded to include woodwinds and brass. The overall form of this album is a cantata of fourteen movements alternating between longer 'cantus' pieces and brief 'chorales'.

Track listing

All tracks by Karl Jenkins

Karl Jenkins

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Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins, CBE (born 17 February 1944) is a Welsh musician and composer known for "Adiemus", The Armed Man and his Requiem.

Early life and education

Karl Jenkins was born and raised in Penclawdd, the Gower, Wales. His mother was Swedish; his father was Welsh. Karl received his initial musical instruction from his father who was the local schoolteacher, chapel organist and choirmaster. Jenkins attended Gowerton Grammar School.

Jenkins began his musical career as an oboist in the National Youth Orchestra of Wales. He went on to study music at Cardiff University, and then commenced postgraduate studies in London at the Royal Academy of Music, where he also met his wife and musical collaborator, Carol Barratt. He studied with Alun Hoddinott.

Career overview

Early career: Graham Collier's group and Nucleus

For the bulk of his early career Jenkins was known as a jazz and jazz-rock musician, playing baritone and soprano saxophones, keyboards and oboe, an unusual instrument in a jazz context. He joined jazz composer Graham Collier's group and later co-founded the jazz-rock group Nucleus, which won first prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1970.