Karl Jenkins

Adiemus II - Cantata Mundi

Cantata mundi is a development of ideas first heard in Songs of Sanctuary, where the world of ethnic influenced (both in vocal sound and percussion) are combined with established Western European classical technique to present a unified work.Vocally, the spread of influence is wider than in Songs of Sanctuary, with Eastern European and Arabic sounds added to the African, Celtic and ecclesiastical blend. Once again, the text is written phonetically with the words viewed as instrumental sound. In Cantata mundi, the sound is more symphonic, with woodwind and brass added to the strings, percussion and recorder. The seven main Cantus movements incorporate ethnic percussion, and are interspersed with shorter chorales. This suite is an arrangement for upper voices and piano with additional recorder part and includes four Cantus and four chorale movements.