The Armed Man

The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins is an amazing work, and surely all the better for being performed live, as it was last Saturday at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall by the Liverpool Welsh Choral Union and the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the composer.

It is called a Mass, and has some traditional elements of a Mass, such as Kyrie and Agnus Dei, but it also draws material from different times and parts of the world.

It is called a Mass for Peace, but the title, and the liberal use of drums, gives parts of it a quite militaristic feel. Sanctus, one of the pieces which I was somewhat familiar with from classic FM, seems almost incongruous with the drum beat that underpins it.  One piece, called the charge, more than any other catches the excitement of war, and the way man gets dragged into the lust of battle.

But if it catches the adrenalin of war, it catches also the horror of war.  One of the pieces is a poem written by a Japanese person emerging from the ruins of Hiroshima, and ancient Indian piece called Torches is very graphic.  There is a one moment where the choir lets out a noise somewhere between a wail and a scream.

It is difficult to view it as a religious work, as it draws material from Christian, Moslem and Hindu sources, as well as secular poets. Even so, it is a spiritual work.  It starts with a call to prayer, and after celebrating and lamenting war it calls on the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Finally, after ringing out the old and ringing in the new, there are the words from revelation.. God will wipe away the tears..there shall be no more death or sorrow. It has the subject matter to be depressing, but it is, ultimately a work of hope.

All these great themes are well expressed in music, making it a very varied evening, an emotional roller coaster. As well as some big moments, making full use of the sizeable choir and orchestra, with generous use of brass and percussion, there are some beautifully lush pieces. Outstanding amongst these is the Benedictus, with an exquisite cello solo.

The four soloists were good, but spent most of the evening waiting their turn, it is certainly the choir that is centre stage. They were joined at the end by the fifth soloist, and 11 year old lad of Yemeni background from Childwall school who performed the Moslem call to prayer from the back of the orchestra near the start.

It was good watching Karl Jenkins conduct, his baton movements were very precise. It was especially good when he was conducting the choir, putting down the baton and controlling the choir with precise hand gestures.

In the first half we Te Deum, also by Karl Jenkins, followed by Elgar Serenade for strings, conducted by the leader of the orchestra. All part of a great evening.

Burnbanks

Burnbanks is a model village built to house the workers building the Haweswater dam in the 1930s. I walked from the village to the nearby bridge over Haweswater Beck.  It was very pleasant wandering amongst the bluebells in the dappled sunshine.

After walking amongst the bluebells, I reached Haweswater beck. 

The private grounds on the other side of the bridge are laid out as a Lord of the Ring themed nature walk, with a guide available from the house down the road.  I did not do the walk, but just took a couple of pictures of the bridge. 

Shap Abbey

The abbey was situated on the banks of the River Lowther

On the way from the car park to the abbey, a tile is set into a post y the bridge

Of all the buildings, only the tower is still standing

The River Lowther

The primroses on the river bank looked very fresh, even in May

The primroses enticed me onto the far bank for a close look

It was well worth clambering down from the path for a closer look at the Primroses on the river bank

The Abbey stood on the banks of the river

The tower is not what it was, but is still standing

Near Bampton

Haweswater

looking across the lake

steep cliffs by the roadside

Gorse growing by the roadside

The path leading up the hillside looked very inviting.....

.... and gave me some views from a higher perspective

A lonely tree that used to grow atop a cliff

Strata showing in the rocks

A lonely tree growing on the moorland

A wide expanse of moorland

Two trees near the water's edge

An incised river valley

An Island near the far end of the lake

Waterfall on a stream flowing into the lake

The far end of the lake was sheltered, very still, and gave clear reflections

A hill reflected in the still water

As I left I admired the dam that created the lake in 1940

Light Cyan Disaster

This post is here to remind me never to try and refill a printer cartridge again, certainly not without a proper refilling kit anyway.

After spilling a little I managed to knock over the bottle, which created even more MESS.

After making a lot of mess, I managed to resolve the problem. The ribbon feeding ink from the CISS ink supply   to the cartridges was clipped underneath the cartridges the full length, now it hangs down under the final colour cartridge, and all the cartridges are refilling nicely.

Things could have been a lot worse. It could have been a Cyan Disaster.

As it was, it was only a light cyan disaster.