For those who don't know this composer, and love choral music, it's high time you make his acquaintance. The music is accessible, but even saying that short-changes his art, as in my mind Jenkins transcends such thinking. If you think of a more complex and even more melodic version of someone like John Rutter you may have an inkling of the purely melodic nature of his work, but Jenkins is far more than that; while his work doesn't always reach the level of the "profound" it certainly rakes the heart over a wide gamut of emotions that will leave you sitting in your listening room with chills racing down your spine. It is highly devotional but never cloying; mystical but never obscure; and so downright sincere that even those with the most hardened of hearts will come away finding common ground that they might never have though existed. This is a great place to start for a phased-in approach to Jenkins's art. |
