The handwritten notes Sir Karl Jenkins made on his own scores are now part of Wales’s national collection. The Penclawdd-raised composer has given his musical archive to the National Library of Wales.
He handed it over in person in Aberystwyth on Tuesday 10 November, and explained why it was going there and nowhere else.
He said: “I’m Welsh, my roots are here, and therefore the National Library of Wales seemed like the proper home for my collection.”
Annotated scores, photographs and concert programmes from Adiemus to The Armed Man
The collection holds performance scores marked up with his notes, photographs from across his career, concert programmes and promotional material.
It covers the work that made his name around the world: Adiemus, from 1995, and The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, first performed in 2000.
The Armed Man has been performed more than 3,000 times since then, the library says. In April it became the first work by a living composer to top the Classic FM Hall of Fame.
His recordings have earned 17 gold and platinum discs, according to the library.
Alongside Hoddinott and Mathias in Aberystwyth
Sir Karl said the library “plays such an important part in the history of Wales” that it felt like the right place for his papers.
They will sit, he said, “among the works of other Welsh composers such as Alun Hoddinott and William Mathias”.
Library chief executive Rhodri Llwyd Morgan called it “a great honour”, and described Sir Karl as “one of the most performed and widely celebrated living composers of our time”.
He added: “This generous gift ensures that the story of his remarkable creative career becomes part of Wales’s national memory.”
Nia Mai Daniel, who heads the library’s unique collections department, said the archive would be “a very special addition” and would keep his compositions “accessible to future researchers”.
On public view from early 2027
Staff at the National Library of Wales will now catalogue the collection. It is due to be available for the public to view early in 2027.
Mr Morgan said the library looked forward to opening it up to “researchers, musicians and the wider public for generations to come”.
Discover more from Swansea Bay News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
