Karl Jenkins: Requiem (EMI Audio CD)

Shortly after its release, Karl's Requiem [a mass for the souls of the dead] went to the top of the classical charts. The driving Dies Irae with its 'hip-hop' percussion beat provides the soundtrack to a successful Lynx commercial.

Karl says: " I have set the usual Latin text but as is my wont, have drawn on cultures outside the European, setting five Japanese haiku poems dealing with death. These evocative concise poems of but seventeen syllables often equate life with the water cycle or cherry blossom. For these haiku, I have introduced the ancient Japanese flute, the shakuhachi into the orchestration. The work is dedicated to my late father, a musician and an inspiration."