Sir Karl Jenkins, one of the world’s most performed living composers, has just celebrated his 80th birthday. In 2023 his music was played at the Coronation of King Charles III, while his recording of The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace gained the unique status of having achieved “1000 Weeks” in the UK Classical chart. This year saw the work ranked fifth in the Classic FM Hall of Fame – the highest position for a living composer – and placed fifth in a list of Great British Classics. The Armed Man was also selected to represent the decade 2000-2009 in BBC Radio 3’s Soundscape of a Century. His evocative, memorable and emotionally powerful music is popular with people all over the world.

Hannah Fiddy chatted to Sir Karl about the role of music criticism, his tips for emerging composers, ego, and what peace means to him.

Let’s kick off with a quick-fire round...

Early bird or night owl? Early bird these days
Introvert or extrovert? Introvert
Do you have any pets? I've had pets in the past. My son has a dog who’s a family dog, so I consider him my pet.
Favourite city? Venice
What have you watched most recently on TV? The Hour on the BBC
Composer you’d most like to meet (dead or alive)? Richard Strauss
Something that would surprise people to learn about you? I like rugby

Classical music critics can be notoriously elitist, exclusive and anti-populist, and you have been on the receiving end of this on occasion. What’s your opinion of music critics?

I don’t think they’re worth anything. Since they’re not able to play, sing or compose well enough to comment on other people, I don’t see the worth in anyone reading what they have to say.

Do you think there’s a place for music criticism at all?

No, I don’t think there is really, unless you’re describing that the music’s in sonata form and so on. It's only one opinion, and their opinion is the same each time. I don’t know who reads them and believes it.

Did the negative reviews you received ever make you want to give up?

I never read them.

Would you say you have a thick skin?

No, I haven’t really, but I thought the best policy was to not read the reviews.

Have you ever shied away from music that you might have wanted to write because of others’ opinions?

No. I'm quite clear about what I do. I've got quite a clear mind.

Do you value the opinion of others when it comes to your music?

I value the opinion of certain musicians. My wife’s a composer and musician, so she’s a good sounding board for me.

Have you ever suffered from impostor syndrome within the classical music industry?

I found a path that is round all that; I came to what I’m doing via a circuitous route, rather than through the usual channels, because I hated a lot of modern classical music.

[After studying at Cardiff University and the Royal Academy of Music in London, he played and toured with jazz bands - most notably Soft Machine - and then later created music for adverts for brands including Levi’s, De Beers and Renault, before becoming a choral composer.]

I’ve been a jazz musician and Soft Machine was successful. Up to a point, advertising was successful. Then later, Adieumus was pivotal, which led on to The Armed Man. From then on, I became what I am now, which is a composer of accessible music, but a lot of it based on peace and religions throughout the world, using different languages and different techniques.

As you say, you’ve had a lot of success in a number of different areas – with Soft Machine, with your advertising music, and more recently with your choral music. You’ve also said that you don’t have an ego. How have your many successes not led to a place of high self esteem?

I think my personality is just innate. I’ve won awards, I’ve conducted in Carnegie Hall a lot, I’ve conducted good orchestras and choirs in the Royal Albert Hall, but I still stand on the shoulders of the masters who’ve gone before me. I don’t think I’m any better now than when I started really. Compared to the greats, I’m of no consequence. Maybe history will change that, but I very much doubt it. But I do it because I enjoy doing it. I don’t dumb down to what I think people will like. All of my music is based on a great deal of craft.

Have you got unpublished pieces sitting at home that either you think should have been published or heard, or pieces that you don’t think would be received very well?

No, I don’t.

If you were composing in a vacuum – there’s no commission, no money changing hands, no-one is going to hear the music you’re going to write – would you still compose? Would what you write?

I’ve never been tested. I don’t think I’d write so much if I didn’t have an audience.

In the past you’ve said “it's pointless being an artist if one doesn't have an audience” and “I’m not interested in writing music which is only ever performed once to a very few people, to lukewarm applause.” There are lots of composers out there whose music may never see the light of day, or perhaps they might be able to get a piece performed once or twice, ever. How do you respond to that?

Maybe it's always been the case, and it's only the best that has survived and come through. When Mozart was writing, there may have been 1,000 composers trying to get works performed, or Counts to pay them to compose. Each generation has its heroes. It’s probably easier now in some ways to get the music heard because of the internet.

So do you think the best essentially always rises to the top? And if the music ‘should’ be heard, it will connect with the people it needs to connect with?

Some great composers are discovered later. Bach disappeared and was rightly rediscovered by Mendelssohn years later. Clara Schumann is now being played but she wasn’t played for centuries because she was a woman. So you can get all these impediments in the way. I guess most stuff comes through. I don’t rate myself within those parameters though; I don’t rate myself high or low, I just am. I do what I do, and I do the best I can. I’ve been lucky in certain ways, because I didn’t pre-plan. I didn’t have a route.

Who are the contemporary composers you admire?

I like John Adams. I don’t listen to a lot of others. Turnage, a bit. James MacMillan. I listen to things from the past really, including a lot of jazz.

You’ve described yourself as a “composer of peace”. When do you feel most at peace?

When I'm with my whole family, including my grandchildren.

Can you feel at peace if you're not writing and creating?

Yes.

Do you compose every day?

Yes, but only when I have projects lined up.

How do you spend your time when you’re not carrying out a composition brief?

I like eating, and everything that goes with it. Holidays with the family. Occasionally concerts and the opera. If we’re abroad we tend to be culture people in the sense of galleries and that kind of thing.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I wrote the music for one feature film, and I didn’t like the experience. That's one area that I thought I’d be suited for. I wish I might have written – call it what you will – either a ballet or a musical theatre piece, but I didn't. So I am where I am now. It's a lot of hours out of one's life to write something of that length.

What would your advice be to emerging composers?

Be true to yourself. It’s purely circumstance that I’ve landed where I have now. I went through lots of different styles, learning something from each style I got to know. It’s a unique mix, in a way. So I have that, and it appeals to a lot of people, but I do it because I’ve got a drive to do it, even at this age. What’s that cliché? If you love your work, you never work again. Follow your art or your intellect. Don’t try to be something you’re not or something you don’t want to be.

As you say, you’re still motivated now, at the age of 80. Do you have a sense of the sand running out?

A bit, but only as a human being, and not so much as a musician.

Are there pieces you want to make sure you have composed during your lifetime?

There’s nothing I’ve not written that I would want to write.

And finally, what’s the greatest compliment you have been paid or could be paid?

One of my greatest compliments was by a critic that was meant to be deprecating: he said that my music is emotionally manipulative. I thought that’s a fantastic thing to say about a composer. You can move people in different ways. That's what it's all about.

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Interview: Sir Karl Jenkins