Cantata Memoria commemorates through new music the Aberfan tragedy of 21 October 1966, when 116 children and 28 adults tragically lost their lives as a coal tip enveloped Plant Glas school, together with some houses, in Aberfan, South Wales.
 
This large-scale choral work – in English, Welsh and Latin  – has been commissioned by S4C, the Welsh language TV channel, to mark the 50th anniversary of what has become known to subsequent generations – both in the UK and around the world – as the Aberfan Disaster.
 
Amongst modern choral circles, Karl Jenkins is a composer and a brand. A brand that stands for an epic, moving sound that connects with people from all different age groups and backgrounds.
 
In the first large-scale works since the best-selling The Armed Man: A mass for Peace, this special and profoundly emotional new work features no one less than the celebrated welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, as well as leading Welsh harpist Catrin Finch, and a host of children and adult voices.
 
Though written to commemorate a specific and profoundly sad event, the emotions and themes housed within this special music can resonate beyond: loss, then the transition from darkness into light are truly universal occurrences.
 
Tracklisting:
1. Pitran, patran
2. Then silence
3. Cortège
4. Lament for the Valley
5. Lacrimosa Lullaby
6. Did I hear a bird?
7. Satin Feathers
8. And-a-Half
9. And once upon a time
10. When the shadow dies
11. Lux æterna