{"id":378523,"date":"2026-04-06T21:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/378523\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T21:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:46:12","slug":"sir-karl-jenkins-voted-no-1-in-the-classic-fm-hall-of-fame-for-the-first-time-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/378523\/","title":{"rendered":"Sir Karl Jenkins voted No.1 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame for the first time ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

6 April 2026, 20:50<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A brand new No.1 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2026!<\/p>\n


\n\"Facebook
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a brand new No.1 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame…<\/p>\n

For most of the Classic FM Hall of Fame\u2019s<\/a> 31 years, two pieces have battled it out to claim the top spot. Vaughan Williams<\/a>\u2019 pastoral elegy The Lark Ascending<\/a> and Rachmaninov\u2019s<\/a> Piano Concerto No.2<\/a> have topped the chart a huge total of 23 years between them. <\/p>\n

Bruch\u2019s<\/a> Violin Concerto No.1, Mozart\u2019s<\/a> Clarinet Concerto and Tchaikovsky\u2019s<\/a> 1812 Overture have each had their short turn at the top. But in 2026 there\u2019s a new piece on the block, for the first time in eight years.<\/p>\n

Sir Karl Jenkins<\/a>\u2019 The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace has taken the top spot for the first time in chart history, after coming second to Rachmaninov<\/a> in 2025, the choral work\u2019s 25th anniversary year.<\/p>\n

The Armed Man was premiered in April 2000 in a performance by the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain at the Royal Albert Hall, with Julian Lloyd Webber as cello soloist for the much-loved \u2018Benedictus\u2019. The concert also marked the beginning of Classic FM Live<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more: Orchestra expertly pranks Sir Karl Jenkins with surprise \u2018Happy Birthday\u2019 at Royal Albert Hall<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Dan<\/p>\n

Dan Walker presents Sir Karl Jenkins with a gold disc to celebrate his No.1 entry in the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2026.<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nClassic FM<\/p>\n

The top of the chart was revealed live by Dan Walker<\/a> on Monday 6 April, in the grand finale of the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2026<\/a>. When told by Dan about the news, Sir Karl Jenkins said he had \u201cgone all goose-pimply\u201d. <\/p>\n

He later told Classic FM: \u201cI am deeply honoured to learn that The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, has been voted Britain\u2019s favourite piece of classical music in the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2026. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo become the first living composer to reach the number one position is profoundly humbling and gratifying, and to some degree, I am taken aback, when I reflect on the great masters, past and present, that sit below me on this list. As the cliche says, we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also reflected on the meaning behind the work, which remains a powerful reminder of the terror and tragedy of war. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it is with regret that I acknowledge that there has been no let-up in war and conflict since I dedicated the piece to the victims of Kosovo, we continue to make music in remembrance of those who have fallen and in the hope that humanity can find a way to heal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more: Karl Jenkins\u2019 best works: the Welsh composer\u2019s most beautiful pieces of music<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sir Karl Jenkins conducts \u2018Benedictus\u2019 at Classic FM Live<\/p>\n

Almost 90,000 votes were cast by the public in the 2026 chart, with the Top 300 pieces of classical music being played on Classic FM across the Easter weekend. <\/p>\n

2026 saw a record number of 40 film scores enter the chart, with Howard Shore\u2019s music to The Lord of the Rings<\/a> (8) becoming the highest-ranking film score in chart history. John Williams<\/a> retained his title of most popular living composer, with seven pieces in this year\u2019s Top 300, including Schindler\u2019s List (13), Star Wars (53) and Jurassic Park (55). <\/p>\n

Nino Rota\u2019s The Godfather (295), Joe Hisaishi\u2019s<\/a> Howl\u2019s Moving Castle (220) and Rachel Portman\u2019s Chocolat (276) all made their chart debuts, with those pieces scoring Rota and Hisaishi their first ever appearances in the Classic FM Hall of Fame. Max Richter\u2019s Hamnet (281) also debuted, after being one of the most talked-about films of 2025. <\/p>\n

Read more: Max Richter\u2019s \u2018Hamnet\u2019 soundtrack leaves fans in tears after Jessie Buckley scene<\/a><\/p>\n

It has been a great year for modern composers, too, with 35 living composers contributing 65 pieces to the chart \u2013 both record figures. After John Williams, Classic FM composer in residence Debbie Wiseman\u2019s<\/a> six entries make her the second most popular living composer, followed by Hans Zimmer<\/a>, Ludovico Einaudi<\/a>, and Karl Jenkins with five entries each.<\/p>\n

Mozart<\/a> remains the nation\u2019s favourite composer, with 12 entries in total. Tchaikovsky<\/a> is hot on his heels with 11 pieces featured in the chart, and Beethoven<\/a> and Bach<\/a> are tied for third place, with 10 entries each.<\/p>\n

Dan Walker, who revealed the top of the chart, said: \u201cAs the world\u2019s biggest classical music chart, the Classic FM Hall of Fame celebrates the very best classical music, chosen by the public, and this year\u2019s results show just how much that world continues to grow and change. <\/p>\n

\u201cHuge congratulations to the outstanding Sir Karl Jenkins as we celebrate a brand-new number one with The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace \u2013 it resonates with so many people and is one of those pieces which grabs your soul and won\u2019t let go. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting that this year\u2019s Hall of Fame features more film scores than ever before and we have never had so much music from living composers. From John Williams and Hans Zimmer to Rachel Portman, it\u2019s wonderful to see how film music is opening the door for new audiences and helping even more people fall in love with classical music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Classic FM Hall of Fame Top 10
\nSir Karl Jenkins \u2013 The Armed Man: A Mass for PeaceRachmaninov \u2013 Piano Concerto No.2Vaughan Williams \u2013 The Lark AscendingVaughan Williams \u2013 Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas TallisElgar \u2013 Enigma VariationsAllegri – MiserereBeethoven \u2013\u00a0Piano Concerto No.5 (\u2018Emperor\u2019)Howard Shore \u2013\u00a0The Lord of the RingsShostakovich \u2013 Piano Concerto No.2Beethoven \u2013\u00a0Symphony No.9 (\u2018Choral\u2019)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"6 April 2026, 20:50 A brand new No.1 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2026! There\u2019s a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378524,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,85,46,409],"class_list":{"0":"post-378523","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}