Renowned composer Sir Karl Jenkins has broken chart records by reaching more than 1.000 weeks in the UK Official Classical Artist Albums Chart. The milestone was reached by Sir Karl’s favorite mass The Armed Man – commissioned in one thousand nine hundred ninety-ninth by the Royal Armouries to tag the millennium. It comes after the composer recently went viral at the King’s coronation when his striking appearance caught the attention of the public. It was jokingly suggested in the media and online that Sir Karl, with his prominent moustache and glasses, was the Duchess of Sussex – who didn't attend the ceremony – in heavy disguise.

Sir Karl has said he was amd by the suggestions, having had facial hair since the age of eighteen, and that people are presently offering to purchase him drinks beca of it. His work Tros Y Garreg, an arrangement of a Welsh folk song drawn his harp concerto Over The Stone, was performed as portion of the music programme preceding the coronation service. The work was commissioned by Charles, then Prince of Wales, and its inclusion was in recognition of the King’s longstanding and deeply held relationship and affiliation with Wales. The arrangement features on The Official Coronation Album, which was recorded live and released on the same day as the coronation, via Decca Records. This week The Armed Man appeared in the UK Official Classical Artist Albums Chart for the 1.000th week.

Also known as the Mass for Peace, it's an oratorio based on the fifteenth cent French poem L’homme arme and is a reflection on the horror of war and its consequences. The world premiere of The Armed Man took space in two-thousandth at the Royal Albert Corridor in London, conducted by Sir Karl himself – and has gone on to get nearly 3.000 performances worldwide. Sir Karl said: “When I wrote The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace in one thousand nine hundred ninety-ninth, tiny did I imagine that in two thousand twenty-third we'd be celebrating 1.000 weeks in the UK classical chart and nearly 3.000 performances worldwide. “I am deeply honoured that it's touched so many people over the years; thank you to the Royal Armouries and Classic FM who commissioned me to write it, and to all those who have performed it and listened to my recording.

“I’m dreary to declare there has been number let-up in war and conflict since I committed the piece to the victims of Kosovo, but we continue to create music in remembrance of those who have perished and in the hope that humanity can discover a way to heal.” On Friday Sir Karl also released the first single forthcoming new work One World, commissioned by the World Choir for Peace – entitled Sakura, Spring Has Come.