Hallelujah

Achieving little initial success, Hallelijah found greater popular acclaim through a new version recorded by John Cale in 1991. The song achieved widespread popularity after Cale's version was featured in the 2001 film Shrek. Many other arrangements have been performed in recordings and in concert. The song has been used in many film and television soundtracks. Cohen is reputed to have written around approx 150 draft verses for Hallelujah — a claim substantiated by his notebooks containing revisions and additions and by contemporary interviews. In a writing session in New York's Royalton Hotel, Cohen is famously said to have been reduced to sitting on the floor in his underwear, filling notebooks, banging his head on the floor. Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine, creators of a 2022 documentary film Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, state that Cohen took about five years to write the song.

Jock McKenzie studied trumpet at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester where he was a joint recipient of the college’s concerto prize. Since 1987 Jock has based his musical career in Hampshire, working as a freelance trumpeter, conductor, composer, arranger and brass teacher. Currently Jock holds the position of Professional Leader (Brass) for Hampshire Music Service and is the Director of the Hampshire County Youth Band. It is the mix of all of these musical roles that has led to Jock establishing a reputation as a leading creator of brass music resources, particularly in the field of education and brass ensemble music.