Missa Luba

Last updated

The Missa Luba is a setting of the Latin Mass sung in styles traditional to the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was composed by Father Guido Haazen, a Franciscan friar from Belgium, and originally celebrated, performed, and recorded in 1958 by Les Troubadours du Roi Baudouin (King Baudouin's Troubadours), a choir of adults and children from the Congolese town of Kamina in Katanga Province. It would later become the partial basis for a Congolese usage of the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite Mass, the Zaire Use.

Contents

Background

Father Guido Haazen O.F.M. (Order of Friars Minor) (b. 27 September 1921, d. 20 August 2004) [1] became director of Kamina Central School in what was then the Belgian Congo in September 1953. Within weeks he established an ensemble consisting of a male choir – about forty-five boys aged nine to fourteen and fifteen adults – and percussion. [2] In 1957 he received royal consent to name the ensemble Les Troubadours du Roi Bauduoin in honour of the Belgian king Baudouin I. In the same year Haazen and the Baluba people of Kasai and Katanga began developing the Missa Luba from collective improvisations on traditional song forms. It was first celebrated at the Catholic mission of St. Bavo in Kamina on 23 March 1958. [3] The next day, the ensemble left for a tour of Europe, performing the Mass and Congolese folk music in Belgium (where they gave concerts at the Brussels World's Fair, the Netherlands, and Germany (where they sang with the Vienna Boys Choir). The celebrated recording of the Missa Luba by the Troubadours and soloist Joachim Ngoi, a teacher at Kamina Central School, was made at this time. [4]

Elements

Music

The music for the Mass was not written down. Father Haazen responded to demand from choirs wanting to perform the piece by publishing a transcription of the recorded version in 1964, with a new edition in 1969. [5]

The Kyrie is in the style of a kasala, a Luba song of mourning. The Gloria is improvised in the Kiluba style characteristic of Katanga. The Credo, the longest section of the Mass, is based on five different folk songs linked by improvisations. The text of the Credo refers to the crucifixion of Christ and the vocal part in the Missa Luba is preceded by the customary announcement of death, first on the kyondo (log drum), then on the kikumvi (tom-tom). There follows a kilio (elegy) without percussion accompaniment, sung by the solo voice. The Sanctus and the Benedictus were inspired by a Bantu farewell song. The Hosannah is a rhythmic dance of Kasai, and the Agnus Dei is a typical Bena Luluwa song, such as might be heard around Kananga. [6]

Dance

The choreography for the Mass was done by Eleo Pomare.

The Gloria featured in Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964). The Kyrie was used in the Mexican film Un alma pura (1965) and the MGM film The Singing Nun (1966). The Sanctus featured prominently in Lindsay Anderson's 1968 film if.... starring Malcolm McDowell, with which the Mass was for a time closely identified. It was also used in the telemovie Deadly Voyage (1996), in which it accompanied the closing credits; in Lost and Delirious (2001); and in Never Let Me Go (2010).

The Kyrie received regular play at The Loft, an influential underground dance party founded in New York City in 1969. The Loft's host David Mancuso selected music that was soulful, rhythmic, and imparted words of hope, redemption, and pride. [7] Missa Luba in particular appealed to Mancuso's, "affection both for music with an explicit spiritual message and for African percussion." [8]

The Clash refer to the recording in the lyrics of "Car Jamming" on their 1982 album Combat Rock . The cover of the Troubadours' album appears briefly in the Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange (1971) as Malcolm McDowell's character, Alex, strolls through a record shop.

The Missa Luba was the most successful of many world music Masses created in the 1950s and 1960s. It eclipsed the earlier Messe des Savanes (1956) arranged by Abbé Robert Wedraogho in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and gave rise to several imitations, including the Misa Criolla (1964) arranged by Ariel Ramírez and the Misa Flamenca (1966) arranged by Ricardo Fernández de Latorre and José Torregrosa. [9]

In the authoritative music magazine Mojo, the Belgian-Congolese record Missa Luba of Les Troubadours du Roi Baudouin is mentioned as one of the ten albums that 'made' the sound of Led Zeppelin.[ citation needed ]

Guitarist Erik Brann based the structure of the song "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" upon Missa Luba, particularly the lengthy drum solo. [10]

Original recording

Philips Records released a ten-inch LP of the Missa Luba by Les Troubadours du Roi Baudouin in the Netherlands and other European markets in 1958. [11] The track list was:

Side A: Congolese songs

  1. Dibwe Diambula Kabanda (Marriage Song) – 3:02
  2. Lutuku & A Bene Kanyoka (Emergence from Grief) – 2:48
  3. Ebu Ewale Kemai (Marriage Ballad) – 2:22
  4. Katunbo (Dance) – 1:42
  5. Seya Wa Mama Ndalamba (Marital Celebration) – 2:21
  6. Banaha (Soldiers' Song) – 2:01
  7. Twai Tshinaminai (Work Song) – 1:01

Side B: Missa Luba

  1. Kyrie – 2:03
  2. Gloria – 2:39
  3. Credo – 4:06
  4. Sanctus – 1:36
  5. Benedictus – 0:52
  6. Agnus Dei – 1:52

This program was retained for reissues throughout the early 1960s, including the first U.K. release (1964) and the first U.S. release (1965), and has also been carried over into the digital reissues of more recent times (CD and download) – except that the Missa Luba now sometimes precedes the songs.

Philips capitalised on the exposure the music received in if.... by releasing the Sanctus and Benedictus as a single, which spent eleven weeks in the British charts, peaking at No. 28 in March 1969. [12]

Some twelve-inch LP versions of the album issued later in the 1960s contained additional material from the 1958 sessions, including:

Sacred music

Children's songs from the Baluba

More Congolese songs

No single issue has brought all of this material together. The most complete version is The Original Missa Luba and Songs from the Congo released by Universal in 1999, which contains an expanded program of twenty-two Congolese songs and the Missa Luba, but omits several of the previously released songs and the other three sacred pieces. [13]

The Troubadours' recording of the Missa Luba has also been reissued in various couplings with the Misa Criolla , Misa Flamenca, and Messe des Savanes performed by other artists.

There are later recordings of the Mass by the Muungano National Choir of Nairobi (Philips, 1990) and the Choral Arts Society of Washington (Naxos, 2006).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass (music)</span> Form of sacred musical composition

The Mass is a form of sacred musical composition that sets the invariable portions of the Christian Eucharistic liturgy, known as the Mass.

<i>Great Mass in C minor</i>, K. 427 Musical mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Great Mass in C minor, K. 427/417a, is the common name of the musical setting of the mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, which is considered one of his greatest works. He composed it in Vienna in 1782 and 1783, after his marriage, when he moved to Vienna from Salzburg. The large-scale work, a missa solemnis, is scored for two soprano soloists, a tenor and a bass, double chorus and large orchestra. It remained unfinished, missing large portions of the Credo and the complete Agnus Dei.

<i>Nelson Mass</i> 1798 Mass by Joseph Haydn

The Missa in angustiis, commonly known as the Nelson Mass, is a Mass setting by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn. It is one of the six masses written near the end of his life that are seen as a culmination of Haydn's composition of liturgical music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coronation Mass (Mozart)</span>

The Krönungsmesse, composed in 1779, is one of the most popular of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 17 extant settings of the Ordinary of the Mass. While it is relatively short, Bruce C. Macintyre, writing in the Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia, classifies it as a Missa Longa, on the basis of the festal character, size of the orchestra, which includes a substantial brass section, orchestral introductions for the movements and the setting of the intonations for the Gloria and Credo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missa brevis</span> Form of mass

Missa brevis usually refers to a mass composition that is short because part of the text of the Mass ordinary that is usually set to music in a full mass is left out, or because its execution time is relatively short.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missa Brevis (Britten)</span> 1959 mass setting by Benjamin Britten

The Missa Brevis in D, Op. 63, is a setting of the Latin mass completed by Benjamin Britten on Trinity Sunday, 1959. Set for three-part treble choir and organ, it was first performed at London's Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral on 22 July of the same year. Britten composed the mass for George Malcolm's retirement as organist and choirmaster at Westminster: the printed dedication reads "For George Malcolm and the boys of Westminster Cathedral Choir". It remained Britten's only liturgical setting of the mass. Malcolm's live recording, from a service at the cathedral, lasts ten minutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barcelona Mass</span>

The Barcelona Mass is a polyphonic mass written around 1360. Together with the Messe de Nostre Dame by Guillaume de Machaut and those of Toulouse, Tournai and the Sorbonne, it is one of the earliest preserved complete polyphonic musical settings of the Ordinary of the Mass. It is believed to belong to the repertoire of the Papal court at Avignon and is also linked to the chapel of King Martin I of Aragon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass No. 2 (Bruckner)</span>

The Mass No. 2 in E minor, WAB 27 is a setting of the mass ordinary for eight-part mixed choir and fifteen wind instruments, that Anton Bruckner composed in 1866.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass in C major, K. 337 "Solemnis"</span>

The Missa solemnis in C major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, K. 337, was written in 1780 for Salzburg. It was Mozart's last complete mass. The mass is scored for soloists, choir, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, strings and organ, the latter supplying figured bass for most of the duration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass No. 1 (Bruckner)</span>

The Mass No. 1 in D minor, WAB 26 by Anton Bruckner, is a setting of the Mass ordinary for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra, and organ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass in C major, K. 257 "Credo"</span>

The Credo Mass in C major, K. 257, is a mass composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1776. It is scored for SATB soloists, SATB choir, violin I and II, 2 oboes, 2 clarini, 3 trombones colla parte and basso continuo.

The Missa Votiva is a mass composed by the Czech Baroque composer Jan Dismas Zelenka in 1739, Dresden. The Missa Votiva is about seventy minutes long, and its twenty parts range from forty-five seconds to over seven minutes in length.

<i>Windhaager Messe</i>

The Windhaager Messe, WAB 25, is a missa brevis composed by Anton Bruckner in 1842.

<i>Kronstorfer Messe</i> 1844 missa brevis composed by Anton Bruckner

The Kronstorfer Messe, WAB 146, is a missa brevis composed by Anton Bruckner in 1843-1844.

<i>Messe für den Gründonnerstag</i> 1844 missa brevis composed by Anton Bruckner

The Messe für den Gründonnerstag, WAB 9, is a missa brevis composed by Anton Bruckner in 1844.

<i>Missa Cellensis</i>

Missa cellensis refers to two masses by Joseph Haydn:

Messe en sol majeur, FP 89, is a missa brevis by Francis Poulenc. He set most parts of the Latin mass to music in 1937, scored for a mixed choir a cappella.

<i>Messe in G</i> (Tambling) 2014 mass in G major by Christopher Tambling

Messe in G is a mass in G major by the English composer Christopher Tambling. He composed it in 2013, scored for mixed choir and organ, optionally also with orchestra. The congregation is meant to participate, singing the theme of the Gloria as a refrain, and the theme of the Sanctus. The mass was first published in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missa brevis (Nystedt)</span> Musical composition by Knut Nystedt

The Missa brevis, Op. 102, is a Latin mass of short duration composed by Knut Nystedt in 1984. He scored it for a mixed choir a cappella. It was also published by Carus-Verlag in 2003.

<i>Missa Providentiae</i>

Missa Providentiae is a Kyrie–Gloria Mass in D minor composed by Antonio Caldara, which around 1728 was expanded into a Missa tota by Jan Dismas Zelenka: this composer derived a Sanctus and Agnus Dei from Caldara's Kyrie and Gloria, and added a Credo, ZWV 31, of his own hand. Around 1738–1741, Johann Sebastian Bach made a copy of a Sanctus, BWV 239, which was based on the first section of the Gloria of Caldara's Kyrie–Gloria Mass.

References

  1. ↑ Marc Ashley Foster, "Guido Haazen Passes Away", Choralnet, 23 August 2004. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Doris Anna McDaniel, "An Analysis of the Missa Luba", M.A. Thesis, University of Rochester, 8 January 1973. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  3. ↑ Marc Ashley Foster, "Missa Luba: A New Edition and Conductor’s Analysis", Doctor of Music Arts Thesis, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2005, pp. 1 and 11. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  4. ↑ Ray van Steen. The recording was played on numerous radio stations in the Philadelphia and NYC area in 1958. Presumably one of these stations has a master vinyl copy of the recording in their archives. "The Missa Luba", sleeve notes to the 1963 reissue (Philips, PCC-206). Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  5. ↑ Guido Haazen, arranger, Missa Luba: As Recorded on Philips Records PCC-206/PCC-606 (Brussels: MRC Music, 1964). Guido Haazen, arranger, Missa Luba (New York: Lawson-Gould Music Publishers, 1969).
  6. ↑ Marc Ashley Foster, "Missa Luba: A New Edition and Conductor’s Analysis", Doctor of Music Arts Thesis, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2005, ch. 3. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  7. ↑ Brewster, Bill; Broughton, Frank (1999). Last Night a DJ Saved My Life. London: Headline Publishing Group. p. 123.
  8. ↑ Gonsher, Aaron (February 13, 2020). "Love Saves the Day Turns 50: Hear 12 of the Loft's Essential Songs". The New York Times. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  9. ↑ The Fernández de Latorre-Torregrosa Misa Flamenca is not to be confused with the two later works of the same name by Paco Peña (1991) and Curro and Carlos Piñana (2006).
  10. ↑ Robinson, John (November 5, 2014). "I answer your rock questions, Part VII". 99.1 WFMK.
  11. ↑ Les Troubadours Du Roi Baudouin: Missa Luba, Discogs. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  12. ↑ Official Charts Company Archive. Archived 2013-05-11 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  13. ↑ Troubadors of King Baudouin / Troubadours du Roi Baudouin: The Original Missa Luba and Songs from the Congo, All Music. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.