The Rhythm Divine

First performed in 1972 African Sanctus is a setting of the Latin mass combining rock music with traditional African singing and drumming. English composer and explorer David Fanshawe recounts some of his amazing stories of travelling up the Nile and recording music in Egypt, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya in the 1960s and 70s.

Transcript

Imagine a man on a camel riding across the deserts and plains of East Africa with little more than a stereo tape recorder, a rucksack and a wide welcoming smile. Sounds unreal doesn't it. But it pretty much sums up our featured artist tonight David Fanshawe. Fanshawe was a young composer from the Royal College of Music who in the 1960s decided he would cross musical boundaries to create a work that would praise God in many voices. To do this he travelled to Africa and recorded the ritual music and songs of more than fifty tribes over four years from 1969. Back in London he combined his own compositions with the sounds of Africa, and the result was a work that he called African Sanctus.

It was first performed in London in 1972 and released on record three years later. At the time it was unique, and it probably still is - a setting of the Catholic Latin Mass incorporating traditional African music recorded by Fanshawe as he journeyed up the river Nile through Egypt, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya.

This interview was broadcast on ABC Radio in 1975.

Further Information

Fanshawe One World Music
David Fanshawe's Homepage and music store.

African Sanctus Homepage

Chants from the Kingdom of Tonga
A musical journey through the Tongan islands containing authentic field recordings (1978-88). The album concludes with the astonishing new choral work Pacific Song. The latest collection of music from David Fanshawe, released in July 2008.

African Sanctus in Melbourne - Sunday 31 August
The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, along with the African Royal Drummers of Ghana will present Fanshawe's African Sanctus and Dona Nobis Pacem at the Melbourne Town Hall, Sunday 31 August at 5.00pm.

Music

CD title: African Sanctus
Track title: Sanctus/ Gloria/ Credo/ Crucifixus
Artist: David Fanshawe
Composer: Fanshawe
CD details: Silva Classics D 31278
URL: http://www.africansanctus.com/
The Sanctus features the Bwala Dance of the Acholi people in Northern Uganda. The Gloria has Egyptian wedding music from south of Luxor. The Credo contians courtship dances, a Kiata trumpet dance and recitations of the Qur'an by four men in a trance in the Marra mountains in West Sudan. The Crucifixis has an equatorial thunderstorm and a 'Rain Song' performed by Latigo Otemg in Gulu, Uganda.

CD title: The Lord's Prayer/ African Sanctus
Track title: The Lord's Prayer
Artist: Marcia Hines
Composer: Fanshawe
CD details: WEA 7-258054

Presenter

Geoff Wood

Producer

Geoff Wood