10 June 2010

Missa Criolla,
Missa Luba, Prayers and Dances of Praise from Africa

Looking ahead
In June, with many international visitors expected in Cape Town for the World Cup soccer, we plan to present a concert featuring works from three different countries. A setting of the liturgical Mass with Spanish text, Misa Criolla, which originated in Argentina in 1965, has become increasingly popular in recent years. This work, set to music by Ariel Ramirez, has an accompaniment dominated by guitar and percussion instruments. Another unusual version of the Mass is Missa Luba (1961), which is a Mass in Congolese style: the original Latin text is used but the accompaniment consists entirely of percussion instruments (originally gourd and tom-toms), It was due to the efforts of Father Guido Haazen and the African singers with whom he worked that this mass was not only created but notated and recorded as well. The third work in this unusual programme will be Prayers and Dances of Praise from Africa, a setting by the eminent South African composer Peter Klatzow of words taken from An African Prayer Book, compiled by Emeritus Archbishop Desmond Tutu. At this stage (March 2010) the venue for this concert has not yet been decided; the Cape Town City Hall will not be available to us because of the use of the Grand Parade as a fan park for the World Cup and we are currently looking at various alternatives. The date is also not settled, but it will certainly be just before the eagerly awaited kick-off.

VENUE: Bishops Chapel