Customer Reviews

Missa Luba - An African Mass

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This album is a reinterpretation of the original Missa Luba created by Father Guido Haazen and Les Troubadors du Roi Baudoin in the Congo. If you want to hear unforgettable power and grace, get the original version.

Sadly, the Belgian colonization of the Congo enslaved the people and destroyed their culture. Certainly few Europeans were capable of appreciating call-and-resonse singing and drumming. Father Guido not only understood, he dared to wed Congolese music with the Latin mass. In the 1950's this was a radical idea.

Father Guido organized boys from the ages of 9 to 14 into a choir backed up by traditional Congolese percussion. He achieved an ethereal sound, like an African version of an English boys' choir. When the choir sings the Latin words of the mass, the effect is magnificent. The first time I heard it, it gave me chills down my spine. Perhaps that is why Lindsey Anderson used this music in his film about English boarding schools, 'If'.

Philips has never released a CD of the original music, probably because the late 50's recording quality is not up to modern standards. The LP can still be found, it is Missa Luba, Philips 6527 137. I wish they would make a CD so the original would not disappear completely.

The Kenyans are recreating Bantu singing styles and percussion. If you like the copy, you'll love the original.

I first heard Missa Luba, when I was about eight. Living in the suburbs, My godfather brought it to us, after his stint in Mwanza,with the White Fathers. I had never heard anything that made me shiver, with the force of some divine light.And to hear the voices!!Glorious and more. I thought, "this is what God sounds like". I looked for the original for years, when the record got lost. The modern versions of this are no comparison! Another reviewer here lists the LP #, so I urge you to get it.

I listened to the Missa Luba on NPR when I was in high school. It was good enough for me to keep looking for a copy for 30 years. This is not the same version or nearly as good. Don't buy it.

As a person familiar at first hand with the original Philips recording of Missa Luba in the early 1960s, I welcome this re-recording on CD, but must caution all that it is vastly different in tone, tempo and fervor from the original. Still inspirational, still African, but somehow restrained and more "formal". The other songs on the CD are different also. I urge individuals interested in this title to buy it, AND to urge Phillips to re-release the original version from the early 1960s. It swept the Catholic world and can do so again!

This recording is pretty - and that's the problem. It is a pale imitation of the original Missa Luba Philips released on LP. There's little of the original emotion, excitement and exuberance of the early release; it just comes off as pretty and bland. This is a classic example of a record company not understanding either its holdings or its customers. Philips obviously decided that a "new" stereo version was more saleable that the original, even though the reputation of the original was solid. Yet another sad case of merchandising gone wrong.

I bought this version of Missa Luba last year in hopes that it would replace the 1960's Congolese (vinyl) version that I had lost some years back. Although the recent effort is "nice", it is a very thin substitute for the original that still haunts my memory. If you've never heard the original, you will probably enjoy this one - if you have, you might better put your energy into pleading for a re-release of the 1968 version.

I still have the original vinyl version, which is a wonderful recording. I bought this version about a year ago and was severly disappointed. I just checked back in to see if maybe they had released the original on CD. Guess not. This version does not come close to replacing it!

Others have already made this point, but I will repeat it. The orginal Missa Luba was a work of great genius. This version is the processed-cheese equivalent. It is musically competent, but sterile and ultimately boring. I can only guess that those who rate it highly have never heard the original, which I have the privilege of owning on LP. If you can't find the original version it might be worth your money to buy this one, but only because it gives an echo of the brilliant original.

This new version does not have even 10 percent of the raw power of the original. I first listened to Missa Luba on LP as a student. It was the most striking and shattering musical experience I had ever encountered. Now everything is watered down and the "pretty" sound of the female choir is so thin and tame. It's like elevator music with an African bent. If you have ever listened to the original, don't waste your money on this one unless you are dying for nostalgia.

A wonderful recording that is well worth hearing again and again. However, this rendition does not possess the power, drive, energy or haunting beauty of the original Phillips release of the 1960's. I own the original on vinyl and strongly urge a re-release on CD.