African Sanctus – An Introduction

African Sanctus is a 1972 choral Mass and is the best-known work of British
composer and ethnomusicologist David Fanshawe.

In African Sanctus the Latin Mass is juxtaposed with live recordings of

traditional African music, which the composer had recorded himself between
1969 to 1975. The work consists of 13 movements and follows the journey of
the composer through Africa. The recordings are from Egypt, the Sudan,
Uganda and Kenya.

Originally entitled African Revelations, African Sanctus was first performed in

London by the Saltarello Choir in July 1972, and was later played on BBC
Radio on United Nations Day. On Easter Sunday, 1975, a documentary about
the making of the work was broadcast on BBC 1's Omnibus programme.
Made by film-maker Herbert Chappell, this charted Fanshawe's progress
recording the work in North and East Africa, and coincided with the release of
the album. The documentary was nominated for the 'Prix Italia'.

Following the publication of the full score in 1977, premiere performances

were given in Toronto, Worcester Cathedral in 1978, and the Royal Albert Hall
in 1979, which was conducted by Sir David Willcocks

In 1994 David Fanshawe composed an additional movement for a new

recording of the work, the Dona Nobis Pacem - A Hymn for World Peace,
which completed the Agnus Dei. Based on this new recording, the BBC
commissioned the maker of the 1975 documentary, Herbert Chappell, to
make a new programme, African Sanctus Revisited,