What is African Sanctus?
'''African Sanctus''' is a musical composition for [[choir (music)|choir]], [[Solo (music)|soloists]], [[orchestra]] and prerecorded [[Compact Cassette|tape]] by [[David Fanshawe]]. It was composed in 1972. ''African Sanctus'' is the best-known of Fanshawe's works. It was composed after Fanshawe had made journeys to Africa up the river [[Nile]] between 1969 and 1973. The shape of his journey forms the shape of a [[cross]]. This had a religious meaning for Fanshawe. He made recordings on tape of the people he met singing their traditional music. A lot of this music had never been recorded before. When he returned home to [[Great Britain|Britain]] he composed the ''African Sanctus''. Some of the recordings he had made in Africa are played as part of the performance. The choir who sing live at the concert are singing some of the words of the traditional [[Christian]] [[Latin language|Latin]] [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]]. The recordings are from [[Egypt]], the [[Sudan]], [[Uganda]] and [[Kenya]]. At first it was called ''African Revelations'', but then the title was changed to ''African Sanctus''. It was first performed in [[London]] by the Saltarello Choir in July 1972, and was later played on [[BBC]] Radio on United Nations Day. A documentary film was made three years later showing how the work had been composed. ==Description of the music== *Movement I is based on music from North Uganda in which the Acholi people perform a royal welcome dance. The live choir sing the words of the [[Sanctus]]. *Movement II uses a recording of the Azan: a call to prayer by the [[Imam]], in the Muhammad Ali Mosque in [[Cairo]]. The live choir sing [[Kyrie]]. Fanshawe is joining the two faiths: [[Muslim]] and [[Christian]]. *Movement III starts with the music of an [[Egypt]]ian [[wedding]]. The live choir sing the [[Gloria]], often shouting. *Movement IV consists of courtship dances. It leads to four men in a trance singing words from the [[Koran]] in a mixture of [[dialect]]s and [[Arabic language|Arabic]]. The live