Missa Luba - Original recording by Les Troubadours du Roi Baudouin

UPDATE: This recording of the Missa Luba has now been re-released on CD and I have therefore removed the mp3s. A few of the folk songs and children's songs which do not feature on this CD are still available for download. The Webmaster would like to thank all the viewers of this site for helping raising publicity for this recording and its subsequent re-release.

Les Troubadours du Roi Baudouin were formed in 1954 by Father Guido Haazen, a Belgian missionary who had arrived in what was then the Belgium Congo a year previously. The choir consisted of around 45 boys aged 9 to 14 years and 15 teachers from the Central School at Kamina, and had a percussion section. The choir made a 6 month tour of Europe in 1958 and became popular with Belgian, Dutch and German audiences singing Congolese folk music. They also performed with the Vienna Boys' Choir.

In 1963 they released the Missa Luba, a Congolese styled mass and other Congolese folk music on the Philips label. The recording was popular worldwide, particularly in predominantly catholic countries and led to the recording of the Missa Criolla by Philips a year later. The tenor soloist in the Missa Luba and in other folk songs was Joachim Ngoi. Part of the Missa Luba was used as a soundtrack in the 1968 film 'If...' The music for this concert comes from 2 records. The mono 1963 LP release which also contained a set of 5 Baluba children's songs not found on the EP version or subsequent LP releases and from a later stereo LP release shown below. This later release contains a memorable Kiswahili song 'Saribona' not found on the original release. For more details about the music read the cover notes.

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