Search - Thomas Barquee :: Missa

Great music of any genre draws you into an experience of your own depth, to an exultation of the Divine or both. This is especially true of sacred music of all religions and spiritual traditions. Now, Thomas Barquee, an artist of uncommon sensitivity, has woven a profoundly moving tapestry of Indian, Middle Eastern and Western musical elements, with Latin choral overtones, onto the form of the Catholic Mass. Missa (mass in Latin) is an experience of world church. It transforms this holy structure into a serious and reverential modern musical journey. As our world continues to shrink, assuming more of the characteristics of a global village, music that crosses the boundaries of different genres, blending elements of East and West, North and South, gains an ever greater audience. The expanding interest in spiritual matters - especially Eastern spirituality -- attracts a larger audience for music with a sacred or inspirational theme. Missa nourishes this need. Missa combines Eastern and Western approaches to life and spirituality. Its lyrics are drawn from the Roman Catholic service, as well as ancient Sanskrit texts and inspired by the wisdom of Kahlil Gibran, Rumi, the Bhagavad Gita, the Holy Bible and other immortal words. The result showcases Thomas Barquee's great skill as both composer and vocalist. A call for peace, Missa seeks to tear down barriers between us, allowing emotional commonalties to emerge. The work uses our religious diversity as a vehicle to express human unity, transcending the limitations of individual spiritual and musical traditions. It is this desire to express unity that is the hallmark of Barquee's work. Missa follows Barquee's previous World-inspired album, Temple, released in 2000 on Hearts of Space Records. A more Eastern-influenced work, Temple was the precursor for the more elaborate canvas Barquee used to create Missa. Barquee, who sees himself as both a composer and vocalist, wanted Missa to be a fuller integration of vocals and music than Temple, a more explicit blending of sacred text with crossover composition.