The Rosslyn Motet CD

Description

This musical score has been “frozen” in the chapel for 600 years. Inside the chapel, there are 13 angels T. Mitchell calls the “orchestra of angels,” which are carved into the chapel’s arches and who appear to be musicians.

Surrounding the angels are 213 geometric symbols that were found to resemble sound waves at different pitches. After decoding all the symbols to match the soundwaves, they found the song which researchers say is part of the “cymatics” music system, also known as the “Chladni patterns” which is the study of wave phenomena associated with the physical patterns produced through the interaction of sound waves in a medium.

“It is what we could call ‘frozen music’, a little like cryogenics. The music has been frozen in time by symbolism, it was only a matter of time before the symbolism began to ‘thaw out’ and begin to make sense to scientific and musical perception,” said T. Mitchell.

“The unusual combination of instruments, their dynamics, tunings and textures re-create a sound long forgotten from the past. The melodies are simple but harmonically develops and unfolds in the most simplistic but charming way. The sequential arrangement of the cubes at many times is a series of repeated notes/symbols signifying a more functional than aesthetic sense to the music. Sometimes it sounds a bit like a ‘nursery rhyme’ and there is also a feeling of a ‘Celtic air’ about the music,” added Mitchell’s statement.

The Mitchells have added words from a contemporary hymn to the music and have named the composition The Rosslyn Motet, which is performed by the Tallis Chamber Choir and produced by Stuart Mitchell.

Tracklisting: