Musicians unlock mystery melody in Scottish chapel

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LONDON (Reuters) - A Scottish church which featured in the

bestselling novel " The Da Vinci Code " has revealed another mystery

hidden in secret code for almost 600 years.

 

A father and son who became fascinated by symbols carved into the

chapel's arches say they have deciphered a musical score encrypted in

them.

 

Thomas Mitchell, a 75-year-old musician and ex-Royal Air Force code

breaker, and his composer and pianist son Stuart, described the piece

as " frozen music " .

 

" The music has been frozen in time by symbolism, " Mitchell said on

his Web site (www.tjmitchell.com/stuart/rosslyn.html), which details

the 27-year project to crack the chapel's code.

 

" It was only a matter of time before the symbolism began to thaw out

and begin to make sense to scientific and musical perception. "

 

The 15th Century Rosslyn Chapel, about seven miles south of the

Scottish capital Edinburgh, featured in the last part of Dan

Brown's " The Da Vinci Code " -- one of the most successful novels of

all time which has been turned into a Hollywood film.

 

Stuart Mitchell said he and his father were intrigued by 13

intricately carved angel musicians on the arches of the chapel and by

213 carved cubes depicting geometric-type patterns.

 

" They are of such exquisite detail and so beautiful that we thought

there must be a message here, " he told Reuters.

 

Years of research led the Mitchells to an ancient musical system

called cymatics, or Chladni patterns, which are formed by sound waves

at specific pitches.

 

The two men matched each of the patterns on the carved cubes to a

Chladni pitch, and were able finally to unlock the melody.

 

The Mitchells have called the piece The Rosslyn Motet and added words

from a contemporary hymn to complete it.

 

They have also scheduled a world premiere at a concert in the chapel

on May 18, when four singers will be accompanied by eight musicians

playing the piece on mediaeval instruments.

 

Simon Beattie of the Rosslyn Chapel Trust said he was delighted to

have the mystery finally solved, and was intrigued by the music

itself.

 

" It's not something you would want to put on in the car and listen

to, but it's certainly an interesting piece of music, " he said. " It's

got a good mediaeval sound to it. "