Music Mystery Of Da Vinci Code Chapel Cracked (Rosslyn)

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 5-1-2007 | Richard Alleyne

[blam]

Music mystery of Da Vinci Code chapel cracked

By Richard Alleyne
Last Updated: 2:05am BST 01/05/2007

A Scottish church featured in The Da Vinci Code is embroiled in a fresh mystery of secret codes and heretical knowledge - but this one could be more than mere fiction.

An ex-RAF codebreaker and his composer son say they have deciphered a musical score hidden for nearly 600 years in the elaborate carvings on the walls of Rosslyn Chapel.

Rosslyn Chapel, theories connect it with the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant and the head of Christ

The pair believe the tune was encrypted because knowledge of music could have been considered heretical.

Thomas Mitchell, 75, a music teacher, and his son Stuart, 41, a pianist and composer, say they became intrigued by the markings on the chapel's arches more than 20 years ago.

Thomas was particularly struck by the 213 carved cubes in the Lady Chapel.

"I was obsessed by these symbols. I was convinced they meant something." Using codebreaking skills learned during the Korean War and his knowledge of classical music, Thomas Mitchell finally realised that the cubes depicted patterns made by sound waves.

"After scratching our brains for years the whole thing just came together in a eureka moment. We believe this is the Holy Grail of music and, unlike The Da Vinci Code, it is absolutely factual." Mr Mitchell realised the patterns on the cubes seem to match a phenomenon called cymatics or Chladni patterns. These form when a note is used to vibrate a sheet of metal or glass covered in powder.

Different frequencies produce different patterns such as flowers, diamonds and hexagons - shapes all present on the cubes.

The two men have brought the music back to life using instruments from the Middle Ages, adding words from a contemporary hymn to finish the piece, called The Rosslyn Motet.

Among the theories about Rosslyn is that it is the secret resting place of the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant and even the mummified head of Christ.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

My husband’s Counterpoint teacher, Hugo Norden of Boston University, wrote the “counterpoint” section in the Harvard Dictionary of Music.

[AnAmericanMother]

I’ve got the Oxford but not the Harvard. (Oh, boy, another book to put on my list!)

[afraidfortherepublic]

I know, but do we know the tunes they played and sang?

[HiTech RedNeck]

What you are thinking of as a "third" was actually an augmented fourth in modern terms -- that's why it was considered the "devil's interval" - it sounded like the devil (still does). That term, by the way, didn't show up until much later, the medievals called it a "wolf interval" because it howled like a wolf.

Splitting an octave exactly in half does have an otherworldly quality. But it sounds fine as part of our modern seventh chords.

[HiTech RedNeck]

GGG ping

[HiTech RedNeck]

Anyone know where the Motet can be heard sans video? It breaks up on my old box.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks HiTech RedNeck. An "Oh So Mysteriouso" topic for the Digest.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

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[ClearCase_guy]

testing

[Hot Tabasco]

Mr Mitchell realised the patterns on the cubes seem to match a phenomenon called cymatics or Chladni patterns

I think I heard the tune before....."Row, Row, Row your boat..."

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

All black notes ;-).
Pentatonic scale stuff.

[SunkenCiv]

This topic was posted 4/30/2007, thanks again for the ping HiTech RedNeck, and thanks blam for the topic.

[SunkenCiv]

https://search.brave.com/videos?q=The%20Rosslyn%20Motet

[SunkenCiv]

‘Round the bend:
https://www.youtube.com/c/stuart7m/videos