600-year-old MUSICAL SCORE DECODED [Reuters, London, May 5, 2007] A Scottish church which featured in the best-selling 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 WEBSITE, 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 medieval 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 medieval sound to it."

Conservative Pose For Her Majesty

[Reuters, London, May 3, 2007] An American photographer famed for showing celebrities naked or bathing in asses' milk chose a more traditional pose for Britain's Queen Elizabeth, but Annie Leibovitz's new work sharply divided critics today. John Lennon appeared naked and Clint Eastwood was bound with ropes, but Leibovitz opted to have her subject in full evening dress for an official portrait marking the Queen's visit to the US. Washington Post culture critic Henry Allen was not amused, complaining that the portrait of the monarch sitting in the White Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace had "all the personality of a marble bust of George Washington. I wonder if there isn't a line of people having to wait to have their picture taken in the same chair, the same costume, perhaps one of those little cut-outs you stick your head through," he said to BBC Radio. But British critic William Feaver was relieved that Leibovitz, who famously photographed Hollywood actresses Whoopi Goldberg in a bath of milk and Demi Moore naked and heavily pregnant, had opted for tradition. "I think on these occasions tradition is good. You do not want to see Her Majesty breakdancing or bathing in a vat of asses' milk," Feaver told BBC radio. Also obvious is the influence of Helen Mirren's Oscar-winning performance in the film “The Queen,” which portrayed the royal family struggling to cope with a wave of public grief after Princess Diana's death in 1997. Feaver called it "a post-Oscar type production. It is the stand-in for Dame Helen Mirren in her own location being rather commanding but not really at ease with this army of American photographers glamming her up for Vanity Fair." "Queen's Mirren Image," was the verdict of The Daily Mirror tabloid. Critics said there was also a striking resemblance in the portrait with the monarch's mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who was famously captured by photographer Cecil Beaton in traditional poses. Leibovitz agreed. "I like tradition. Cecil Beaton's pictures – they're very important to me," she was quoted as saying after her session with the queen, who leaves on Thursday for her first official visit to the United States for 16 years. Evening Standard royal correspondent Robert Jobson felt it was the ideal regal pose. "It is perfect for the American market. It is almost like a Victorian pose, very traditional," he said. "Many believe this will be her last state visit to America. They have given her a very grand feel."