We have had The Priests. Now get ready for The Pope. Pope Benedict XVI is about to release his first album.
‘Alma Mater’, music from the Vatican, will feature the voice of Pope Benedict XVI, the Choir of the Philharmonic Academy of Rome conducted by Monsignor Pablo Colino and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.Music is by Simon Boswell, Stefano Mainetti and Nour Eddine. Vincent Messina, producer of Alma Mater, said: “These three composers are world class and my first choices for the album. A happy co-incidence is that Stefano is Catholic, Simon is ‘undeclared’ and Nour Eddine is Muslim, thus perfectly representing our aim to produce an album that has universal appeal to all of those who love beautiful music. Their wonderful compositions for ‘Alma Mater’ have exceeded our expectations and we have all been very moved at how successfully these modern scores blend with the choir, the orchestra and the Pope’s voice. We feel sure that the music and the spoken word will both surprise and delight.”
The composers will be conducting their individual pieces at a concert later this year.
In statements, Stefano Mainetti said, “Here, instead of composing to a film script, which I’m used to, the ‘script’ was the Gregorian chants sang by the Choir and the words of the Pope, and it was fantastically inspiring.”
Simon Boswell commented, “Being in the historic space of St Peter’s Basilica and listening to the air resonate with Gregorian chant was mesmerizing and a great responsibility - as it was when using the Holy Father’s voice. When composing, I was very sensitive to the rhythms of his speech. To me, the album has an uplifting, emotional core that, as with Renaissance art, you don’t have to be Catholic, Anglican or Muslim, to appreciate.”
Nour Eddine said, “It was a big surprise when I was asked by Vincent Messina to contribute to this album, because I’m from a traditional Arabic music background not a Classical one, but I then discovered that Gregorian chants and Arabic melody has deep historical roots in the Muslim world as well as the Christian world. It was a magical moment for me when the tradition of the Gregorian and my Arabic melody came together so harmoniously.”
‘Alma Mater’ will be released through Universal Music on November 27.
