Top of the popes

ARTS:TAKE SOME Gregorian chant, add in the sumptuous strings of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, top it off with the voice of Pope Benedict XVI, mix the whole thing up in the historic studios of London's Abbey Road, and what do you have? A Christmas chart-topper? With its suspiciously New Age, sumptuously melodic feel, the Pope's new record, Alma Mater, might indeed do well, writes PADDY AGNEWin Rome

Colin Barlow, president of Geffen Records UK, at the launch in the Vatican on Tuesday, is making no predictions right now, but he does expect this record to sell "quite a lot of copies". He thinks that in this time of recession times, Alma Materoffers a message of hope and inspiration.

So what is going on? Has this rather crusty, Teutonic old Pope decided to go funky? Well, no, not quite. What we have here are eight tracks which cleverly interweave Gregorian chant with rich modern orchestration, topped off by the Pope, who speaks on seven of the tracks and sings on the other. On track one, Sancta Dei Genitrix, the Pope himself explains just what this record is all about, saying: “Faith is love, and for that reason it creates poetry and music. Faith is joy because it creates beauty. The great cathedrals of the world are not medieval monuments but rather houses of the living where we meet God and we meet one another. Great music, like Gregorian chant or Mozart, is not something of the past for the Church, but rather something living which is an expression of the vitality of the liturgy of our faith.”

So, then, is this just more boring old church music? No. This beautifully crafted work manages to maintain such an eminently listenable, movie-soundtrack feel that it risks introducing the glories of Gregorian chant to thousands of newcomers.

THE IDEA FOR Alma Materwas hatched on May 1st 2005 when the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI unexpectedly sang the entire Regina Coeliduring the Angelus in St Peter's Square. This got a Paulist Father, Don Giulio Neroni, thinking: why not make a record around the Pope's voice, similar to Abba Pater, the CD featuring the voice of Pope John Paul II, released 10 years ago on the eve of the Holy Year of 2000.

As head of Multimedia San Paolo, a recording house which, among other things, has produced the entire Bible on CD, Don Giulio knew what he wanted. He summoned the producer of Abba Pater, Vincent Messina, who in turn engaged the services of three composers: Englishman Simon Boswell, Italian Stefano Mainetti and Moroccan Nour-Eddine.

For the composers, the task might have seemed straightforward, yet it was clearly intimidating too. They were essentially asked to write a soundtrack around three elements: the voice of Pope Benedict, Gregorian chant as sung by the Choir of the Philharmonic Academy of Rome, and London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, duly recorded at the Abbey Road studios of Beatles fame.

Italian Stefano Mainetti admits that it was not easy, at least at first: “As soon as I try to play a note, I thought to myself, ‘this is too much – what can I do, what can I do’? But afterwards, I say, ‘let’s go ahead – if you stop to think about it, you never start’.”

MGR PABLO COLINO,the chapel master in St Peter's and the director of the Philharmonic Academy of Rome, had fewer doubts, pointing out: "I am 75 years of age and I've known six popes, but none of them could sing like this one."

For Englishman Simon Boswell, a composer who has worked on more than 90 films and with artists ranging from Elton John to The Sex Pistols, the experience of watching and listening to the Gregorian chant being recorded in the basilica of St Peter’s at night, after the doors had been closed to the tourists, was strangely moving.

“Coming from the viewpoint of the non-believer, I was much moved . . .” he says. “I looked across at Michelangelo’s Pietà and I saw a mother cradling her dead child . . . and I carried that inspiration through the whole composition process. To hear Gregorian chant in the place where it was first meant to be heard, and where it sounds at its most evocative, was just amazing.”

If Alma Mater(full name Alma Redemptoris Mater) does prove successful, where will the profits go? Well, the Vatican is expecting Multimedia San Paolo to make "contributions" to the Holy See, while Colin Barlow says that Geffen Records will be investing in a wide variety of (as yet unannounced) charity projects linked to music.

Given that the Vatican requested fees of just €30,000 for the use of the images and the voice of the Pope, perhaps the Holy See has not done a great bit of business here. Papal spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi, however, points out that Vatican Radio and TV have an “apostolic, not a commercial mission”, and adds: “The Holy Father has always been willing to try out new methods of evangelisation. He is always searching for new ways to transmit a message of spirituality and peace in a world that needs both . . . This is an experiment in dialogue. This is not the Pope’s record, but the music has been inspired by his voice.”

Alma Redemptoris Materis released on the Geffen/UMGI label on Nov 30