Music Inspired by Da Vinci by Various Artists
Don't be fooled. Music Inspired by Da Vinci, released recently by Sony BMG, is not the soundtrack of the Hollywood movie starring Tom Hanks and adapted from Dan Brown's best-seller.
Just call it good business sense instead. To capitalise on The Da Vinci Code's phenomenal success, Sony BMG invited composer-producer Jan Kisjes to interpret the book's various theories musically.
Regardless of how you feel about such blatant commercialism, the album's 14 tracks - performed in English, French and Latin - are not bad at all. Scottish influences are present in Sarah and Roslin Chapel, while Eglise Saint-Sulpice has a typically French flavour. The vocal contributions of the male and female choirs are in Latin, giving the album a delicate, historical feel.
One of the book's major themes was the suppression of feminine values and power by the church over the past 2,000 years, and The Sword and the Chalice, La Femme est Sacree and Revelation o' the Truth all refer to the sanctity of women.
Some Christians, however, have been insulted by the theories raised in the book, particularly the speculation that Jesus married and had a child, and these also feature on the album.