Pantheon concert baptises listeners with music and rain

ROME-Rome-The unprecedented performance, “E LUCE FU,” by composer Walter Branchi, was featured in the Pantheon this week. The music echoed off the walls among the tombs of Raphel and Italian Kings.

 “It was like a religious experience, almost like a baptism. I went over and let the rain fall on my face and listened,” said Brian who was visiting from California with his wife Denise. He continued, “I closed my eyes, and I could have been in ancient Rome.”

 The afternoon concert was a composition created to resonate in the Pantheon, defined by a series of sonic epiphanies that neither anticipate or postpone anything: they simply happen one after the other in contrasting timbers and frequencies for a series of illuminations. The sound was not generated by traditional musical instruments or human sound but by using technology. 

 Walter Branchi is a renowned Roman Composer born in 1941. His work is inspired by the sacred choral music of the Renaissance masters. From 1966-75 was involved with the Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, also known as The Group, which was an avant-grade free improvisation group considered the first experimental composers collective.

 In the group he worked with other composers such as John Heineman and irascible Ennio Morricone, who was seen as the most iconic composer to create the music for the spaghetti western films from the 1960s. His music is still popular today and is found in several Quentin Tarantino films. Walter and John are the last surviving members of the Group.

 “It was a fantastic experience; I ordered the rain” Walter said, when asked what it was like when he heard his music in the Pantheon. He was the referring to the rain during the performance which magically came through the oculus to create a special visual effect. He mentioned the sound was a little lower than he expected because of the delay.

 Denise commented, “It was so appropriate… the rain just started to fall, and it felt like it all came together.” The couple just happened to be in the Pantheon during the start of the concert and were invited to stay. Volunteers helped quiet the visitors walking around with signs, “Il silenzio è parte dell'ascolto”( silence is part of listening) while wearing white gloves.

 David Monacchi, an Italian sound artist, researcher and eco-acoustic composer, introduced the concert. He said, “Music and architecture have always been linked through history, especially during the Renaissance and contemporary times.” He said the concert “…invites participants to perceive the sacred space of the Pantheon itself including the external and internal soundscapes.”

The event would not have happened without the efforts of Kristin Jones who aslo gave an introduction. The American artist is based in Rome and has completed several large scale public art works in the city.

 The audience shared their positive reactions with each other as they left the historical setting. Walter was surrounded by listeners as they paid tribute after the show. mlp