Live Earth concert, Rome
Encyclopedia
The Heptavium concert, representing also the Live Earth
Live Earth
-Background:Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action...

 concert in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, took place on the 7th of July 2007 at the Basilica of St. John Lateran
Basilica of St. John Lateran
The Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran , commonly known as St. John Lateran's Archbasilica and St. John Lateran's Basilica, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope...

, the Cathedral of Rome and subject to the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the Holy See. It was part of a series of high profile concerts organised by Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....

 and Kevin Wall
Kevin Wall
Kevin Wall, born March 15, 1952 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is a producer, digital entrepreneur and environmentalist who creates and produces global events often viewed by a billion or more people...

, which took place across the globe to raise awareness about climate change. The concert was masterminded and written by composer and researcher of religious philosophy Michael I.D'Alessandra, founder and chief trustee of the Heptavium Society, a Trust promoting Arts and philosophical research established in London, UK, headquartered at the Vatican and in conjunction with Vatican academic institutions and Californian production entities. The Heptavium Society produced and funded the event with the support of Helpworldwide, an organization sustaining loyalty-rebate programs and eco-friendly projects. The concert was officially backed by the Vatican, thus being the Catholic Church's autonomous presence at the Live Earth
Live Earth
-Background:Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action...

 events.

Heptavium/Live Earth: The Concert

The Heptavium/Live Earth event was inaugurated by Paul Cardinal Poupard, who explained the scope and meaning of the evening, a prelude to the Cathedralia Project, an endeavour of original sacred music between Rome and the USA, conceived as well as composed by D'Alessandra and planned for the next decade. A reading of a page from St. Augustine's "City of God" followed, mentioning the sacred aspect of earthly nature, concluded by an intervention on behalf of the Live Earth event by acclaimed film producer Lawrence Bender.

The concert was performed exclusively in two different locations of the Cathedral of Rome: before its Holy Door, and inside the Cathedral, in the central nave. During the first part of the concert, various works for string quartet and grand piano composed by M° Michael D'Alessandra were performed by the Bernini Quartet, a string ensemble of virtuosos from Rome, and D'Alessandra, a piano virtuoso and organist himself; the performance was shown inside the Church through large HD screens placed aside the Church's canopy.

The second part of the concert, consisting of symphonic and choral sacred music, saw the deployment of the largest orchestra the Church had ever experienced. Performing were the London Oratory School Schola
London Oratory School Schola
The London Oratory School Schola was established in 1996 and is a choir for Catholic boys. The current director of the Schola is Lee Ward. The choir's patrons are Princess Michael of Kent, the barrister Cherie Booth, the actor Simon Callow and the composer James MacMillan .-Directors of the...

, Michael D'Alessandra, The Rome Philharmonic Orchestra and M°Cristiano Serino. The choir and orchestra performed Vexilla Regis, a variation on Franz Liszt's Via Crucis conducted by Michael D'Alessandra, connected to Septem postrema verba, a concerto for choir, orchestra and cello solo written by M°Cristiano Serino conducting it, and lyrically utilising the last seven words of Jesus Christ on the cross, and culminating towards the core of the concert: D'Alessandra's Missa Sylvestri II, a funeral Mass, beginning with an eerie Kyrie Eleison progressing to a fast-paced Sanctus, through a solemn Benedictus, reminiscent of German baroque progressions and Russian Orthodox melodies, and concluding with an elegiac Agnus Dei. This funeral Mass, regarded as a masterpiece of new sacred music in Vatican cultural circles, was written for the 1000th anniversary of Pope Sylvester II's death (May 12, 1003) and premiered in the year 2003 in the very Cathedral of Rome, where Sylvester II is buried. The last performance, Gloria, an elaborate, yet fluent piece, uttered a finale in which, D'Alessandra conducting, 140 musicians and singers reached the acme of their performance.

This ceremonial concert coincided with the issuance of the motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum relating to the traditional Latin Mass, also on 7/7/07.

Heptavium/Live Earth in the media

The concert was broadcast either in full or in part by many television and radio networks. The concert was broadcast in Italy, America, Australia and New Zealand, and a short clip showing D'Alessandra's funeral Kyrie Eleison was also shown on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 in the UK, along with Live Earth's world feed, thus honouring the British choir performing in Rome, in remembrance of the victims fallen on the terrorist attacks in London on 7/7/05, a tragedy mentioned also during Card. Poupard's introduction to the event. Articles about the concert also appeared in The Tablet
The Tablet
The Tablet is a Catholic international weekly review published in London. Contributors to its pages have included Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Paul VI ....

 and The Catholic Herald
The Catholic Herald
The Catholic Herald is a London-based Roman Catholic newspaper, published in broadsheet format and retailing at £1.50 ....

. The fact that a performance of original sacred music of such elevated standards connected the "Mother of all Churches" (as the Cathedral of Rome is also called) to an event featuring iconic rock acts like Metallica or The Police, denotes a surprising dynamism of certain Vatican departments, although remaining conservative, thus representing a promising breakthrough for the dialogue of a sensible Roman Catholic world with secularized modernity, and overall, with contemporary global culture.

The Vatican and the environment

On the same day the Vatican City State became the first carbon neutral Sovereign State in the world by accepting a donation of carbon credits. The Vatican therefore obtained its carbon neutrality on July 7, 2007 which was made possible through the reforestation of depleted forest-lands in the Bukk National Forest in Hungary by the Hungarian eco-restoration company Klimafa; the territory is by now commonly known as the "Vatican forest". The donation was rendered possible through the combined efforts of the Heptavium Society Between Rome and London (the city headquartering the Live Earth event), the personnel of the Pontifical Council for Culture at the Vatican (the department of the Holy See which, beside welcoming the Heptavium/Live Earth event, accepted the donation through the then President Paul Cardinal Poupard), and in the USA, Jonas Lauren Norr, founder and CEO of Ethos Investments, a socially responsible California-based company partnering with Klimafa for offering the donation, and also determining for securing the inclusion of the Heptavium concert in the Live Earth's series of performances, by co-producing it from the USA.
With regards to the "Vatican forest", this sound achievement for the Holy See reverberated with unanimous appraisals through the world's main newspapers and it added momentum to the Vatican State's environmental policy, consisting also of supplying with solar energy the Paul VI Audience Hall, also known as Aula Nervi. The announcement was given few weeks before the concert and aforementioned donation, although the solar panels-roof was rendered operational for the first time on November 26, 2008. The installation was awarded the 2008 Euro solar Prize.

The Heptavium symbolism

Heptavium (literally meaning 'place where seven ways meet') is a Latin neologism conceived by D'Alessandra, who, beside being a musician has an extensive background in Vatican Universities and Institutes as a researcher. This new word aims at condensing in one concept the Arts of the trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) and quadrivium (mathematics, geometry, astronomy, music), the body known as the seven Liberal Arts, as taught in the Cathedral schools and Universities during the Middle Ages.
The city of Rome has always been connected to the number seven since its very foundation: built on seven hills, ruled by seven kings, and furthermore enriched by seven churches and by the seven sacraments, the rhythm of Rome and its destiny has been and is being governed numerically by the number 7 during its pagan imperial rule and since it became the cradle of Christianity. Therefore, Heptavium may become an esoteric nomen secretum, a secret name for Rome itself, literally the "City where seven ways meet".

These concepts and prerogatives were mentioned during Card. Paul Poupard's introductory speech to the concert, linking the symbolical contents directly to the music performed. Moreover, the Heptavium concert was performed both outside and inside the Church, and with two different repertoires and styles of music, profane and sacred-symphonic, to stress the transition from the pagan sphere to the one divinely inspired that the city of Rome has been experiencing for over two millennia.

However, the reason why the date 7-7-07 was chosen by Pope Benedict XVI as the date for the release of a Motu Proprio related to the traditional Latin Mass remains uncertain, as the date July 7th and even more so, the number 777, both seem to reflect the spirit of gnostic and esoteric numerology more than the Spirit of the Latin Mass canonized by St. Pius V. Undeniably, this number holds its great significance in the Western Occult tradition; nevertheless, the importance of a Motu Proprio related to the appraisal of liturgical functions in Latin for the Church of Rome, weighed on D'Alessandra's decision to utilise exclusively Latin for the Heptavium concert's libretto, stressing Heptaviums alignment to the symbolical orientation of the current pontificate, by presenting on that very day newly composed liturgical music in Latin and a Latin neologism with a concept related to Rome, in the city's Cathedral and seat of the Papal authority, ranking even higher than Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican and any other Roman Catholic church in the world in terms of canonical primacy.

As a resultance of these three occurrences combined, namely: I) the Heptavium/Live Earth concert, II) the acquisition of the "Vatican forest" and III) the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum, the 7th of July, 2007 may from now on be defined as the Heptavium Dies, the Heptavium Day for the Roman Catholic Church and its future approach to the city of Rome and its claim of eternity.

External links

  • Basilica of St.John Lateran
    Basilica of St. John Lateran
    The Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran , commonly known as St. John Lateran's Archbasilica and St. John Lateran's Basilica, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope...

  • Pope Sylvester II
    Pope Silvester II
    Pope Sylvester II , born Gerbert d'Aurillac, was a prolific scholar, teacher, and Pope. He endorsed and promoted study of Arab/Greco-Roman arithmetic, mathematics, and astronomy, reintroducing to Europe the abacus and armillary sphere, which had been lost to Europe since the end of the Greco-Roman...

  • Pontifical Council for Culture
  • Heptavium Society
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