"Musical evangelist" sets Da Vinci Code to music
Sat May 13, 2006 4:06 PM ET
By Reed Stevenson
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - "The Da Vinci Code" is a goldmine not only
for its creators but for a host of others producing spinoff
merchandise like video games and guided tours that narrowly avoid
using the novel's full title.
A new addition to the lengthening list is a CD called "Music
Inspired by Da Vinci" -- after all, you can't copyright the
Renaissance master's name.
Dutch songwriter and producer Jan Kisjes said he composed the
collection of 14 songs with religiously slanted titles like "Fear
of the Unknown" and "Revelation o' the Truth" to get people to
re-examine Christianity and their faith.
"I am a musical evangelist," said Kisjes, 46, in his studio in the
Dutch village of Dalfsen. "I think this book has opened the eyes of
people."
The plot of the Da Vinci Code, which has sold more than 40 million
copies worldwide, entertains the idea that Jesus and Mary Magdalene
married and had a child, a theory that has prompted an outcry among
Christian groups.
Vatican officials have called for a boycott of the novel and the
forthcoming Hollywood adaptation starring Tom Hanks, on general
release from May 19.
"Da Vinci Inc", as the Da Vinci Code spinoff industry has come to
be known, has thrived off the controversy, generating related
products worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Like much of that merchandise, Kisjes' CD does not explicitly refer
to the book or the movie, despite the fact that the film and the CD
share the same corporate parent, Sony Corp.
"The book was one of the inspirations, but it was so much more than
that," said Jurgen Post of Sony BMG in the Netherlands.
With the hype surrounding the book, the CD is sure to be featured
on the shelves of music stores alongside the soundtrack to the
movie, by Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer.
Post said Sony BMG was aiming for sales of 250,000 for "Inspired by
Da Vinci" in over 38 countries.
"I really don't know how many CDs we're going to sell," said
Kisjes, "I hope it's a lot."