New sacred music recordings

Recordings of traditional sacred music abound in most parts of the Christian world but I have yet to hear of any of the local record companies coming up with such recordings, although the Philippines is proud to be the only Catholic country in the Far East.

The reason is obvious. Most of the old church songs are in Latin and thus are not deemed commercial enough for the Filipino market. Besides that, they require classically trained singing to get the optimum effect, which is not also saleable among local buyers. Nonetheless these songs are beautiful and deserve to be enjoyed by everybody.

That is why I heartily welcome the news that a Filipino group has chosen a record some of these songs and recently made it available for music lovers. Titled Oremus meaning "Let us pray," the album features the Santo Domingo Male Chorale. The group is made up of former members of the famous Tiples de Santo Domingo. Tiples is the Spanish word for boy sopranos. They sing with the high-pitched voice that boys usually have before the onset of puberty. The sound they create can be so beautiful that there have been unfortunate cases in the past wherein boy sopranos with extraordinary voices were castrated to keep them from acquiring the deeper voices of men.

The Filipino Tiples dates back to the Spanish period in the Philippines when the first group was founded to sing for the services at the Santo Domingo Church, which was built in 1588. The tradition continued until the 2nd World War when the original church was destroyed during the bombing of Manila. It was revived in 1954 for the inauguration of the new Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City where the Tiples are based to this day. But boy sopranos grow up and because of their desire to continue performing sacred music several of the retired Tiples formed the Santo Domingo Male Chorale.

Theirs are the voices we hear in Oremus, Listen to them as they perform a Te Deum, O Jesu Christe by Berchem, Maria Magdalene et Altera Maria by Gabrieli, an Ave Maria by Arcadelt, Adoramus Te by Palestrina, the spirituals Deep River, John Saw Duh Numbuh, Raimondi’s, O Sacrum Convivium, Could Ye Not Watch On Him, a motet by Ramsey, a mLotti’s Miserere Mei and Exsultate Justi by Viadana.

The Santo Domingo Male Chorale has been chosen to participate in the 50th International Polyphonic Competition Guido d’ Arezzon, an international choral competition that will be held in Arezzo, Italy on August. To help defray the expenses of the trip to Italy, the members of the Chorale are distributing copies of the Oremus album for a donation of P500 each. Check with Javlon International Phil. Inc., (tel. number 817-7506, fax number 812-6936 and e-mail address [email protected] for how you can help the Chorale. The Guido d’ Arezzo is a prestigious competition. It would be a great honor for us to help them win the grand prize.

Your Dwelling Place, Songs for Healing by Himig Heswita is probably one of the most beautiful albums to emerge from the very active Jesuit Music Ministry. Solace comes with every cut, be it the inspirational talks like The World is God’s Dwelling Place and When God Seems Absent or the songs like O Hesus, Hilumin Mo and Gabing Kulimlim. You will soothe frazzled nerves and receive courage to face anything after listening to this relaxing collection.

The Album is the off-shoot of a healing prayer concert held early this year for people suffering from cancer and other long-drawn illnesses. Patterned after the spiritual exercises of Jesuit order founder St. Ignatius de Loyola, the program spoke of God’s healing presence in this world. The response to the concert was so positive that the Jesuit Music Ministry decided to come out with this album. This will bring the healing experience within reach of those not fortunate enough to attend at the concert.

The highlight of the set is a medley of compositions by Fr. Eddie Hontiveros, S.J. This includes Kahanga-hanga, Kaibigan Kapanalig, Sa Dapit-Hapon and Pananagutan. Among the others cuts are Prayer for Peace, Awit ng Paghahangad, Prayer of Rupert Mayer, Like Cedars They Shall Stand, How Shall I Sing to God, City of God and How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place.