To begin with, most of the composers featured that evening at the CCP auditorium were graduates of the AIML, an evangelical or Protestant institution which does not hew to Catholic liturgy and its music. Many of the songs reverted to ethnic music – Muslim or Igorot untouched by Western influences.
Francisco Feliciano’s Silence My Soul sets to music the words of the great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore. Kugaho Chishi, an Indian from Dagaland, is an evangelical Christian, and the opening of his song calls to mind an Imam (Muslim) summoning the faithful to prayer. Actually, the song incites the Magalands to wage war, having long wished for independence from India. "Fight for our land just as Christ fought for His Church!", the singers declare with strong conviction.
Korean worship is encapsulated in Excelsis Betil’s Aleluya as female voices are raised with gongs and drums in the background. Other ethnic Asian instruments enhance the exoticism of the piece, while vigorous rhythmic patterns infuse drama into it. Betil’s Glong ngo ko again completely departs from the Catholic laud. It starts with a chant from the Diangan tribe of Mindanao, is followed by a duet in Cebuano and Diangan, and ends in Tagalog with a chorus of Jew’s harps accompanying it.
Joy Anilo’s arresting song is from his Amami suite of anthems based on the Lord’s Prayer in Ilocano. The words, short and abbreviated, are delivered in a rapid, staccato manner.
The 41-member San Miguel Master Chorale, fully deserves its name, rendering the songs masterfully under the equally masterful direction of Eudenice V. Palaruan who lives up to his formidable credentials.
The disciplined, cohesive, sonorous choir from which emanated massive sounds, sung a cappella and sans scores, faithfully conveying every nuance desired by Palaruan to whom each note, each phrase, as much as intonation and inflection, were important. Sounds ranged from vigorous and robust to refined, filigree pianissimos that were prolonged to an incredible degree.
Given its world premier at the concert, Ryan Cayabyab’s exquisite Pregiera simplice is St. Francis of Assisi’s prayer which begins thus: "Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace." It was in this song that one noted the tonalities and modalities of Western music which, nevertheless, were treated in a most original and innovative fashion.
In Christian Tamaela’s Takigong, the imitation in words of the Indonesian drum enhanced its urgency as a song of praise, the words takadong tokigong, delivered rapidly, simulating the sound of the aforementioned drum.
The program notes on Indra B. Simanjuntak Pentatonic Sanctus demonstrate further how the program diametrically differed from the standard which would start with Renaissance and madrigal songs, followed by Broadway and West End hit tunes, ending with kundimans.
The notes read: "Elements of Indonesian culture are incorporated in a contemporary setting of the Latin text from the Mass proper. The Balinese pentatonic mode is employed to create a drone pattern by the male voices similar to that of the Kecak, the monk dance based on the Hindu epic Ramayana. Syncopated rhythms and odd time signatures are also used to emphasize the dynamic movement of Balinese music."
Unaccustomed as we are to the music of our Asian neighbors, Pentatonic Sanctus sounded weird yet intriguing and exciting.
One gained an insight into the music of Cebu’s traditional Sinulog festival in honor of the Sto. Niño from Dennis Sugarol’s Mga pagdayeg which is enriched by percussion instruments – the bamboo stomper, buzzer, scrapper, and drums, these manipulated by the singers themselves as they give the piece a very ethnic element.
The San Miguel Master Chorale excellently met the challenge offered by Jerry Dadap’s Aleluia with its wide vocal range and diverse, contrasting rhythms.
Cayabyab, the master composer that he is, dominated the program with his Misa 2000, a tremendous, overwhelming work which won a prize in the 2001 Onassis International Competitions for original music for dance in Athens, Greece. Its Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei are not to be compared with those of the Catholic mass.
Conductor Paraluan explains: "It represents major Filipino musical forms. The orchestration employs or portrays a variety of traditional instruments and indigenous motifs, e.g., the Kalinga bamboo pipes, flat gong, and the Binalig rhythmic mode typical of Mindanao kulintang music. The work also ventures into novel vocal requirements – a male soprano mimics a nose flute, a tenor exalts with his kundiman serenade, and an alto leads congregation in prayer with her powerful voice like an Imam in worship."
The Mass was given a rousing applause and a standing ovation. The concert ended with selections of popular music composed and arranged by Cayabyab for orchestra and choir: Epithalamium is from Rama Hari with words by Bien Lumbera. The rest, lyrical, engaging and avant-garde were Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka, Iduyan Mo and Paraiso. The SM Orchestra, pressed into service for the Mass and the songs, left little to be desired.
Kayumanggi, the concert title, is the Tagalog word for light brown (the Filipino complexion). It thus symbolizes a return to our native roots and to the music of our Asian neighbors.