By Mary Judaline Partlow/ PNA
DUMAGUETE CITY – Two international organ players captivated locals and foreigners alike as they played the historic, centuries-old pipe organ during a recital at the St. Augustine of Hippo Parish Church in Bacong, Negros Oriental on Tuesday night.
The recital, an extension of the recently concluded 44th International Bamboo Organ Festival in Las Piñas, Metro Manila, was open to the public for free and featured Swiss national Guy Bovet and French artist Viviane Loriaut.
In solo performances, Loriaut played in her “own transcription” of pieces from “Dardanus”: Prelude – Sommeil (Sleep) – Calm- Air – Gavotte – Triumphal air – Noises of War 2, a drama by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) while Bovet played Tiento de batalla, Juan Cabanilles (1644-1712), Diferencias sobre la Gaita, Anonymous Spain (18th century), Canción triste (A Sad Song), Eduardo Torres (1882-1934) and Ofertorio, Pedro Albéniz (1793-1855).
Both artists also played together during the recital in what they call “four hands” — Fantasy in F Minor KV593 by Mozart — in a jam-packed church with more or less 800 guests.
This is the first time for both international organ players to hold a recital in Bacong. They said they were “impressed” with the historic pipe organ in the St. Augustine Church, which remains to be a few of its kind in the Philippines, said Msgr. Julius Perpetuo S. Heruela, the parish priest of Bacong.
Loriaut expressed her gratitude for being invited, saying it was a great pleasure for her to be able to play this kind of organ with “the basics and a pedal”, which is already hard to come by even in Europe, while the newer versions are mostly electronically-powered, Heruela added.
Bovet, according to the priest, had previously visited Bacong during the restoration of the pipe organ and in fact, even had a recording back then. He was thankful he and Loriaut were allowed to play it during the recital.
After about a year of restoration from 2008 and 2009, the pipe organ, which arrived from Zaragosa, Spain and acquired by Bacong in 1894, was once more “singing”. It is considered a “treasure” by Negros Oriental and the Diocese of Dumaguete.
In between pipe organ recitals, the Bacong Children’s Choir also rendered a few numbers in the joint undertaking of the International Bamboo Organ Festival, the Diocese of Dumaguete, the St. Augustine of Hippo Parish, and the local government unit.
Meanwhile, Bishop Julito Cortes of the Diocese of Dumaguete, welcomed the international artists and expressed “deep gratitude” to them and those behind the recital, saying that “their concert in Bacong serves as an outreach of the International Bamboo Festival in Las Piñas”.
“Tonight’s event, I would like to believe, will not only be a wonderful auditory experience. Borrowing the words of Plato, our souls will be ‘stirred and educated’,” he said.
The prelate, a music-lover who also sings, also quoted the Greek Philosopher as saying that “music is a useful instrument for education because more than anything else, rhythm and harmony find their way into the inmost soul and take the strongest hold upon it”.
Heruela said the recital in Bacong will hopefully be a springboard for future recitals, especially with a resounding turnout of concert-goers, including foreigners who were staying at nearby resorts and those who have taken up residence in the province.
“Hopefully, we can introduce the festival here and we can work with the International Bamboo Organ Festival to bring more of their artists here, although it may cost a lot of money,” he said.
Heruela, who is also the chair of the Diocesan Commission on Church Cultural Heritage, is optimistic it can be done with the support from various sectors to make the recital a yearly musical festival.
