A duel under the watchful eyes of nuns & 16 female saints
And there were no casualties.
Instead, there were only enthralled spectators, as the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and the contemporary sound of The Beatles, as rendered by the Manila Symphony Orchestra, competed for the heart of the audience that filled the 200-year-old St. Anne’s Church in Molo in Iloilo City. It was but fitting that a concert of a man and a group of four men was played in what is known as the country’s “feminist” church, as it is the only one perhaps where only female saints — 16 to be exact — are represented in statues in the Gothicinspired church.
It had been 34 years since the MSO was last in Iloilo, known as the Queen’s City of the South (because it was Queen Isabella’s favorite city in the Philippines), and it was back with a vengeance under the baton of Prof. Arturo “Toti”
Molina. Dubbed Sweet Symphonies: Bach vs. Beatles, the concert swept men and women, priests and nuns, students and office workers, off their feet in a 90-minute concert in the air-conditioned stone church, whose altar was transformed into a pulpit of music. Bathed in lights seemingly from stained glass windows, the stage was edifying. Parish priest Father Espiridion Celis allowed the concert in his church on condition that it be spiritual, and that it be free of charge.
Bach, the father of classical music according to MSO executive director
Jeffrey Solares, was a devout Catholic, and served the Church till the day he died. As for The Beatles... let’s just say their music brought many people to heaven!
The MSO was brought to Iloilo City through the efforts of Sen. Franklin
Drilon, in his private capacity, with the help of Ilonggo businessmen, Alfonso Tan of GT Hotel and International Builders Corp. (IBC), in cooperation with the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation Inc. (ILED) and Philippine Airlines.
Asked what the special occasion was for the MSO concert at the Molo Church, Drilon simply smiled and said, “Nothing! No special occasion, no special reason.”
He said he just wanted the people to rejoice in song at the 200-year-old church — incidentally, it was where he was baptized.
“The tagline of Iloilo is ‘Iloilo: Where the Past is always Present.’ It is in the context that we are bringing the Manila Symphony Orchestra to revive our people’s interest in performing arts. We have allocated 50 tickets for each school so the students can watch and listen for free to the Manila Symphony Orchestra,” Drilon added. He said the concert, as well as the efforts to restore the city’s old homes and buildings, is geared toward bringing back the province’s historical and cultural heritage to their old glory. *** The concert opened with Bach’s Sleeper’s Wake and Ave Maria, which were pitted against The Beatles’ Yesterday and In My Life; followed by Bach’s Jesus, Joy of Man’s Desiring and Sheep May Safely Graze, dueled by The Beatles’ Here Comes the Sun and Here, There and Everywhere. Then Bach presented a salvo of Concerto for Two Violin in D minor with violinists Noreen Anne Yambao and Danielle Caballero, Orchestral Suite No. 1 in B minor, Minuet and Badinerie with Prof. Francisco Candelaria as flute soloist. Not to be outdone, The Beatles surged forth with I Will and a medley of their greatest hits When I’m SixtyFour, Got to Get You Into My Life,
Michelle, Get Back and Hey Jude. The duel left us breathless and clamoring for more, as two gladiators from two different eras of music clashed and thundered and soothed.
Everyone was a victor as the audience rose in thundering applause to pay homage to the MSO.
Singing, I was taught in kindergarten, is praying twice. With music paying homage to the Almighty, who is the source of all musical genius, the concert was in itself a song of praise.
I asked one nun how she enjoyed the concert and she said, “I loved it!”’ “Even The Beatles?” I asked. “More so!” she winked back at me. And the 16 female saints joanneraeramirez@yahoo.com.)*seemed to nod in unison. (You may e-mail me at