PPO II: Mostly Filipino

Alfredo Buenaventura and Herminigildo Ranera

Featuring:

Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

Herminigildo Ranera, conductor

Programme:

Angel Peña Philippine Festival Overture

Alfredo Buenaventura Manik Buangsi and Tuan Putli Symphonic Poem

Lucio San Pedro Ang Buwan sa Kabundukan

Felipe de Leon Manila Sketches

Darius Milhaud La création du monde, Op. 81a

Antonín Dvořák Slavonic Dances, Op. 46

The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra had a Mostly Filipino themed concert last month which was not a surprise for me once I realized that leading the orchestra on that night was the orchestra’s Associate Conductor, Herminigildo Ranera. Equally expected as well was the strong folk music influence in most of the pieces chosen for that night which is typical whenever Ranera takes to the podium. Despite the threat of a typhoon, I took a risk and went to the Cultural Center of the Philippines and hoped for the best that it would not be difficult for me going home.

The opening piece was Angel Peña’s Philippine Festival Overture which I think is a good introduction to Filipino orchestral music. The music, composed back in 1993, is accessible and pleasant to hear featuring a perfect mash up of Western influence with distinctly Filipino touches. The next piece, Alfredo Buenaventura’s Manik Buangsi and Tuan Putli Symphonic Poem continued my current struggles in grasping the symphonic poem as a music form. Programmatic and usually containing a narrative thread, a symphonic poem can be greatly appreciated once one gets acquainted with the actual source material. Unfortunately, I have no idea what Manik Buangsi and Tuan Putli is all about so I wasn’t able to get a clear picture of what the music was supposed to mean. Right after this piece, Ranera acknowledged Buenaventura who was seated on the front row and the audience was generous in appreciation of the composer’s work. I’ve had no such trouble in picturing the rural scenes with Lucio San Pedro’s Ang Buwan sa Kabundukan which came next. Interestingly enough, this marked the third time that an orchestra played this piece this year. After taking a musical trip to the countryside, the PPO took the audience to the heart of Manila with Felipe de Leon's Manila Sketches. It was an amusing and enjoyable piece that most of the locals could relate to for the music brought forth the hustle and bustle of the infamous Metro Manila traffic and a leisurely trip to Chinatown.

The second half of the concert was made up of non-Filipino compositions like Darius Milhaud’s La création du monde, Op. 81a and Antonín Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances, Op. 46. And these two pieces were a huge contrast to what the audience heard during the first half. In the jazzy Milhaud piece, there was a chamber orchestra set up which added some visual interest. It somehow made it a lot easier for the audience to focus on the instruments especially the saxophone that figured prominently in the piece. Lastly, the music by Dvořák gave the evening a very pleasant finish as the dances in this piece featured regular rhythms and huge folk influence. One need not know any backstory to fully appreciate this compared to that of the Buenaventura and Milhaud pieces.

Ranera took the audience back to the Philippines when he led the orchestra for an unusual encore which was Freddie Aguilar’s Anak. Again, I think that this was chosen to be in line with the Mostly Filipino title of the concert. This, along with the rest of the pieces in the programme made up for a very diverse listening experience for the night which was very much in keeping with the current season’s theme of Classic Blends. It remains to be seen what surprising blends that the PPO has in store for the rest of their 2013-2014 season.