The UST Symphony Band before the Thai tilt / Inadvertent but . . .

The UST Symphony Band is the first Philippine symphonic group to participate in an international competition — the 4th Asian Symphonic Band tilt in Bangkok Thailand, which contest ran from Oct. 30 to Nov. 4.

Prior to its departure for Bangkok, the 55-member band – consisting of flutes, oboes, a bassoon, clarinets, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, French horns, trumpets, trombones, tubas a timpani and percussions – gave a concert, appropriately called "Symphonic Winds", at the Philamlife auditorium.

The first part was conducted by Arnel O. Feliciano, the second, by his mentor Herminigildo G. Ranera.

Herewith are a few observations. The predominantly young ensemble is an impressive one particularly because wind and brass instruments, being more unwieldy than strings, have never been the strong sections of our orchestras in general. Bassoon soloist Severino Ramirez, in "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp" by Edwin F. Goldman, displayed singular agility and consistently secure tones.

The program demonstrated the talent of Abelardo as a supremely lyrical composer in a medley which included Cavatina, Bituing Marikit and Nasaan Ka Irog — now immortal songs – as well as the enduring beauty of Mike Velarde’s owne songs as arranged by H. Ranera’s Tambalang Awit showed still another aspect of Raul Sunico’s astounding versatility: It was an arrangement by him which was orchestrated by H. Ranera. (International concertist, composer-arranger and teacher, Sunico incredibly still finds time to serve as UST’s dean of music.)

Of considerable interest were the compositions of the King of Thailand, a talented sax player. His "Blue Day" and "The Hunter", bearing the obvious influence of jazz, were competition pieces.

Veteraciones de la Revolucion, an arrangement by Ranera, offered stirring moments which called to mind the bravery and courage of our bare-footed revolucionarios. Fr. Manuel Maramba’s two songs Bakit Ka Tumingin? and Mahalin Mo Ako Sinta were, despite the excellent acoustics of Philamlife auditorium, nearly obliterated by the infelicitous combination of sounds: the use of microphones, the inevitably too-powerful playing of the winds. Nevertheless, tenor Jay Ian de la Cruz was a better vocalist than either the two sopranos and, if it need be added, the second soprano fared better than the first.

Lucio San Pedro’s Lahing Kayumanggi under Ranera’s baton ended the performance while reminding the audience that the unique UST Symphony Band, which wholly deserves encouragement, has some some extremely fine individual wind-and-brass players who, this reviewer wagers, will inevitably be recruited by either the PPO or the San Miguel Orchestra.

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A man’s name is sacred to him but in apparent disregard of this truism, Mandarin Oriental GM Helmut Gaisberger was inadvertently christened Saisberger in my column on Notte d’ Incanto.

It may have been the same proofreader who changed the initials PPO (which stand for Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra) to PPC. Owing to the terrorist attacks and bomb threats, he could have been thinking, with unassailable logic, of the Philippine Constabulary. However, I cannot somehow account for the extra "P".

To my utter surprise, the forty (40)-member Cadaques Orchestra was suddenly reduced to ten (10) players in a more recent column. I do not know how the prestigious ensemble, with only ten members, could have rendered such a fire-and-thunder piece as De Falla’s Danza del Fuego (Fire Dance) or Albeniz’s rousing Triana from "Iberia".

In fact, in my review I did observe that the Cadaques Orchestra is larger than the standard chamber ensemble. Such typographical errors remind me of how a truly hard-pressed fellow — not from The STAR — changed French horn player to French-born player. You must, in this particular instance, understand my mortal fear of proofreaders: They have the absolute power to change a person’s nationality overnight without having to clear it with any visa section.

In my review of the NY Philharmonic’s premier concert, I highly praised among the ensemble’s superior qualities its solidly cohesive projection. To my amusement, this quality was changed to "its solidly adhesive projection". Maestro Maazel, should he ever discover the inadvertent slip, will likewise be amused to discover that a new and unique quality has been ascribed to his excellent orchestra.

I must note here that proofreaders, not any less than columnists, work under tremendous pressure and tension as they catch the deadline which, like a tyrant, waits for no man. Thus, proofreaders do not always check the gally proof with the original manuscript, thus making columnists occasionally appear illiterate or, worse, stupid.