Composer Ariel Arambulo: Versatile, imaginative / Cosio sings Verdi arias

Young Ariel Arambulo played the piano and the violin, sang, served as narrator/annotator. But above all, he stood out as composer. At his recent recital "Music for Christ" at the F. Santiago Hall, he proved to be original, audacious, versatile and imaginative, demonstrating widely varied styles inspired by diverse composers while establishing his own innovations.

This the audience realized not only by listening to his compositions but also by reading his copious notes which put it in the right mood and a better understanding of them. The opening "Rite of Christmas" rendered excellently by pianist Oliver Salonga, was a piece inspired by Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. While commenting on the work prior to its rendition, Ariel played a few notes from the Suite which, if I recall rightly, partly introduced King Kastchei’s castle. Indeed, Stravinsky’s influence was evident in the vigorous thrusts from start to finish, the dissonances, atonality, syncopation and continuous sharply accented progression.

"The Angel Speaks to the Virgin" and "Twilight (Adoration of the Birth)" influenced mainly by Satie and Ravel; "Remembrance of Me (The Sacrifice)" conveying Christ’s sacrifice of Himself in the eucharist; "Gethsemane" (dedicated to Ariel’s wife Gigi Gomez) were all played by Oliver in a highly and arresting dramatic manner.

"Eli, Eli Lama Sabachtani" (dedicated to Pope John Paul II) was performed by Ariel on the piano and by cellist Herrick Cruz, with Ariel pointing up the cello "as an excellent vehicle for surrounding the cathartic cry of Jesus, the instrument ‘groaning’ it."

Ariel explained that in "Forsaken," which complemented "Eli, Eli", the mood may have been influenced by the ballad "Forbidden Colours" by David Sylvan and Ryuichi Sakamoto, while the coda of "God’s Gift" (dedicated to Ariel’s wife) bears an accidental quotation from the coda of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Romanza from his "Symphony No. 5". Thus the piece evinces serenity, tranquility and a contemplative character.

Thus far, the pieces have been atonal or polytonal, vibrant and descriptive, each in its own fashion.

"Glasnost" – another word for it is "Perestroika" – defines Gorbachev’s new policy in the then closed Communist Russia. Through the violin which Ariel himself played, he interpreted the openness as love, with unvarying and relentless thrusts which, Ariel explained, resonated with happiness. The piece ended on a gentle, quiet note.

In "Splinter of the Mind’s Eye", Mendelssohn’s "Wedding March" – the finale to many of today’s weddings – served as the highly recognizable springboard to which was added vigorous electronic beats and weird, out-of-this-world blasts. "Splinter" complements the even more "shocking" collages presaging 21st century music.

In the ensuing numbers, Ariel becomes as lyrical as he dares. "Threnody for the Victims of Nagasaki" (dedicated to Therese Jamora Garceau and Jasmin Jamora) is languorous, reflecting the influence of the piano music on film of Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. It is an eloquent contrast to Penderecki’s "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima" which depicts planes dropping bombs on hapless people. In Ariel’s piece, 10-year old singer Sophie Reyes conveys the images of "cherubs in sorrow over the children who perished in the 1945 atomic bomb blast, with the angels inviting the little victims to find solace in the cotton clouds." Sophie moved the audience with her serenity and sadness.

The lyricism is sustained in Uyayi (dedicated to Rizalina Buenaventura), the Virgin Mother’s lullaby to the Infant Jesus. The flowing piece was interpreted by the mellifluous-voiced Lorna Llames Reyes who cuddled the infant in her arms, then knelt while Pieta (dedicated to Sergio Esmilla, Jr.) was being played by Ariel on the violin and his wife Gigi on the piano. According to the program notes, Pieta was inspired by Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll with its "long, unresolved chordal progressions, trying to deceive the listener when he felt it was about to be resolved, leaving a feeling of longing." Ariel continues: "The main theme gives a mixture of solace tinged with sorrow. It’s as if the Madonna were singing just another lullaby to her already dead Child."

The "Immaculate Mother Variations" (dedicated to Ariel’s mother Carmencita, chief promoter of the Suzuki Method) begins with the song itself, then deviates from it with varied and forceful rhythmic patterns, tonal and polytonal passages and vigorous bowing of the strings by Ariel, first violin; Andie Reyes, second violin; John Gerry Ginon, viola; Herrick Ortiz, cello, with Gigi as pianist.

The closing piece "When the Song of the Angels is Stilled", was interpreted by the same instrumentalists, and vocalists Sophie, Lorna and Chito Reyes. Starting the song unaccompanied, Sophie was joined contrapuntally by her mother Lorna, and later by her father Chito, Ariel and Rica Arambulo, with the "cumulative effect of the voices giving a feeling of solidarity and singular purpose of the Communion of saints in heaven and on earth to forever make music within our hearts... for Christ... Love Himself."

To the deeply religious Ariel, music is an obsession, a passion. His works are characterized by vibrancy, vitality, remarkable versatility, imagination and originality. He shows tremendous promise, and he is only 30!

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Painter-tenor Allan Cosio will sing 14 arias from Verdi’s operas – Luisa Miller, I Lombardi, Aida, Un Ballo in Maschera, Rigoletto, Otello, La Forza del Destino, La Traviata, Macbeth and Il Trovatore on Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. in the Dalisay Aldaba Hall, UP Diliman, Admission is free.

Journalist Nestor Mata, baritone, will sing in the duet Solenne in Quest’ora from Forza del Destino.

Pianist Jude Areopagita will be the assisting artist. Cosio dedicates the recital to his first mentor, the late Dante de la Fuente.