City of Las Pinas
Since I was a grade school student, I've been hearing about the bamboo organ of Las Pinas. This organ is famous maybe because it is the only bamboo organ in the entire Philippines.
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| St. Joseph Church Facade |
I've seen several old organs similar to the bamboo organ but instead of using "bamboo", the pipes are made of metal hence, they are called pipe organs. Two of these pipe organs can be found inside the San Agustin church and inside Manila cathedral in Intramuros respectively..
I've been planning to visit St. Joseph church since July but because of torrential rains, the planned trip had been postponed several times. After storm Maring exited the Philippine area of responsibility and the weather normalizes, I took the chance to travel to Las Pinas.
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| Church Interior |
From my home base at the vicinity of Malacanang in Manila, I traveled south. With a distance of nearly 15 kilometers, it took me 35 minutes to reach St. Joseph church.
I was so very excited. St. Joseph church, just like any other ancient church found in the Philippines, is of Baroque style. It is made of stone brick and the walls are at least a meter thick.
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| Main Altar |
Inside the church, there are several massive buttresses supporting the ceiling and the wall. Something that captured my attention were the chairs made of bamboo and the church ceiling covered with bamboo as well.
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| Bamboo Organ |
The bamboo organ is at the left side of the church isle facing the altar. It was installed as if it is hanging between two massive buttresses. The entry to the bamboo organ is through the church convent which is now a museum.
Though the bamboo pipes are no longer the original ones considering the age of the bamboo organ, it was repaired and reconstructed to its exact original style.
After wandering inside the church, I decided to visit the convent which is now a museum. Inside the museum are several memorabilia of St. Joseph parish church. The original bell of the church is displayed near the main entrance door. There were old memorable photographs of the church and the bamboo organ. The old parts of the bamboo organ that were replaced when it was repaired in Germany were one of the many displays.
After visiting the museum, we climbed up the balcony of the church and then come close to the bamboo organ. At that time, someone is playing a music at the bamboo organ and I have to agree that the sound of it was truly amazing.
It was a dream come true for me to have seen the bamboo organ in person finally.
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| Museum |
According to Wikipedia, the Las Piñas Bamboo Organ in St. Joseph Parish Church in Las Piñas City, Philippines, is a nineteenth-century church organ with unique organ pipes; they are made almost entirely of bamboo. It was completed in 1824 by Father Diego Cera, the builder of the town's stone church and its first resident Catholic parish priest.
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| Church Old Bell |
After age and numerous disasters had rendered the musical instrument unplayable for a long time, in 1972, the national government and the local community joined together to have the organ shipped to Germany for restoration. For its anticipated return in 1975, the home church of the bamboo organ and the surrounding buildings were restored to their 19th-century state by Architects Francisco Mañosa and partner Ludwig Alvarez in time for its scheduled return.The annual International Bamboo Organ Festival, a music festival of classical music was started to celebrate the music of the reborn instrument and its unique sound.
Since 1992, Prof. Armando V. Salarza has been the titular organist of the Bamboo Organ.He is also the Artistic Director of the International Bamboo Organ Festival, now the longest-running annual international music festival held in the country.
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| Old Keyboard |
The organ is declared a National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines in 2003. The St. Joseph Parish Church, the church museum at the old convent house, and the famous organ is a popular tourist destination for Filipinos and foreign visitors alike in Las Piñas.
The builder of both the church and its organ was Father Diego Cera de la Virgen del Carmen, a Catholic priest under the Augustinian Recollects. A native of Spain, he served as parish priest in Las Piñas from 1795 to 1830. Historians portray him as a gifted man, a natural scientist, chemist, architect, community leader, as well as organist and organ builder.
Having previously built organs in the Manila area with some organ stops made from bamboo, he chose bamboo for most of this organ - only the trumpet stops are made of metal. The choice of bamboo was probably both practical and aesthetic - bamboo was abundant and used for hundreds of items of both a practical and an artistic nature.
Fr. Cera began work on the organ in 1816, while the church was still under construction. The church was completed in 1819 and the organ was playable in 1821, but without the trumpet stops. The organ was finally completed in 1824 after Fr. Cera decided to make the trumpets using metal, musical characteristics of which he could not replicate with bamboo.
The National Museum of the Philippines officially declared the Las Piñas Bamboo Organ a National Cultural Treasure on November 24, 2003 for its uniqueness and significance.
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