Imagine you are in a church from the 1900's. You look for a seat where you feel comfortable. You see and empty space and quietly you take your seat to pray and worship. The sun shines thru the painted glass and from the silence you hear a pipe organ play. You hear songs from a choir of angels as if the heavens opened up to comfort you with heavenly voices.

Chorus of Angels

From the balcony of the San Augustine Church in Intramuros Manila houses the choir loft. As I walked in the corridor I was overwhelmed by the scenes that surrounded me. The seats of the choir, the majestic pipe organ, the surreal ceiling, the grand choir books and the magnificent facistol which holds the books.

The Facistol also called lectern holds the enormous book for the choir. A piece which was created during the 17th century. It is fascinating to see a simple choir book holder done with so much detail which has turned into an art piece on it's own. Works which we do not see anymore these days. Romanticizing the days from the Spanish Era everything seems to be very dramatic in terms of artistry. Angels adorn the facistol and guarded by Chinese Foo dogs which indicated that Chinese and locals may have worked on this art piece.

The seats of the choir was no exception. Each seat was intricately decorated by hand and I could only just imagine how they were carefully crafted. I could almost see and hear the choir singing just by looking at these seats. Songs which emanates across the church plays in my mind which could almost bring a tear to my eye.

The ceiling is decorated magnificently with a French style art called trompe l’oeil. Designed and painted by Italian artists in the 18th century my eyes were deceived as if I was looking at stone carved decorations on the ceiling. This is something that should not be missed if ever you would visit this church.

The majestic pipe organ which is again from the 18th century and is the most ancient pipe organ in the country. The perfect musical instrument for a church, gothic , grandiose and beautiful.

The choir books also know as Cantorales in which 24 survived out of 30 during World War 2. Made from parchment the process was expensive and required numerous artist to create one Cantoral. Skin from animals like cow, sheep or goat are extracted and from one animal four pages are created. These was made from cow's skin according to the curator. Those who copy the notes and the text are called amanuensis. Each note and text painted delicately on each page creates beautiful mixture of color and detail.

Hymns of the choir which we will never hear but can be recreated. Although we can never tell how they sounded and how it was sang in the past. It's remnants remain to stimulate our imagination as the Chorus of Angels echoes immortality.

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All photos are original and taken with

Lumix GX85 and 12-32 mm

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