The choir-boys
of Santo Domingo Church, popularly known as the “tiples” are well
known for their angelic voices which can be heard every Sunday at the
10:00 a.m. Mass and especially during the yearly novena to Our Lady of the
Holy Rosary of La Naval in the month of October. The boys range from 8
years old to 14 and sometimes a little bit older. The word “tiple” is
Spanish which means the soprano voice of a boy. When boys reach the age of
puberty their voices change either to a tenor or a bass. There are many
choir-boys in the world the more well-known among which are the Sistine
Chapel Choir in Rome, the Vienna Boys Choir in Austria, the Little Singers
of Paris in France etc. In the Philippines we have the Tiples de Santo
Domingo, a group as ancient as the church itself.
One
of the first Dominican priests to arrive to the Philippines in 1587 was
Fr. Pedro Bolaños, O.P. who had a knack for organizing and training boys
to sing in the church. It is historically documented that he established
such a choir in Bataan where he also passed on to the next life. The first
Santo Domingo Church was built on January 1, 1588 inside Intramuros and
tradition has it that a boys’ choir was also established to sing at the
chapel of the Virgin of the Holy Rosary venerated in this church. It can,
therefore, be said that the “tiples de Santo Domingo” has already been
an integral part of Santo Domingo Church since the 16th century especially
when the present image of the Virgin of the Holy Rosary was sculpted in
1593 and Santo Domingo Church became known as her shrine.
When the venerated image of the Holy Rosary of La Naval was brought to UST
chapel during the Second World War until 1954 a boys choir was also formed
and when the new church of Santo Domingo was built in Quezon City where it
now stands and inaugurated in 1954 the “tiples de Santo Domingo” was
revived with Fr. Marcelino Diaz, O.P. as choir director. The “tiples”
of UST continued for some time but later on gave way to the “tiples”
of Santo Domingo.
The tiples have sung not only inside the confines of Santo Domingo Church
but in many varied locations. Many times they have been invited to Malacañang
to entertain guests of Philippine presidents and first ladies. They have
regaled kings and queens with their angelic voices. They have had several
concerts at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, at the former American
Air Force base in Clark Field, and in other provinces and cities of the
Philippines. In the 1970’s, after two concerts called “Papuri I” and
“Papuri II” they rendered a command performance at the same CCP venue
during the General Chapter of the Dominican Order in 1977, held for the
first time in the Philippines with delegates coming from different parts
of the globe.
Many boys’ choirs have been formed in the Philippines and several are
still being formed. Many have also come and gone but the “tiples de
Santo Domingo” is the pioneer of them all. They are the privileged
singers surrounding the altar and image of our Blessed Mother, the Queen
of the Holy Rosary. In the history of choirs and church music in our
country the tiples have found their niche which will forever be their own.
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