LESSON 11: Philippine National Artist for Music
-Sem. John Philip Clemencio G11Origin of Philippine Music
-The history of Filipino songs or music can be traced back to the time when Spaniards
colonized Philippines. Filipino songs and music is a fusion of American, European
and indigenous sounds. It is influenced by Spanish colonization, pop music, rock and
roll and hip hop music from US. The native sounds include Austronesian population
and the Indo-Malayan Gamelan Music. Filipino music was enriched by Spanish and
Mexican influences. The native talent for music was developed with Spanish
encouragement. When the Spanish and Mexican dances were introduced in the
Philippines, Filipino composers made them part of Filipino culture. The polka, tango,
jota, rigodon, and surtido are today considered Filipino dances, but they all originated
from Spain. From its pre-Hispanic life, Filipinos expressed themselves through their
ethnic musical instruments. These early settlers in fact played variety of musical
instruments including flutes, nose flutes, and guitars to play appropriate songs in
celebration of courtship, marriage, harvest and offerings. Original Philippine Music
(now commonly known as Original Pinoy Music), started and popularized during the
70's decade. Foreign music during this decade reigned supreme because the highest
level of the society or the rich and the middle class enjoy this kind of music and the
masses or the so-called ordinary Pinoy are the one who enjoy this.
THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL ARTIST FOR MUSIC
1. ANTONIO R. BUENAVENTURA (1904-1996) (National Artist for Music
1988)
-He vigorously pursued a musical career that spanned seven decades of
unwavering commitment to advancing the frontiers of Philippine music. In 1935,
Buenaventura joined Francisca Reyes-Aquino to conduct research on folksongs and
dances that led to its popularization. Buenaventura composed songs, compositions, for
solo instruments as well as symphonic and orchestral works based on the folksongs of
various Philippine ethnic groups. He was also a conductor and restored the Philippine
Army Band to its former prestige as one of the finest military bands in the world
making it “the only band that can sound like a symphony orchestra.”
COMPOSITIONS:
-Triumphal March
-Echoes of the Past
-Second Symphony in E-Flat
-Echoes from the Philippines
-Ode to Freedom
His orchestral Music Compositions include Concert Overture, Prelude, and Fugue in
G Minor, Philippines Triumphnat, Mindanao Sketches, Symphony in C Major, among
others.
2. JOSE MACEDA (1917-2004) (National Artist for Music 1997)
-Maceda embarked on a life-long dedication to the understanding and
popularization of Filipino traditional music. Maceda’s researches and fieldwork have
resulted in the collection of an immense number of recorded music taken from the
remotest mountain villages and farthest island communities. He wrote papers that
enlightened scholars, both Filipino and foreign, about the nature of Philippine
traditional and ethnic music. Maceda’s experimentation also freed Filipino musical
expression from a strictly Eurocentric mold.
COMPOSITIONS:
-Pagsamba
-Ugnayan
-Suling-Suling
3. LUCRESIA R. KASILAG (1918-2008) (National Artist for Music 1989)
-She is an educator, composer, performing artist, administrator and cultural
entrepreneur of national and international caliber, had involved herself wholly in
sharpening the Filipino audience’s appreciation of music. Kasilag’s pioneering task to
discover the Filipino roots through ethnic music and fusing it with Western influences
has led many Filipino composers to experiment with such an approach. She dared to
incorporate indigenous Filipino instruments in orchestral productions, such as the
prize-winning “Toccata for Percussions and Winds, Divertissement and
Concertante,” and the scores of the Filiasiana, Misang Pilipino and De Profundis.
“Tita King”, as she was fondly called, worked closely as music director with
colleagues Lucresia Reyes-Urtula, Isabel Santos, Jose Lardizabal and Dr. Leticia P. de
Guzman and made Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company one of the premier artistic
and cultural groups in the country.
COMPOSITIONS:
Orchestral Music
-Love Songs
-Legend of Sarimanok
-Ang Pamana
Chamber Music
-Awit ng mga Awit Psalms
-Fantaisie on a 4-Note Theme
-East Meets Jazz Ethnika
Communal Ritual
-Ugma-ugma
-Pagsasamba
-Udlot-udlot
4. ERNANI J. CUENCO (1936-1988) (National Artist for Music 1999)
-A composer, film scorer, musical director and music teacher, he wrote an
outstanding and memorable body of works that resonate with the Filipino sense of
musicality and which embody an ingenious voice that raises the aesthetic dimensions
of contemporary Filipino music. Cuenco played with the Filipino Youth Symphony
Orchestra and the Manila Symphony Orchestra from 1960 to 1968, and the Manila
Chamber Soloists from 1966 to 1970. He completed a music degree in piano and cello
from the University of Santo Tomas where he also taught for decades until his death
in 1988.
COMPOSITIONS:
-Gaano kita Kamahal
-Kalesa
-Inang Bayan
5. LUCIO SAN PEDRO (1913-2002) (National Artist for Music 1991)
-He is a master composer, conductor, and teacher whose music evokes the folk
elements of the Filipino heritage. Cousin to “Botong” Francisco, San Pedro produced
a wide-ranging body of works that includes band music, concertos for violin
and orchestra, choral works, cantatas, chamber music, music for violin and piano, and
songs for solo voice. He was the conductor of the much acclaimed Peng Kong Grand
Mason Concert Band, the San Pedro Band of Angono, his father’s former band, and
the Banda Angono Numero Uno. His civic commitment and work with town bands
have significantly contributed to the development of a civic culture among Filipino
communities and opened a creative outlet for young Filipinos.
COMPOSITIONS:
Orchestral Music
-The Devil’s Bridge
-Malakas at Maganda Overture
-Prelude and Fugue in D minor
-Hope and Ambition
Choral Music
-Easter Cantata
-Sa Mahal Kong Bayan
-Rizal’s Valedictory Poem
Vocal Music
-Lulay
-Sa Ugoy ng Duyan
-In the Silence of the Night
Band Music
-Dance of Fairies
-Triumphal March
-Lahing Kayumanggi
-Angononian March
6. ANTONIO J. MOLINA (1894-1980) (National Artist for Music 1973)
- He is versatile musician, composer, music educator was the last of the
musical triumvirate, two of whom were Nicanor Abelardo and Francisco Santiago,
who elevated music beyond the realm of folk music. At an early age, he took to
playing the violoncello and played it so well it did not take long before he was playing
as orchestra soloist for the Manila Grand Opera House. Molina is credited with
introducing such innovations as the whole tone scale, pentatonic scale, exuberance of
dominant ninths and eleventh cords, and linear counterpoints. As a member of the
faculty of the UP Conservatory, he had taught many of the country’s leading musical
personalities and educators like Lucresia Kasilag and Felipe de Leon.
COMPOSITIONS:
Orchestral Music
-Ang Bantingaw
-Misa Antoniana Grand Festival Mass
Chamber Music
-Prelude and Romanz for cello and piano
-Bontok Rhapsody
His major works are composed of chamber music, choral, piano, violin, theatre, voice
and violoncello music. Many of his works still have not been published.
7. FRANCISCO FELICIANO (1941-2014) (National Artist 2014)
-Feliciano’s corpus of creative work attests to the exceptional talent of the
Filipino as an artist. His lifetime conscientiousness in bringing out the “Asianness” in
his music, whether as a composer, conductor, or educator, contributed to bringing the
awareness of people all over the world to view the Asian culture as a rich source of
inspiration and a celebration of our ethnicity, particularly the Philippines. He brought
out the unique sounds of our indigenous music in compositions that have high
technical demands equal to the compositions of masters in the western world. By his
numerous creative outputs, he has elevated the Filipino artistry into one that is highly
esteemed by the people all over the world. Many of his choral compositions have
been performed by the best choirs in the country, such as the world-renowned
Philippines Madrigal Singers, UST Singers, and the Novo Concertante Manila, and
have won for them numerous awards in international choral competitions. The
technical requirement of his choral pieces is almost at the tip of the scale that many
who listen to their rendition are awed, especially because he incorporates the many
subtleties of rhythmic vitality and intricate interweaving of lines inspired from the
songs of our indigenous tribes. He not only borrows these musical lines, albeit he
quotes them and transforms them into completely energetic fusions of sound and
culture that does nothing less than celebrate our various ethnicities.
COMPOSITIONS:
-Ashen Wings
-Sikhay sa Kabila ng Paalam
-La Loba Negra
-Yerma
-Pamugun
-Pokpok Alimako
8. LEVI CELERIO (1910-2002) (National Artist for Literature/Music 1997)
-He is a prolific lyricist and composer for decades. He effortlessly
translated/wrote anew the lyrics to traditional melodies: “O Maliwanag Na Buwan”
(Iloko), “Ako ay May Singsing” (Pampango), “Alibangbang” (Visaya) among others.
Born in Tondo, Celerio received his scholarship at the Academy of Music in Manila
that made it possible for him to join the Manila Symphony Orchestra, becoming its
youngest member. He made it to the Guinness Book of World Records as the only
person able to make music using just a leaf. A great number of his songs have been
written for the local movies, which earned for him the Lifetime Achievement
Award from the Film Academy of the Philippines. Levi Celerio, more importantly,
has enriched the Philippine music for no less than two generations with a treasury
of more than 4,000 songs in an idiom that has proven to appeal to all social classes.
-COMPOSITIONS OF LEVI CELERIO AT THE ABOVE9. RAMON P. SANTOS (Nationa Artist for Music 2014)
-He is a composer, conductor and musicologist, is currently the country’s
foremost exponent of contemporary Filipino music. A prime figure in the second
generation of Filipino composers in the modern idiom, Santos has contributed greatly
to the quest for new directions in music, taking as basis non-Western traditions in the
Philippines and Southeast Asia. He graduated in 1965 from the UP College of Music
with a Teacher’s Diploma and a Bachelor of Music degree in both Composition and
Conducting. Higher studies in the United States under a Fulbright Scholarship at
Indiana University (for a Master’s degree, 1968) and at the State University of New
York at Buffalo (for a Doctorate, 1972) exposed him to the world of contemporary
and avant-garde musical idioms: the rigorous processes of serialism, electronic and
contemporary music, indeterminacy, and new vocal and improvisational techniques.
He received further training in New Music in Darmstadt, Germany and in Utrecht, the
Netherlands. His initial interest in Mahler and Debussy while still a student at UP
waned as his compositional style shifted to Neo Classicism and finally to a distinct
merging of the varied influences that he had assimilated abroad.
COMPOSITIONS:
-Panaghoy
-Sujeichon
-Strata
10. JOVITA FUENTES (1895-1978) (National Artist for Music 1976)
-Long before Lea Salonga’s break into Broadway, there was already Jovita
Fuentes‘ portrayal of Cio-cio san in Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly at Italy’s
Teatro Municipale di Piacenza. Her performance was hailed as the “most sublime
interpretation of the part”. This is all the more significant because it happened at a
time when the Philippines and its people were scarcely heard of in Europe. Prior to
that, she was teaching at the University of the Philippines Conservatory of Music
(1917) before leaving for Milan in 1924 for further voice studies. After eight months
of arduous training, she made her stage debut at the Piacenza. She later embarked on a
string of music performances in Europe essaying the roles of Liu
Yu in Puccini’s Turnadot, Mimi in Puccini’s La
Boheme, Iris in Pietro
Mascagni’s Iris, the title role of Salome (which composer Richard Strauss personally
offered to her including the special role of Princess Yang Gui Fe in Li Tai Pe). In
recognition of these achievements, she was given the unprecedented award of
“Embahadora de Filipinas a su Madre Patria” by Spain.
11. FELIPE DE LEON (1912-1992) (National Artist for Music 1997)
-Composer, conductor, and scholar, Filipinized western music forms, a feat
aspired for by Filipino composers who preceded him. The prodigious body of De
Leon’s musical compositions, notably the sonatas, marches, and concertos have
become the full expression of the sentiments and aspirations of the Filipino in times of
strife and of peace, making him the epitome of a people’s musician. He is the
recipient of various awards and distinctions: Republic Cultural Heritage Award,
Doctor of Humanities from UP, Rizal Pro-Patria Award, Presidential Award of Merit,
Patnubay ng Kalinangan Award, among others.
COMPOSITIONS:
-Mariang Makiling Overture
-Roca Encatanda
-Symphonic Legend
-Maynila Overture
-Orchesterstuk
Choral Music
-Payapang Daigdig
-Ako’y Pilipino
-Lupang Tinubuan
-Ama Namin
-Bulaklak
-Alitaptap
-Mutya ng Lahi
12. ANDREA VENERACION (1928-2013) (National Artist for Music 1999)
-She is highly esteemed for her achievements as choirmaster and choral
arranger. Two of her indispensable contributions in culture and the arts include the
founding of the Philippine Madrigal Singers and the spearheading of the development
of Philippine choral music. A former faculty member of the UP College of Music and
honorary chair of the Philippine Federation of Choral Music, she also organized a
cultural outreach program to provide music education and exposure in several
provinces. Born in Manila on July 11, 1928, she is recognized as an authority on
choral music and performance and served as adjudicator in international music
competitions.
13. HONORATA “ATANG” DELA RAMA (1902-1991) (National Artist for
Theater and Music 1987)
-She was formally honored as the Queen of Kundiman in 1979, then already
74 years old singing the same song (“Nabasag na Banga”) that she sang as a 15-year
old girl in the sarsuela Dalagang Bukid. Atang became the very first actress in the
very first locally produced Filipino film when she essayed the same role in the
sarsuela’s film version. As early as age seven, Atang was already being cast in
Spanish zarzuelas such as Mascota, Sueño de un Vals, and Marina. She counts the
role though of an orphan in Pangarap ni Rosa as her most rewarding and satisfying
role that she played with realism, the stage sparkling with silver coins tossed by a
teary-eyed audience. Atang firmly believes that the sarswela and the kundiman
expresses best the Filipino soul, and even performed kundiman and other Filipino
songs for the Aetas or Negritos of Zambales and the Sierra Madre, the Bagobos of
Davao and other Lumad of Mindanao. Atang firmly believed that the sarswela and the
kundiman express best the Filipino soul, and had even performed kundiman and other
Filipino songs for the Aetas or Negritos of Zambales and the Sierra Madre, the
Bagobos of Davao and other Lumad of Mindanao. Among the kundiman and the other
songs she premiered or popularized were Pakiusap, Ay, Ay Kalisud, Kung Iibig
Ka and Madaling Araw by Jose Corazon de Jesus, and Mutya ng Pasig by
Deogracias Rosario and Nicanor Abelardo. She also wrote her own sarswelas: Anak
ni Eba, Aking Ina, and Puri at Buhay.
14. RYAN CAYABYAB (National Artist for Music 2018)
-Ryan Cayabyab or also known as Mr. C in musical industry is the most
accomplished composer, arranger, and musical director in the Philippine music
industry since this bloomed beginning 1970s. His learned, skillful, and versatile
musical style spans a wide range of genres: from conservatory or art compositions
such as concert religious music, symphonic work, art song, opera, and concerto to
mainstream popular idioms in the music industry and in live contemporary
multimedia shows (musical theater, dance, and film). Being very visible in the
national media (once a TV host of a long-running arts and culture series and recently
a judge in reality TV singing competitions), Cayabyab is a household name. His
compositions reflect a perspective of music that extols the exuberance of life and
human happiness, thus capturing the very essence of our Filipino soul.
COMPOSITIONS:
-Kumukutikutitap
-Paraiso
-Kay Ganda ng ating Musika
-Da Coconut Nut
-Kailan
-Kahit Ika’y Pananaginip Lang
-Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka
-Nais Ko
-Larawan: The Musical
-Ignacio de Loyola
-Spoliarium
-Noli Me Tangere
-One Christmas
-Smokey Moutain
-Katy! The Musical
-Rama-Hari