I think it is about time that there was a thread on this board dedicated to the neglected classical music from the Philippines. This has a rich history and first off, I would like to introduce you to Nicanor Abelado's Nocturne in C# Minor....
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Here is something my Lucrecia Roces Kasilag which wounds like Bach. Some of her other compositions are more modern.
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Here is one of Kasilag's orchestral pieces. By all acounts, she remains a very venerated figure in PH>
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Some more Aberlardo but in a populist / Romantic vein...
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Thanks for posting these, Ian. I'll have a listen when I have time.
Are you expecting comments , or is it like a play-through at Crag House, Aldeburgh, where we're supposed to be quietly moved? Just so we know...
Meanwhile, some dates might help.
Abelardo: 1893-1934
Kasilag: 1917-2008.Last edited by smittims; 10-04-23, 06:56.Comment
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SmittimsOriginally posted by smittims View Post
I have only discovered these composers within the last two months having initially bought a CD of guitar music whilst buying a ukelele for my niece at a famous guitar workshop in Lapulpapu in Cebu City. Sunsequently, I bought this CD which has an eclectic series of compositions but those of Antonio Molina (1892 -1980) stand out for me, being very much inflienced by Debussy.
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This short compositions one of the most famous piano compositions. It was written by Dolores Paterno (1854-1881) two years before her death. This reminds me a bit of Albinez
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Goodness, more already! Thanks, but the same question applies as in my previous post. So I'll await your preference before offering a comment.Comment
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I am fascinated by all this music but I suppose more because of the contexts within which the music was written. If you recall that the Philippines were largely occupied by the Spanish after the 1570s and up until 1898 compositions like "La Sampaguita" make perfect sense. When the Americans invaded, you start to hear the influence of composers like Souza and music such as Ragtime. Quite a bit of music was composed for PH cinema up until the Japanese invasion in 1941/2 but , despite the appalling circumstances for the Filipinos, there still appears to be composers at work.Originally posted by smittims View Post
My impression is that there is somegood music there albeit I think that some of the composers like Abelardo were still capable writing music that sound like the stuff Chopin had composed 80 years previously. There is also a very strong tradition of "art song" writing called Kundimans which still maintains an influence today despite having it's origins in the 1800s.Comment
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Yes, quite.
But... (at the risk of being repetitious)
Did you want people to post their opinions of this music?
I'd like to know.Comment
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The whole idea of posting these performances is to introduce you to unfamiliar music. Of course it would be interesting to hear people's opinions and also other recommendations.
I would guess that most people in the UK are totally unaware of this music as I was until I came back from holiday at the end of February.Comment
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Indeed; all the music on your thread was quite new to me and I'm grateful for the chance to listen to it (I wonder if anyone else has done so?)
The reason I was cautious about offering an opinion is that your name is linked indelibly for me with your thread 'Is it time to "cancel" Elgar?', whose music you described as
'vastly overrated...
... not good enought to last 90 years after he died...
...more than a bit ridiculous...' and
'...an overlong monotonous piece of claptrap'.
While I appreciate that you may have deliberately adopted the role of devil's advocate to provoke a discussion (which is what happened) you might be seen as declaring open season on the music you have posted here. However, I won't exact revenge for what you said about Elgar.
Most of the pieces you posted seemed to me pleasant if bland; like many such works of their time. The one that stood out was the Molina, which reminded me not of Debussy but Grieg. It is very like the sort of short light pieces Frederick Delius (1962-1934) wrote in his younger days when he was known as 'Fritz Delius' .
I have to say, though, that I did not hear in any of the music you posted anything which made me want to hear it again.Comment
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For what it is worth, I would tend to agree with the assessment that some of this music is "of it's era" but, for me, the amazing thing is that it exists at all. Given that the Spanish were reluctant to encourage education amongst the Filipinos and that musical universities were very much a product of the American occupation , the results are not surprising. To bring Elgar back in to the frame, this music reflects the opposite side of the coin seeing as it comes from peoples who were subject to the wiles of an occupying power. In the case of the PH, there was the twin oppression of both the Spanish state and the catholic church - both of whom were ultimately instrumental in signing the death sentence upon the national hero Jose Rizal. Interestingly, the Pinkas disc includes music by Julio Nakpil that was dedicated to both the Katapunan revolutionary movement and Rizal himself. Oddily, I find these pieces the least satisfactory on the CD set list.
It is quite interesting to read your perspective because the comments below the Youtube clips are suggestive that many of these pieces fearure quite heavily in the musical curriculum of the PH and clearly share the same status of "cultural identity" as Elgar does for many English. I must admit that I like the Molina pieces as the two nocturnes by Abelardo and Francisco Santiago the best albeit, as I have said previously, in a blindfold test most people would be surprised that those two pieces date from 1920s and not 1840s!
Post-war, there was a movement to integrate more traditional PH music in to the concert repertoire and some of these works also use traditional musical instruments. Kasilag being a good example. It is also surprising to see just how many composers were women.
One contemoprary composer is the American Philipinx composer Susie Ibarra whose music crosses contempary and jazz....
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Yes, that is something quite different, isn't it?
I think I detect the influence of Piotr Zak, whose 'Mobile' was performed onthe BBC Third Programme by Hans Keller and Susan Bradshaw?Comment
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The only Filipino composer i am aware of is Jose Maceda -
Maceda's music can be broadly split into two categories - (1) Where SE asian influences, in terms of composition and instrumentation are dominant and (2) Where Western compositional methods and instrumentation play a significant role (mainly his later music).
For (1) here are a couple of his more well known compositions:
Ugnayan - for 20 radio stations (1973)
Suling Suling - for flutes, bamboo buzzers and gongs (1985)
For the second category three selections including an orchestral piece:
Music for Two Pianos and Four Winds (1996)
Music for Five Pianos (1993)
Distemperament (for Orchestra) - 1992
Maceda's 2002 Sujeichon for 4 pianos was, to my amazement, played during the interval of this recent R3 evening concert:
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