Westernized Musical Traditions in the Philippines
Westernized folk traditions in the Philippines root from the Spanish Colonial Period of roughly three hundred years from 1521 to 1898. The reation of a olonial state and eonomi system as !ell as the influene of "oman Catholiism shaped !hat !as to #e the mainstream$ %lo!land&Christian% 'ilipino soiety.
( ma)or part of the ultural e*periene of the people entered on religious or Christian su#)ets. (t the #eginning$g$ Western musi !as introdued #y !ay of the Spanish friars !ho taught Gregorian Chant for masses and other Christian ser+ies. ,n -um#ang$ -aguna$ for instane$ 'ray uan de Santa /arta in 100 gathered a#out four hundred #oys from +arious plaes and trained them in singing and instrumental playing. /oreo+er$ in 132$ a singing shool !as esta#lished at the /anila Cathedral. (t a#out this period$ #aro4ue pipe organs !ere onstruted of !hih the one at the San Agustin Church restored in 19986 in /anila and the famous Bamboo Organ of -as Pi7as sur+i+e today.
Para&liturgial rituals and folk rites de+eloped as indigenous traditions !ere transformed to utilize Christian sym#ols. /usi in these rites progressed to dialetially om#ine Westernized forms !ith nati+eindigenous style. The sanghiyang of Ca+ite$ the subli of atangas and the turumba of -aguna e*emplify the synretism of folk religion and Catholiism. Pro#a#ly the most !idespread among these is the Pasyon$ a hanted epi&like singing of the life of Christ performed during the -enten season.
Seular entertainment and theatrial forms !ould also ha+e Christian elements. These inlude the moro-moro !hih depits the /uslim&Christian !ars$ the cenaculo$ a play on the passiosion of Christ$ the duplo$ a litliterary musiaial forformm assoiated !ith a nine&day series of prayers and the carillo$ a shado! play. The Catholi Churh has inorporated some of these para&liturgial rites into the regular liturgy in forms of feasts$ de+otions to the :irgin /ary like the Flores de Mayo66 as !ell as to other saints.
;ther genres !hih may ha+e de+eloped from older nati+e forms inlude the dalit $ a long prayer or litany to the :irgin /ary$ the tagulaylay $ a rereiitatatiti+e lalament alalso usused in ththe oontnte*e*t of ththee pasyon$ ththee awit $ a hanted storyry. The !ord awit in todaysong<. The kumintang is a !ar song !hile the kundiman is aa lo+e song. The latter de+eloped into a ounterpart of the >erman =lied< at the latter part of the 19thth and into the 2thth Century.
'il'ilipino dane musi !as patterned after Spanisnish and ?uropean dane forms. These inlulude the carinosa , ,the balitao$$ the pandanggo , , polka , , dansa and the rigodon.. Perhaps onneted to these is the de+elopment of the rondalla$$ an enensesem#le of plpluukeked ststriring ininststrurumentnts ththat ininlludude ththee banduria$ tthehe laud $ ththee octaina$ ththee gitara$ aanndd the ba!o.. These instruments are adaptations of ?uropean instruments.
The latter part of the 1919thth Century sa! the reation of a nati+e intelligentsia or the illustrados. This ne! pri+ileged and eduated lass ulti+ated a ?uro&@ispani ulture of aristoray and arried !ith them the ideals of osmopolitanism. 'rom this soial lass !ould emerge onert artists$ pianists$ +oalists$ +iolinists as !ell as omposers.
'amous artists inlude the pianists (ntonio >aria 1805&19196$ @ipolito "i+era 1800&196$ and "amon :aldez d.d. 1926A +iolinists (ndres Banel 18&18986 and Cayetano ao#e fl.1896. The Composers inlude ose Canseo r. 183& 19126$ Simpliio Solis 1803&196$ 'ulgenio Tolentino fl. 1886 and onifaio (#don 180&19336.
Buring the (merian ,n+asion and Paifiation at turn of the t!entieth entury$ @ispanized 'ilipino musi sym#olized thee nationalist sentiment that !as suppressed #y the ne! olonial regime. The "ar"uela$ another theatrial form adapted from Spain #eame an important genre that transmitted these nationalist sentiments$ so po!erful that the (merians onsidered these musial plays seditious.
(fter the %paifiation% of the Philippines #y (meriaDas +arious soial and eonomi institutions !ere esta#lishedD training in the ?uropean musial tradition ould #e a4uired mainly through the eduational system. Conser+atories did not only pro+ide musial training$ #ut ser+ed as #uffers so that 'ilipinos ould a4uire further musial studies in ?urope and (meria. ( tradition of utilizing folk$ @ispanized musial elements and styles emerged from omposers !ho ha+e a4uired formal musial training like Eianor (#elardo 189&1936 and 'raniso Santiago 1889&1936.
Art Music Form (rt musi forms in Philippine musi onsist of loally omposed !orks that ha+e used standard formats of Western musi. These
Some of the ?arly seular forms of entertainment are the awit and kurido$ !hih replaed some of the anient epis of ommuniti
The Spanish omedia !as the early form of theater that !as introdued to the people in the late 1010thth entury. The first omedia the late 19thth entury !ith the arri+al of foreign produtions$ until e+en loal singers and ondutors !ere trained and ontrated to pe The 'ilipino opera is like!ise an off&shoot of the introdution of the ?uropean opera.$ the first presentation #eing dated in the 190
The esta#lishment of formal musi shools during the early (merian olonial regime produe highly trained musiians. /ost of t onsidered a forerunner$ follo!ed #y /olinaFs String #uartet en $ Mayor% and &rio in F ..
( great deal of the ma)or !orks are programmati in nature and are of religious or nationalist in harater. The first group of art
The follo!ing generation of omposers onsists of (ntonio uena+entura !ho omposed the famous tone poems By the 'illside monumental operas (oli Me &angere and )l Filibusterismo$ and -uio San Pedro !ith his symphoni poems *ahing +ayumanggi
,n the field of +oal musi$ the Tagalog kundiman, a song of unre4uitted lo+e !as de+eloped #y these omposers as an art song g
The idiom of the early art musi !orks !as +ery muh influened #y the musi of the ?uropean romanti omposers$ suh as 'ra
Works that sho! the influene of early t!entieth entury ?uropean idiom !ere !ritten #y ?liseo Pa)aro$ -uresia Gasilag$ "osend
Doon Po Sa Nayon
Laughter and gaeity commonly used to describe the Filipino people takes root in the Philippine country-side. Life inin the Barrio is simple, but Filipinos always manage to nd time to celebrate life's gifts.
he annual estas to celebrate the patron saints of the barrios symboli!e the mi"ture of pagan and #atholic belief. Fiestas not only honor the patron saint, but gi$e homage to the barrio's namesake for a good har$est, health, and perser$erance. hese estas are marked with celebrations of holy mass, music, dance and song. Itik-Itik
tik-itik t one baptismal party in the (urigao del )orte pro$ince, a young I lady named *anang %the nickname for #ayetana&, considered the best dancer and singer of her time, was asked to dance the (ibay. (he became so enthusiastic and spirited during the performance that she began to impro$ise mo$ements and steps similar to the mo$ements of itik, the duck, as it walks with short, choppy steps and splashes water on its back while calling to its mate. he people liked the dance so much that they all imitated her. here are si" separate foot se+uences in the series of tik-tik steps.
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Binasuan Origin: Bayambang, Pangasinan Binasuan
his colorful and li$ely dance from Bayambang in the Pangasinan pro$ince shows oo the balancing skills of the dancers. he glasses that the dancers gracefully, yet carefully, maneu$er are half-lled with rice wine gracefully who whirl and roll on the oor. %click on the image&
Binasuan, meaning /with the use of a drinking glass/ in Pangasinan, is often performed as entertainment at weddings, birthdays, and estas. t social gatherings, the dance becomes a contest among the dancers as well as non-dancers as to who can do the most daring and skillful balancing mo$ements.
Back to top Maglalatik
Maglalatik 0uring the (panish regime, the present barrios of Loma and 1apote of Bi2an, Laguna, were separated. 3ith coconut shells as implements the people of these two barrios danced the 4aglalatik, or 4agbabao, a war dance depicting a ght between the 4oros and the #hristians o$er the latik %residue left after the coconut milk has been boiled&.
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he rst two parts of the dance, the Palipasan and the Baligtaran show the heated encounter between the two groups. he last two parts, the Paseo and the (ayaw 5scaramusa show the reconciliation between the two groups. ccording to the legend the 4oros came out $ictorious, thus getting the co$eted latik. he #hristians, not contented with the result of the war, sent an en$oy to the 4oros to oer peace and to bapti!e them.
he best 4aglalatik dancers are found in 1apote. n the daytime during the town esta of Bi2an, the 4aglalatik dancers go from house to house performing this dance for money or a gift. n the e$ening they dance 4aglalatik in the religious procession as it mo$es along the streets. hey perform the dance as an oering to the patron saint of the farmers, (an sidro de Labrador.
Back to top Pandanggo sa ilaw Origin: Lubang Island, Mindoro (Visayas) andanggo sa ilaw his popular dance of grace and P balance comes from Lubang sland, 4indoro in the 6isayas region. he term pandanggo comes from the (panish word fandango, which is a dance characteri!ed by li$ely steps and clapping that $aries in rhythm in 789 time. his particular pandanggo in$ol$es the presence of three tinggoy, or oil lamps, balanced on the head and the back of each hand.
fter a good catch, shermen of Lingayen would celebrate by drinking wine and by dancing, swinging and circling a lighted lamp. :ence, the name /;asiwas/ which in the Pangasinan dialect means /swinging./ his uni+ue and colorful dance calls for skill in balancing an oil lamp on the head while circling in each hand a lighted lamp wrapped in a porous cloth or shnet. he walt!-style music is similar to %click on the image& that of Pandanggo sa law.
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Sakuting Sakuting Origin: Abra
dance of the lokano #hristians and non-#hristians from the pro$ince of bra, (akuting was originally performed by boys only. t portrays a mock ght using sticks to train for combat. he stacatto- inected music suggests a strong #hinese inuence. he dance isis customarily performed during #hristmas at the town pla!a, or from the house-to-house. he spectators gi$e the dancers aguinaldos, or gifts of money or refreshments especially prepared for #hristmas. %click on the image&
Back to top Pasigin Origin: Pasig
dance interpreting toil in the life of the shermen in the ri$er called Pasig. 4anifesting the Pagsin nati$e means of catching the sh.
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Sublian
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Sublian Origin: Batangas
his $ersion is from alumpok, a ritual dance. fa$orite dance of the people in nearly all the barrios of the municipality of Bauan, Batangas, in the month of 4ay and during the town and barrio estas. t is a ceremonial worship dance performed in homage to the :oly #ross referred to in the $ernacular as 4ahal )a Poong (anta #ru!. t originated some three hundred years ago in the barrio of 0ingin, litagtag, Batangas.
he name (ubli is deri$ed from two agalog words inikling his '6isayan' dance was found in inikling Leyte where this dance originated. 0ancers imitate the tikling bird>s legendary grace and speed as they skillfully play, chase each other, run o$er tree branches, or dodge bamboo traps set by rice farmers. :ence it is named after the bird, tikling. this $ersion of the dance is done between a pair of bamboo poles. %click on the image& he older people claim that the ?inikling :a Bayo> from which the tinikling dance e$ol$ed is more di@cult to perform. t was originally danced between ?bayuhan>, two wooden pestles used to pound the husks o the rice grain. Back to top (ourceA httpA88www.likha.org