the indigenous and the western influenced music in the philippines.
Renowl
exhibits Asiatic traditions and one that exhibits Westernized traditions. The
former encompasses the music of indigenous groups of people scattered all over
the Philippines, inhabiting mostly upland areas. In Luzon, some of these groups
of people are the Apayao, Tingguian, Kalinga, Balangao, Bontok, Kankanai,
Ifugao, Ibaloi, Ikalahan, Iwak, Gaddang, Ilongot, Atta, Agta, and Aeta. In the
Bisayan islands, indigenous groups are the Sulod, Bukidnon of Negros, Magahat,
Ati, and Ata. The Tagbanua and Batak are found in Palawan. In Mindanao,
indigenous groups include the Tirurai, Manobo, T'boli or Tagabili, Ubo, B'laan
(Bilaan), Subanon, Kalagan, Mamanwa, Bagobo, Mandaya, and Mansaka. These groups
practice an indigenous religion. Also included in the category of music with
Asiatic traditions are the Muslim groups of people found mostly in Mindanao,
Palawan, and the Sulu archipelago. These include the Maranao, Ilanun,
Magindanao, Kolibugan, Karaga, Yakan, Sama, Badjaw, Tausug, and Jama Mapun.
There are no written records of the musical traditions of these peoples
before 1500. After the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521, church and civil
reports dealt primarily with the military conquest, government, administration
and Christianization of various parts of the Philippines. From this vast
assortment of maps, letters, narration's, descriptions, etc., occasional
mention is made of the music and musical practices of the natives. In the
1700's more published material in the form of travelogues appeared. In the last
quarter of the 1800's specialized studies on the music of various groups began
to appear. Anthropological research in the 1900's furnished more detailed
descriptions of musical traditions. Since the 1950's, ethnomusicological
research has brought about a strong interest in indigenous music.
Studies on Philippine indigenous music cover surveys of instrumental and
vocal forms. Indigenous instruments include those made of metal (bronze or
iron), of bamboo, and wood. Metal instruments include gongs made from bronze or
iron. These gongs are two types: flat gongs and bossed (or knobbed) gongs. Flat
gongs are found only in the north. Similar gongs are found in the hills of
Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and some parts of Indonesia. In the
Cordillera highlands, these gongs are called gangsa, are played in ensembles
consisting of anywhere from one six or seven gongs. Some ensembles use gongs
only but others combine the gongs with other instruments, often drums. Bossed
gongs are found only in the south. They are of three types: the agung, the
gandingan, and the set of graduated gongs laid in a row called kulintang. These
gongs are usually combined with each other together with drums in various
combinations to form different types of ensembles, varying from group to group.
Bamboo/wood instruments antedate the gongs. There are of various types:
flutes, stopped pipes, panpipes, reed pipes, stamping tubes, quill shaped
tubes, xylophones, clappers, zithers, lutes, fiddles, suspended logs, and
wooden sounding boards.
There are different genres of indigenous vocal music which are performed
in a solo or responsorial manner. there is a noticeable differentiation in
singing style between the north and the south. The northern style uses a marked
and rhythmic enunciation of vowels to form syllables or slides, half-speech
sounds, and frequent pauses. In contrast, the southern style of singing is
characterized by melismas, long phrases, a narrow range, fluidity, and tremolo.
A more recent Islamic style superimposed on this tradition has a specially
distinct vocal delivery with high tessitura, a strained voice of various
timbres, and a nasal enunciation. Vocal genres include epic singing; songs
connected with life-cycle events: birth, lullabies, courtship, marriage and
death; occupational songs; and ritual songs.
Westernized Traditions
The Spaniards arrived on Philippine shores in 1521 and the Filipino's
music was to undergo a transformation due to the influx of western influences,
particularly the Spanish-European culture prevalent during the 17th to the
19th centuries. Hispanization was tied up with religious conversion, and in the
next three centuries, the people's musical thinking was affected resulting in a
hybrid expression heavily tinged with a Latin taste. It produced a music
connected to and outside the Catholic liturgy and a European-inspired secular
music adapted by the Filipinos and reflected in their folk songs and
instrumental music.
The large number of liturgical and para-liturgical vocal genres that
developed included songs used inside as well as outside the church. These
included Christmas songs and practices such as the pastores, daygon, galicon,
tarindao, and the outdoor re-enactment of the Holy Couple's search for lodging
called pananawagan, panunuluyan, pananapatan, or kagharong.
The custom of chanting the passion of Jesus during Lent gave rise to the
pasyon, a practice widespread among the lowland Christians. The verse narrative
on the life and sufferings of Jesus Christ appears in almost all major
Philippine languages- Tagalog, Bicol, Ilocano, Pangasinan, Pampango, Ilonggo,
Sebuano, and Waray. The Gaddang, Ibanag, and Cuyunon also have their versions.
The text may be rendered by a group of singers who take turns singing the
verses, or by two singers, or in some cases by a solo singer. The pasyon is
sung in homes, village chapels, or even in outdoor makeshift sheds erected for
the purpose. A more extensive and complicated rendition of the life and passion
of Jesus Christ in the form of outdoor dramas also takes place during Lent.
These passion plays are called senaculo. A cast of 30 more characters is
accompanied by a small band of instruments. Another related Lenten celebration
is the moriones of Marinduque.
Devotion to Mary took the form of a number of rituals done during the
month of May such as the santacruzan and the flores de Mayo. May is also the
month of town fiestas where patron saints are honored with processions
accompanied by the town bands.
Some rituals show a syncretization of indigenous and Christian
practices. Old rites seeking favors and good fortune invoke God, Mary, the
saints, pagan gods, good, and evil spirits such as the Cavite sanghiyang and
the Bataan kagong.
Another type of music, quickly assimilated and adapted by the Filipinos
were western dance forms such as the habanera, tango, fandango, seguidilla,
jota, curacha, polka, mazurka, danza and rigaudon. The adopted and adapted
versions are the pandanggo, jota, habanera, danza, polka, mazurka, valse, and
rigodon. Today they form the greatest bulk of "popular" folk dances of the
lowland Christians. These dances were accompanied by cumparsasa, later replaced
by the rondalla. The instrumental group, said to have originated from the
Mexican murza and Spanish estudiantina comprises the bandurria, laud, octavina,
guitar, and the bajo de unas.
Alongside the folk dances, many folk songs with a western harmonies
structured with regular phrases appeared. Their composers are no longer known
but they have been adopted by the community. These include such songs as "Bahay
Kubo", "Atin cu pung singsing", "Ili-ili tulog anay", "Leron leron sinta",
"Sit-si-rit-sit".
now its hip hop . rock , etc ...
