A Comparison of Lucrecia Kasilag’s Piano Compositions of the mid and late 1900s
Introduction
Lucrecia Kasilag was proclaimed a National Artist in Music in 1989. She is known to have fused ethnic music and Western styles together, thus forming her own style of musical compositions that can be recognized as Filipino (“National Artist-Lucrecia Kasilag”). She has a variety of compositions, but we’ll be focusing on her piano compositions and the development of her style, specifically the ones in the 1940’s-1950’s to the ones in the 1970’s-1990’s. Alongside this, we’ll also have a glimpse of how her musical educations influenced her early works greatly.
Early Music Education
Lucrecia Kasilag was exposed to music very early in her life. She had learned the bandurria and the guitar from her mother (“Featured Artist: Lucrecia R. Kasilag). She also played the piano, her first piano teacher being Doña Concha Cuervo (Samson, 88). One of the first songs she played in the piano was Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words, May Breezes, Op. 62, No. 1; the first five measures can be heard below (Kasilag, 20).
May Breezes, Op. 62, No. 1 From "Songs Without Words" Performed by Cyril de Saint-Amour
Born in a well-off family, Kasilag had formal education in Western music and practices. As such, she was deeply influenced by Western musical styles and composers. This is evident from one of the first pieces she played as a child: a piece from Mendelssohn, a German composer of the 1800s. Philippine music was not something she was knowledgeable of in her youth. It was only when she studied abroad in Eastman School of Music that she started becoming interested in Philippine traditional music (Salido, 11). Only then did she start experimenting on compositional styles.
1940s-1950s Compositions
Her first few compositions were still quite Western in flavor, as it was only the beginning of her discovery of incorporating Asian tones at this time. It can be noted simply from the names of her compositions, as well as the scales she used for them. During this period, some works included April Morning, Fantasie Tone-Poem; Sonata in G Minor, and Theme and Variations of a Filipino Folk Tune “Walay Angay” (Salido, 34). These were all composed based on the harmonic scale, in major or minor keys: a Western scale.
Left track: a harmonic scale, G Minor,
Right track: an eight-tone scale with a sharp on the fourth and the fifth.
C-D-E-F#-G#-A-B-C’ constitute this scale (Salido, 39).
The harmonic scale has a sound that is familiar to most, as this is used in most familiar pop songs. The eight-tone scale, on the other hand, or the “eight-tone scale” should sound a bit more unfamiliar or different to the listener, as this may remind one of music played in cultural dances in Asia. April Morning has an impressionistic style to it with the late harmonies of the Romantic period, a very Western approach to compositions (Uriarte, 69). Kasilag’s Theme and Variations on a Filipino Folk Tune “Walay Angay”, too, is not very Filipino in its music either, other than the fact that it is a Filipino folk tune. This is because Walay Angay is a Filipino kundiman, and this style is influenced by the Spaniards. Moreover, thus uses the G Minor scale in its compositions.
Walay Angay, sung by Nora Aunor
It must be noted, however, that, this was a sign of her gradual leanings towards Philippine music, as she started incorporating Filipino tunes into Western compositional techniques (themes and variations, for example). Although her compositions are still highly associated with Western practices, there was already the large presence of the fourth and fifth intervals in her compositions (Coo, 109). This is not very common in compositions and it gives a sort of Oriental sound to her music. This is also indicative of her attempt to explore beyond the typical Western structure in compositions.
1970s-1990s Compositions
During this time, Lucrecia Kasilag had already established her compositional style- her East-West music- using pentatonic modes (de la Torre, 61). She had already become more familiar with Eastern techniques and modalities, as well as composing a lot of experimental styles from the 1960’s-1970’s. Her compositions include Ang Tagak: Valse Lamentoso, Scherzino, and Elegy on Mt. Pinatubo (Salido, 41-44). Veering away from the classical musical styles, she now uses “quartal and quintal harmonies, triplets, and multi-meters (Salido, 41)”. These are also known as “modern harmonic devices” (Uriarte, 82).
Left: example of quartal Harmonies;
Right: An example of quintal harmonies;
Bottom: Lucrecia Kasilag’s Scherzino
Angelica Rosario Franquelli, who analyzed Kasilag’s music in her dissertation, also mentions how Kasilag uses techniques such as augmentation, diminution, inversion, and retrogression (Franquelli, 1979).
It is notable that she utilized styles from the 20th century, which are different from the Classical and Romantic styles most people are more comfortable with hearing. This included Schoenberg’s 12-tone scale which she eventually departed from and moved to a 10-tone scale (Kasilag, 122).
Arnold Schoenberg's Piano Concerto, Op. 42, which utilizes his 12 Tone Technique
Kasilag was able to strike the right balance between the East and West, utilizing Western compositional styles but incorporating Eastern techniques into her music. These Western compositional styles included “large forms of absolute music” like solo sonata, but she was also fond of using forms like toccata, theme and variations, and divertissement (De la Torre, 107). The Eastern mix to her pieces include her incorporating the Asian tones. An example is her composition Elegy which has tones similar to the gandingan (Uriarte, 75).
One would find that it is not as accessible to listeners as it is more “intellectual” in its nuanced compositional techniques, rather than “romantic” (de la Torre, 108). This is also due to the unfamiliar Asian tunes she utilizes in her music. However, this only calls for listeners to hear beyond these unfamiliarities and appreciate the technique Kasilag employs in her music.
Conclusion
Lucrecia Kasilag was once asked what she would want to be remembered for. She said, “That I made a difference in music.” Indeed, she did. Her piano compositions, though not limited to only piano compositional works, have indeed changed greatly from the time she started composing to when she finally established her style. She had recreated Filipino music into one that is distinguished in its fusion of Western and Filipino elements, together; thus creating a unique blend of East-West, the characteristic style Kasilag would later be known for.
Bibliography
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De la Torre, Visitacion R. Lucrecia R. Kasilag : An Artist for the World. Manila : Vera-Reyes, c1985., 1985.
“Feautured Artist: Lucrecia R. Kasilag.” Himig, www.himig.com.ph/features/32-lucrecia-r- kasilag.
Franquelli, Angelica Rosario. “Lucrecia R. Kasilag: The Western and Eastern Influences In Her Compositions.” DMA diss., Peabody Institute of the John Hopkins University, Peabody Conservatory of Music, 1979.
Kasilag, Lucrecia R. Lucrecia Roces Kasilag : My Story. Manila : Philippine Womens University System, [n.d.]., 2000.
Laureola, Emmanuel. “Piano Music by Three Filipino Composers: Maria Rosalina Abejo, RVM, Felipe Padilla de Leon, and Lucretia R. Kasilag—A Handbook of Concert and Teaching Materials.” MM diss., University of the Philippines, 1973.
“National Artist - Lucrecia R. Kasilag.” National Commission for Culture and the Arts, ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/ lucrecia-r-kasilag/.
Salido, Caroline Besana. The Piano Compositional Style of Lucrecia Roces Kasilag. www.oovrag.com/essays/essay2004b-4.shtml.
Samson, Helen F Contemporary Filipino composers : biographical interviews. Manlapaz Pub. Co, Quezon City, 1976.
Uriarte, Jose Dayunot. The Piano Works of Lucrecia Kasilag. 2002.
Kasilag image from Lucrecia Kasilag: An Artist for the World book by Visitacion R. de la Torre
Mendelssohn image from Public Domain
Bandurria image from Creative Commons, uploaded by user: Bemoeial
Eastman image found on the Eastman Theater photo gallery of the George Eastman Circle –University of Rochester website. https://www.rochester.edu/giving/gec/gallery/the-eastman-theatre#