The Kundiman and the Filipino Nation (Part 1 of 4)
Having been able to read some of Fr. Dela Costa’s essays on our national culture and heritage, I can say that his ideas were just the insights that I needed at the present time simply because they are so fundamental and yet often times they don’t come up to mind or are not actually embedded into our everyday consciousness. For instance, he mentions the idea that nationalism is two things: an ideology and a commitment (The Filipino National Tradition, 72) but at the same time he acknowledges the challenge for Filipinos to transcend the national personality that is solely defined by our Spanish conquerors, to find something that is “distinctive of ourselves, enabling us to lay claim to a separate nationhood” (The Filipino: An Identikit, 21) and to develop others in response to our commitment by bringing the development ourselves (The Filipino National Tradition, 86). Knowing that one of the Philippines’ jewels is music (Jewels of the Pauper, 249), where does the kundiman fit in the growth of our cultural heritage if we are called to develop it (as a response to our sense of nationalism)? Being such an art form that has marked our countries’ historical roots, does the kundiman really have a role to play in the development of Filipino music today? Reflecting upon these questions allowed me to answer to you now that there is definitely a way for this unique art song to be integral in our pursuit of knowing our music better and in getting a hint on what Fr. Dela Costa really has to say for me and all of us about our music.
Many of us would say that hearing a song in our native tongue definitely leaves a more lasting impression in our minds and hearts whether it’d be about romantic love, politics, heartache, gender/sexuality, or even about friendship. Having experiences of this can give us an impression of the unique expression that Filipino music is able to impart on us. Fr. Dela Costa definitely got to reflect on that with his 1933 essay entitled “Kundiman” and if there’s one lesson that we’d get from this essay, it would be that the kundiman evokes multiple experiences and feelings all at the same time. Since the kundiman is a form of a love song, there is a thrill that Fr. Dela Costa remembers whenever the first notes sung by the voices of young men enter the senses with a delight that is hauntingly pleasing. At the same time, amidst one’s pursuit of a woman’s hand through song, a melancholic aura is also present in its charm. In the end, Fr. Dela Costa describes the kundiman as something akin to a battle. At first, the thrill caused by the plucking of the guitar and the heartstrings may bring out a sense of triumph and jubilation but in the end one’s romantic aspiration and yearning is defeated and the melancholia brought about by crushed dreams all the more drives the point on how unique the kundiman really is. As much as this realization brings more sadness, I strongly feel that it is because of this tension that the kundiman is able to show its true beauty and that its beauty may be a step closer towards understanding our music, culture, and nationhood.
To answer the first question that I asked in the previous paragraph, I think that the kundiman can be two things: a model and a stepping stone. First, the kundiman can be a model when it comes to creating music that truly captures the national personality. Knowing that the kundiman actually has a dramatic element to it, I can say that other kinds of Filipino songs can be able to express similar narratives and experiences that speak to us with the many things going on in our daily lives. If Filipinos can do it through the very in-demand and dramatic teleserye, then I believe Filipino music can also do the same just as the very notable and historical kundiman is able to do. Second, the kundiman can also be a stepping stone because it can propel us to develop our Filipino culture while preserving our roots. I can say this is so because the kundiman itself is already very memorable and will continue to be part of our nation despite mainstream trends today.
“Amidst the struggles and the seemingly progressing divide amongst countrymen – Fr. De La Costa had suggested in his work “Jewels of the Pauper” that Faith and Music have long been treasures that have bridged the divide amongst our culturally diverse peoples…In this time of uncertainty and change, we must listen once again to the songs of our ancestors – songs of emancipation, freedom, faith, and of mourning, for it seems as though we have already forgotten. Fr. De La Costa tells us that our faith and our music are unitive in nature – let them be our gentle weapons against oppression and divide.”
- JC Abalos
“Horacio Luis de la Costa, SJ is a person who, besides dedicating his life to serving God, greatly influenced the culture of the Philippines…With different ethno-linguistic groups, the Philippines experiences language or dialect barriers. However, despite this division, when Filipinos sing about their experiences and surroundings, they sing about the same things. Thus, closing the gaps made by diversity. It could be seen how he integrated the importance of music to the country’s problem.”
- Ther Aseron
“He was one of the first and biggest historians in the Philippines who focused on Nationalistic History, as history then was mostly told and retold by foreign forces, dela Costa wanted to turn the tides and make Philippine History out nation’s own. By doing this, it gave way for the Filipinos to see by their own eyes a story unfolded of their own nation by their own people.”
- Gabby Fregil
“Throughout the long period of transition that the Filipinos went through, Fr. HVC's works of poetry served as a great reminder to all Filipinos that we are all better than this. We are a nation that recognizes the value of human dignity, and that we are all united Filipino citizens who persevered through tough times such as the the Second World War, the Cold War that followed, and other crucial events throughout Philippine history.“
- Josh Gadia
“Horacio dela Costa not just contributed works and shared his publications to the Filipino people and Filipino history, he also changed lives and informed them the truth. He worked hard for his accomplishments and he wanted those things to help people.”
- Ysay Marasigan
*Photo from ateneo.net