Behind the Scenes: The Making of the “First Lady of Philippine Music”
Awarded National Artist for Music in 1989, Lucrecia R. Kasilag, also called “Tita King”, was often referred and known as the “First Lady of Philippine Music.” Being a composer, educator, administrator, as well as a researcher, she pioneered the “task to discover the Filipino roots through ethnic music and fusing it with Western influences (ncca.gov.ph, 2015). This inspired many Filipino composers to undertake the same experimentation modeled by Kasilag through her compositions.
With the various colonial and foreign influences in the music of her time, her motivations and circumstances brought Kasilag to undertake the rigorous task of discovering our music, turning the tables against the imperialism of our musicality.
Her Adventurous and Non-Conforming Spirit
In her book My Story (Kasilag, 2000), we are given a glimpse of Kasilag’s attitude and spirit towards music.
“Ideas posed here with each vignette may somehow present the impression that I am a hedonist, a willful breaker of icons in pursuit of new sounds. The willfulness is not intended. But an artist in search of truth with is own message, in his own voice, must dare to tear apart old models (p. 1).
As an artist, it was natural for her to pursue the truth and sincerity of her music, something original that she could only find for herself and in herself. In quest for her own music, she dared set her own path in doing so apart from the expectations of many, seeking sounds unheard of, and that which lay in her identity as a Filipino.
It was in Kasilag’s nature to be adventurous and non-conformist especially in her younger years (Kasilag, p. 2-13). Once, as a kid, she imitated Tarzan, jumping from the roof of her house down to the dirty kitchen of her home. Hiding from her parents the pain from the aping mentioned, she made her way under the bed and passed out. In high school, though an exemplary student of her class, she wouldn’t wear the required uniform, and even go so far as to argue with her social studies teacher.
Despite all of these, she was a woman of pursuit receiving many awards and recognition since elementary school.
In October 1936, she had her junior recital, praised by Alejo Valdez of the Spanish daily La Vanguardia as a “new star of great magnitude”, pointing out her “sense of exactitude, time, and value to written notes of the musical piece”. Other pursuits she delved into were even ballet, dramatics, and athletics, to add even more to the scope of her pursuits.
She graduated valedictorian in both elementary and high school, attaining cum laude in Bachelor of Arts Major in English at the Philippine Women’s University, and working on a Teacher’s diploma, even cross-enrolled in two colleges later on. After getting her Music Teacher’s diploma, she would enroll again at Saint Scholastica’s College, this time for her Bachelor of Music Degree.
Kasilag showed an attitude of pursuit, adventure, and excellence to whatever she put her mind to do. Her general attitude, and especially that towards music, would eventually bring her to her forays in our native music.
Inspiration from Dr. Antonio Molina
Since Kasilag had a deep interest in literature and music, she pioneered the Philippine Literary Musical Society (or Philimus) with her close friends who shared the same interests. She asked the well-known composer and cellist Dr. Antonio J. Molina to be Philimus’s adviser, who gladly took the task. For Molina, organize musical and literary groups was his life mission.
Many of Molina’s compositions for voice, piano, and chamber music were inspired by his ardent passion for Western an Philippine literature, including the poetry of Jose Garcia Villa and Rafael Zulueta de Costa. Such an influence was Molina to Kasilag that under his guidance, her first composition was a tone poem in A flat major, April Morning, set to the poem of its namesake by Angela Manalang-Gloria (Kasilag, p. 15).
Furthermore, Molina was one of the firsts to incorporate into orchestral works instruments such as the kulintang and the gabbang, inspiring Kasilag’s similar future endeavors with ethnic instruments. Kasilag said:
“Molina dedicated many compositions to me and most generously helped me hone my composition skills. Fortunate indeed was I for the intellectual student-teacher relationship he fostered, and for his keen attention to my work." (Kasilag, p. 19)
An Accident
At the same time that Kasilag’s career in composing was in steady progress, she pursued her dream of becoming a concert pianist. Unfortunately, on her return visit to Eastman School of Music in 1958, an accident occurred that made her give up on this particular goal. After witnessing a concert at Eastman’s Kilbourn hall, Kasilag fell backwards from a misstep, injuring her fifth finger in the process.
Despite attaining no fracture from her X-ray results, Kasilag found out however, that she had a congenital degenerate fifth finger with practically no joint at all.
Having learned the news, Kasilag abandoned her dream of one day becoming a concert pianist. On the other hand, Kasilag would thus focus on composing more than ever wherein her fascination with the folk music of the Philippines began to develop (Salido, 2002).
The Urgency on the Indgenous
As a dean of Philippine Women’s University, the science of ethnomusicology or the anthropology of music fascinated Kasilag, something which she had never an opportunity to look into yet. Kasilag and her siblings in the Kasilag Rondalla only had the guitar, bandurria, and ukulele back then.
In 1952, however, the ethnomusicologist Jose Maceda introduced the course in PWU, giving Kasilag the opportunity to study the ethnic origins of music and indigenous instruments. Kasilag mentioned “As dean of Music, I certainly felt the urgency of looking into our own native instruments.”
Professor Maceda, Liberal Arts dean Aurora C. Dino and Kasilag would then spend their Christmas holidays that year, visiting the Bukid tribe in Bongabon, Oriental Mindoro. Their expedition ended up successfully bringing back tape recordings, some instruments, and the Bukid’s script written on bamboo tubes.
They eventually studied other tribes as well such as the Mangyan groups, the Hanunuos and the Saklag of Mindoro, the Tagbanua of Palawan, and the Bontoc and Kalinga of the Cordillera (Kasilag, p. 35-37). Kasilag, in her book, expressed her sentiment on the fast-disappearing culture of the indigenous tribes:
"Most of the tribes remained untouched by civilization. Yet we noted that in many instances, time could not be made to stand still for long. There were cases where only the elders could remember their old songs, schooled in the regional dialect, the youth could not speak the tribal tongue. The danger of losing ancient culture aroused in us a sense of urgency." (p. 37)
With this realization, Kasilag took the study and preservation of ethnic music a task that she could not delegate to anyone else except herself. Nonetheless, it was her experience in Dacca, Pakistan that literally sealed her fate towards her pursuit of Filipino music, receiving protest from the host of the International Festival of Folk Dance and Music the suggestion of guitar and piano for representing the Philippines,such that they were not Asian enough.
Lamenting on the realization of a destitution of representation among all the others who presented, it further cemented her resolve to devote herself to discovering our native and musical roots. Truly, Tita King deserves her title as the “First Lady of Philippine Music.” Despite the heavy influences of colonialism, she delved into the search for our roots in ethnic, tribal, and indigenous music.
Her character and attitude towards music guided her towards this path, that is, her eagerness to engage in her pursuits, showing no limit in her adventurousness. Molina provided her the initial sparks of ethnic and indigenous interests; her unfulfilled dream sof being a concert pianist would be put aside for a mission much greater, a search for our roots in ethnic and indigenous music.
No disappointment put her down, be it her fingers or Dacca. Rather, she opened up the untapped areas of our cultural heritage, pursuing devotion towards the music that she and Filipinos can say “Atin to!”.
References
Kasilag, L. (2000). My Story.Manila: PWU Publishing.
National Artist -Lucrecia R. Kasilag. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/lucrecia-r-kasilag/
Salido, C. B. (2002). The Piano Compositional Style of Lucrecia Roces Kasilag. PDF.
Photo of Kasilag taken from: https://www.mukamo.com/national-artist-lucrecia-kasilag-passes-away/
Photo of Antonio Molina taken from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nccaofficial/18447737165/in/photostream/
Photo of Angela Manalang-Gloria taken from: http://englishpoem801.blogspot.com/2013/12/to-man-i-married-by-angela-manalang.html
Photo of the gabbang instrument taken from: https://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/09102/_spk_obj_1629051.html
Photo of Jose Mecado taken from Wikipedia commmons under public domain in the Philippines.