The Conclusion of The Kasilag Liturgical Journey: A Comparative Analysis Series
As a musician who began her journey at a very young age, Lucrecia Kasilag became one of the pioneers to an incredible development of culture and history in Philippine music. An endless amount of significant contributions have been made throughout the life of this human being. As we celebrate her life and commemorate her passion, it is in our sincerest enjoyment to immerse ourselves and educate each other with the works and values that she has endowed upon our nation. Before her passing in 2008, she was recognized as a National Artist having composed 250 varied musical compositions for several types of distinct stages.
By studying and learning about her life and the cultural development that the Philippines had undergone, we come to realize that Kasilag has gifted us with much more than a handful of beatufiul compositions but rather, an identity to the music we listen to and worship with today. Kasilag, like many of the other composers of her time, was able to live out in the West for a large portion of her life. This not only allowed her to absorb many different insights about the world but also forced her to value the traits of our nation from a general outside perspective. On top of that, she was able to master a wide array of techniques and theory before coming back to the Philippine practice of fundamentalism. As a devout follower of Christ whom, unsurprisingly stemmed from a Catholic dominant nation, religion and worship is deeply ingrained into her blood. It played a vital, if not inevitable role in the development and formation of our culture and identity. Through this medium, Kasilag made strides in her musical proficiency being able to distinct herself from the rest by incorporating her own unique compositional style into the Divine worship music that was made readily available to us. She abandoned the traditional Western techniques she gained and added our own distinctive Eastern structures and harmonies in her compositions by using alternative time signatures as well as native instruments. The Kulintang, Bunkaka, and Bells are interesting instruments which strangely resemble that of the common after having been made manually by hand. With that being said, the Filipina accomplished her goal of adding a Filipinized touch to the sacred music compositions for the appreciation of her God and her country.
Before Filipinos even began to learn how to write music for worship, we were only exposed to the Gregorian Chants brought about by the Augustinian priests that settled here. Ateneo de Manila University’s Liturgical Music of 2018 had worked on this comparative research analysis series to be able to understand and appreciate the works of Lucrecia Kasilag better as well as contrast them to works of great classical composers throughout the history of time.
What we have understood about this extraordinary and timeless form of art is that that her works fall under the descriptions given by Pope Pius XII on his documents on sacred music. He adds that these pieces are of “modern sacred music” and have only progressed from the Gregorian Chants and other Western polyphonic music. The comparisons somehow reveal many similarities between Kasilags pieces and classical compositions. For one, Kasilags unique style as well as her deep religious beliefs could be seen in how she converted something secular into a beautiful operatorio which is immensely religious.
Some of her most extravagant contributions came in the form of the Cantata. These are vocal compositions with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements. The difference with her Cantatas with the other composers is that she likes to make them very understandable and easily comprehensible for kids.
Additionally, her two greatest works (in my opinion) come in the likes of De Profundis and Deo Gratias. Her works show how sincerely the Chruch has desired to render worship as more pleasing and admirable to the people. De Profundis did not end up as a song fit for liturgies however still spoke of God’s wonders making it a religious song. She would pick up texts from the Bible and transform them into song by giving them tune. Deo Gratias translates to “Thanks” and represents her gratitude and appreciation for the life she lives and talents she hones.
Majority, if not all her compositions featured in this series serve a purpose: to comfort the living, celebrate the dead, and give praise to the Lord. With God as the centerpiece for each of them, Kasilag has found a way for each piece to be elegant and appealing to the audience while also serving its greatest purpose. The similarities of Kasilag to the other composers text are evident as most of them converge at the central theme of our eternal dependency on the Lord against the evils of this world. Kasilag focused a lot on the souls of the followers (such as herself) bound to meet the Lord. Through shouting praise and worship to him, the chances only become more likely.
References:
“Cantata BWV 191 - English Translation [Parallel Format].” Viloncello Piccolo in Bach's Vocal Works, www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV191-Eng3P.htm.
“Christmas Cantata.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 July 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cantata. “Featured Artist - Lucrecia R. Kasilag.” Header, Himig,
“National Artist - Lucrecia R. Kasilag.” Gov PH, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, gwhs-stg02.i.gov.ph/~s2nccagovph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists- of-the-philippines/lucrecia-r-kasilag/.
Pe a, erne e La. The NAMCYA Anthology of Philippine Choral Music. Manila: National Commission for Culture and the Arts, 2003.
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Psalm_148_(Gustav_Holst).
"Shop." Stainer & Bell. Accessed July 13, 2018. https://stainer.co.uk/shop/n20289/.
Photo Sources
Raushenbush, Paul Brandeis. “Dissecting Divorce In The Philippines.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Oct. 2013, www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/24/divorce-philippines_n_4157099.html.
Raushenbush, Paul Brandeis. “Dissecting Divorce In The Philippines.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Oct. 2013, www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/24/divorce-philippines_n_4157099.html.
“Lucrecia Kasilag Photos, News and Videos, Trivia and Quotes - FamousFix.” FamousFix.com, www.famousfix.com/topic/lucrecia-kasilag.