Let’s Listen to Kasilag: Lullaby ~ Sonata for Violin and Organ
Philippine Suites: Lullaby
Kasilag loved to incorporate folk material in her compositons. One example of her music that uses folk material directly is the second suite of her Philippine Scenes for orchestra, titled “Lullaby.” From the title itself its rocking flow resembles that of a real lullaby with its soft-spoken and gentle tune. Kasilag wrote this song through the inspiration of an old Visayan folk tune, Ili-ili. Listening to the piece and being familiar to the classical folk tune this song follows, the semblance may however be missed, due to the fact that Ili-ili plays in a minor key, while Kasilag renders it into a major, happier key, that transforms the melancholy of the tune into that of a wide open and lighthearted air instead. This piece was performed by a Czech orchestra in the Czech Republic on the 15th of May 2013.
Those familiar with the tune or not who hear it may indeed hear evocations of a lullaby, perhaps even a curious one. Its use of unique harmonies and dissonance at a few points however, make for a curious lullaby that strays at times from the usual cadences of real lullabies. As some portions of the initially major and happy sounding tune you hear in the first portion develop, it sometimes revert to the original theme’s minor sound, a display of Kasilag’s interest in the modal harmony, which was one of the innovations of harmony Neoclassical composers like Maurice Ravel explored. Try to listen to the transformations the lullaby undergoes, and the unique soundscape Kasilag paints with folk material.
Kasilag’s Sonata for Violin and Organ
Kasilag’s Sonata for Violin and Organ deviates away from Western composition melodic styles and incorporates traditional Asian styles in the unlikely tandem of instruments. The timbre of a violin and an organ is contrasting enough; the sometimes mellow sound of an organ is in contrast with the piercing tone of a violin being bowed. Sonatas for the violin and organ have existed, an example being Frederic Handel’s of the baroque era.
Kasilag’s sonata makes for perhaps, a change in scenery in the tandem, composing in a modern style which takes from Oriental influences and folk material that Kasilag uses a lot. Apart from this is Kasilag’s use of harmonies that have a distant, open sound, using open fifths, a harmony that one would expect a lot in the music of Asia, as well as notes which slide to the next adding to the already oriental atmosphere. To add to this, it was among the compositions she was commissioned for the Las Pinas Bamboo Organ festival, where it would be played on the very organ itself.
Allegretto, the first movement, starts with a moderately fast pace tempo in which, if heard by unprofessional ears, would seem like offbeat with each instrument. However, later on in the first movement would one hear that it transitions smoothly into one smooth accompaniment. The second movement, Andante, adds peacefulness to the composition since the quickness of the tempo of the first movement slows down. However, it reverts back to a rushing tempo in Allegro, or the third movement. Brisk movement appears not only in the violin, but also the organ, the once solemn instrument breaking away from the traditional sonorities attached to the Church-bound instrument.
Kasilag’s liberty in adding folk influences in her composition paves way for new technique and new sounds; new musical styles are being discovered only contributes to the idea that everything around us is destined to change. No matter how one likes baroque or music of the 20th century onwards, music will always have the potential to change, the sound and perceptions of instruments unbound awaits in the future which only sheds more room for consideration of sonic liberty.
Works cited:
http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-thephilippines/lucrecia-r-kasilag/
https://wn.com/lucrecia_roces_kasilag_lullaby