The Evolution of Film and Music in the Philippines
Music in the Philippines has developed greatly over the decades, starting off as purely colonial music and eventually transitioning into a mix of Filipino and western music. One dimension in which music has developed greatly is through film. Therefore, this paper will explore the development of western music through film, and a discussion of few prominent Filipino film composers.
Cinema in the Philippines was first introduced on January 1, 1897 at the Salón de Pertierra in Manila. Through colonization, we were introduced to theatres, films, and the like, which advanced the performing arts culture here in the Philippines. The first movie that aired here in the Philippines were “Un Homme Au Chapeau (Man with a Hat).” All of the films that were initially shown in the Philippines were foreign – meaning they were produced, directed, and composed by non-Filipinos. It is believed that any film that was aired in the Philippines during the colonial period was a hybrid expression of Filipino and Hispanic culture in order to show the influence of early Spanish colonizers. Actually, music originally adapted the European-inspired secular music, which was reflected in the early folk songs. It was evident that Spanish and American music was influential on the music found in films because most early filmmakers and producers were wealthy enterprising foreigners.
The first film ever produced by a Filipino was entitled, “Dalagang Bukid,” which is a 1919 silent film directed by José Nepomuceno. Through the narrative of the film, which was based on a popular musical play during the time, the audience witnessed the mixture of the cultural influences coming from indigenous folklore to the Hispanic and Hollywood musical influences. The structure of this film used a live voice and orchestra that accompanied the screening. This film provided one of the first experiences of a musical in the Philippines. Furthermore, “Dalagang Bukid” was a combination of verse and prose, song, dance and dialogue. During this time, this form of theatre was known as theatrical sarsuwela, which is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes. This form was similar to our current day musicals.
Poster of "Dalagang Bukid" (Above) by Jose Nepomuceno (Below)
It is important to note that western music has evidently changed in the realm of film, which actually had an effect on the music accompanying our Filipino films as well. During the time of silent films, which were the first films being produced both abroad and in the Philippines, live music always accompanied these films because the producers could not add any music to the film itself. The live music ranged from a piano, to a full string quartet, to even full-blown orchestras at times. During this time, there were also no written scores, meaning there was no music previously composed and written for the film. Thus, this was the time of expressionism in film because silent films were a form of artistic movement. Western music then developed into the era of Jazz. During this time, music was already being incorporated into the films in the form of “film sound.” Next came the days of “spaghetti western” music, or music of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Here, symphonic scoring – or songs composed for symphonies that are part of the film soundtrack – was brought back into the film scene. The music was usually “broad, long, and drawn out,” used for scenery scenes and the like. Nowadays, there is the higher use of “song scores” to accompany the films. Song scores refer to the soundtracks individually composed for a specific film.
The film industry in the Philippines began to develop in the 1930s, shortly after Hollywood movies began to rise in 1927. In a way, we can say that Filipino and western films were developing simultaneously, which also meant that the music accompanying Filipino films were greatly influenced by the western style. This is because it was only in 1933 when sound was put into local films in Hollywood. This opened the gate for sound films – or the films we watch today – consequently reducing the popularity of silent films. As a result, the Philippine film industry also got affected in terms of theatrical sarsuwelas slowly fading away as motion-pictures began to rise.
The rise of sound films meant that many film composers, also referred to as film scorers, started to emerge. A film score is what is used to refer to the original music and soundtrack written to accompany a film. This includes the background music, incidental music and actual soundtrack. In film, music was used to indicate the different moods and scenes of the narrative. For example, the different orchestral, instrumental and choral pieces found in a film, referred to as “cues,” are used to indicate specific points in the film to enhance the dramatic narrative or emotions being shown. Furthermore, film scorers are not only limited to one kind of genre because the music that they compose has to follow the nature and theme of the film they are writing for. The majority of work composed for films in the Philippines seems to embody the western style or world music. Rarely do we hear the traditional folk songs played as background or choral music in a film. This is because the nature of our Filipino films are so highly influenced by our colonizers of the West. Therefore, our music is also influenced in the same manner.
There are several notable film composers, or film scorers, in the Philippine film industry, but I will only mention three for this paper. Firstly, there is Constancio de Guzman, who was born on November 11, 1903 and died on August 16, 1982. De Guzman is a renowned composer here in the Philippines and is pegged as the dean of Filipino movie composers and musical directors. He grew up in Manila studying piano and composition and became the music director of movie production outfits. He also has several famous composition songs, such as “Ang Bayan Ko” and “Kung Kita’y Kapiling,” which both won the gold medal at a Paris International Fair.
Constancio de Guzman
As a music composer, he is credited for 68 different films. The first film that he ever composed for is entitled, “Doña Clara,” which was produced in 1938, and the last film he composed for was “Ang Pag-ibig Ko'y Huwag Mong Sukatin” of 1975. However, one of the more famous movies that he composed for was “Darna” in 1951. This movie was directed by Fernando Poe and starred Rosa Del Rosario and Mila Nimfa. The movie follows the then-famous comics of Darna, which involved both action and fantasy. The musical composition of this film by de Guzman barely had any orchestral or choral compositions because the film was produced during the 1950s. As a result, the music composed by de Guzman was mainly background music and special effects since it was an action filled movie. Therefore we can see that even if de Guzman is a very skilled composer in terms of choral songs and the like, the musical composition he produced for this film had to adapt to the needs of “Darna,” meaning more compositions for background noise and effects.
The poster of "Darna"
The next important Filipino film composer that we will talk about is Ernani Cuenco. He was born on May 10, 1936 and died on June 11, 1988. He originated from Malolos, Bulacan and is known as a Filipino composer, film scorer, musical director, musical teacher and Philippine National Artist for Music. Here we see how Cuenco has definitely groomed his identity within the Filipino music industry, tackling all aspects of music from regular compositions to film soundtracks to musicals. Growing up, he was encouraged by his mother to learn the violin - like many of the other Filipino composers. Cuenco has accomplished many things growing up. For example, from 1960 to 1968 he was a member of the Manila Symphony Orchestra and even became part of the Manila Chamber Soloists in 1966. His musical style includes the famous Filipino love ballad genre called the kundiman, which includes Cuenco’s famous song “Gaano Kita Kamahal.” The kundiman was a very popular genre among Filipinos because it expresses our love and emotion for one another. The musical style of the kundiman includes a melody that is characterized by a smooth and gentle rhythm. This Filipino serenade can even be seen in our current popular pop music, through the various OPM hits and ballads.
Similar to de Guzman, Cuenco is very well known in the field of film composition. He was active from 1966 to 1989, with “Badong Baldado” being the first film he composed music for in 1966.
This film was directed by Cesar Gallardo and starred Joseph Estrada and Mary Walter. However, a more famous work that Cuenco composed for is the film, “Ang Panday” in 1980. This film was directed by and starred Fernando Poe, Jr. Similar to the movie “Darna” (1951), “Ang Panday” was also an action-fantasy film. This meant that the compositions provided by Cuenco were geared more towards background music and sound. However in “Ang Panday,” there were several choral compositions that were included in the film. Here, we can see how film music has developed in terms of the type of music included in the films. Whereas before in an action-fantasy film, the music being composed was for the purpose of background noise and sound effects, it later evolved such that the films included songs that were actually being performed in the narrative. This incorporation of song in the film is very evident in our current day films, where many movies include songs that are performed by the lead actors and actresses so that the movie becomes memorable to the audience.
A poster of "Ang Panday"
Both films that Cuenco composed for followed the monaural sound, or mono. A monaural sound is defined as one single channel that is used to produce the sound. In this type of sound for a film, all speakers are reproducing the same music. This is opposed to a stereophonic sound where more channels are used to produce different sounds. The mono sound mix was more common when film was just beginning because this was the most basic way of adding sound to a film. If we recall, it was only during the 1930s where the Hollywood films started to include sound in their motion pictures, instead of having live music played at every showing. Therefore, Filipinos also adapted to this type of sound when composing music for films, using a mono sound mix for the background music and compositions.
Ermani Cuenco
The last composer that we are going to talk about is Lucrecia Kasilag. Although Kasilag is not as well-known as a film scorer, she is renowned in the world of Filipino composers. She was born on August 31, 1918 and died on August 16, 2008, originating from San Fernando, La Union. Kasilag is actually known for being the “First Lady of Philippine Music” and “Tita King,” showing how distinguished she was from other Filipino composers. Like Cuenco, Kasilag grew up learning the violin and piano from her mother, eventually learning how to play the bandurria and guitar as well. Her compositions are said to embody a hybrid form of the traditional Filipino folk songs and the western style of music. This is because growing up, she was frequently exposed to the western music world. For example, Kasilag was able to study at the Eastern School of Music in Rochester, New York where she learned theory and composition. She was also exposed to European classical music traditions during her studies. Because she was constantly exposed to different foreign sounds and music, but still drew interest towards the folk music of the Philippine archipelago’s different ethnolinguistic groups, she ended up combining the two forms, which could be heard in many of her famous compositions. It is believed that Kasilag’s composition style is actually pegged as “neoclassical” because she follows the formal western structure of compositions, but use folk material fragments as thematic motif.
Kasilag ended up writing more than 200 compositions that ranged from folk material to orchestral work. Examples of her work would be “Intermezzo for violin and piano,” “Divertissement for piano and orchestra,” and “Violin Concerto no. 1.” Although Kasilag has a deep roster in terms of musical compositions, what she did not really venture into was film compositions. She did, however, compose the music for one popular film back in the ‘80s entitled “Hula,” which was a comedy. This film was directed by Emmanuel Borlaza and starred Niño Muhlach, Vic Vargas, and Pilar Pilapil. By this time, the film was already produced in color. Although the movie is not being streamed anymore, and the musical compositions of Kasilag for this film cannot be found, we can infer that the film score that Kasilag composed for this film was probably similar to that of Cuenco. Like any other film, the compositions of Kasilag for “Hula” would definitely include the background music and sounds. However already during Cuenco’s time, choral compositions were being incorporated into the film; so it would be no surprise if Kasilag also composed several orchestral or choral works for this film.
In conclusion, western music has definitely taken its toll on our musical compositions in terms of style. This influence can also be clearly seen through the evolution of films here in the Philippines, where the music styles applied to the different films were not that different from the music styles of the Hollywood films. For example, when the western films focused more on silent film with live music playing at each showing, Filipino films also followed this style in the form of theatrical sarsuwelas. It was only when the western films starting creating sound movies where we followed in their footsteps. As a result of our country being colonized, the influence of the other nations on our entertainment industry and performing arts culture is very evident. Therefore, the evolution of music in film and the different Filipino film composers are definite examples of how foreign nations have influenced our culture.
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Images:
Image of "Dalagang Bukid" retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalagang_Bukid#/media/File:Dalagangbukid.jpg
Image of Jose Nepomuceno retrieved from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nccaofficial/18260767290