Lesson on TATAKalikasan Ateneo de Manila University
87.9 FM Radyo Katipunan, 11 to 12 a,m, Thursday, Sept 19, 2024
Adventure in Nature through Arts and Music
"Sining at Musika: Kulay, Anyo, Tinig at Pintig ng Sanlinikha"
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Co-Host with Fr JM Manzano SJ and Prof. Emoy Rodolfo, AdMU
Guest: Ms Pauline Angela Salvana Bautista, Values Educator-Home Economist
In Laudato Si', Pope Francis highlights the importance of arts and music as essential dimensions of human life and pathways to experiencing creation's beauty. Although the encyclical does not focus exclusively on arts and music, it mentions their role in fostering a deeper appreciation of nature and the divine. Here are a few key points:
Art as a Reflection of Creation: Pope Francis emphasizes that beauty, especially through art, is a reflection of God’s creation and can inspire awe and wonder. This beauty can lead people to encounter deeper spiritual truths and a sense of responsibility toward the environment. “Rather than a problem to be solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise.” (Laudato Si’, 12)
Music and Contemplation: Music and other forms of art help to raise the human spirit and lead people to contemplation, which can foster a greater awareness of the beauty of the world and our need to care for it.
"If someone has not learned to stop and admire something beautiful, we should not be surprised if he or she treats everything as an object to be used and abused without scruple." (Laudato Si', 215)
Art as a Source of Hope and Change: Arts and music have the capacity to move people emotionally and motivate them to action. The beauty they convey can foster a deeper connection to nature and inspire efforts to care for the Earth.
Pope Francis views art and music as crucial for nurturing an ecological spirituality, fostering contemplation of the world’s beauty, and moving people to protect creation.
Have you ever noticed village folks singing or humming as they attend to their chores? They have songs when rowing the boat, songs when planting or harvesting, songs of praise at sunrise, songs while walking up and down the trail, etc. Seldom is there an activity without music. To them the sounds of nature make a wholesome music.
According to researcher Leonora Nacorda Collantes, of the UST graduate school, music influences the limbic system, called the “seat of emotions” and causes emotional response and mood change. Musical rhythms synchronize body rhythms, mediate within the sphere of the autonomous nervous and endocrine systems, and change the heart and respiratory rate. Music reduces anxiety and pain, induces relaxation, thus promoting the overall sense of well being of the individual.
Music is closely associated with everyday life among village folks more than it is to us living in the city. The natives find content and relaxation beside a waterfall, on the riverbank, under the trees, in fact there is to them music in silence under the stars, on the meadow, at sunset, at dawn. Breeze, crickets, running water, make a repetitious melody that induces sleep. Humming indicates that one likes his or her work, and can go on for hours without getting tired at it. Boat songs make rowing synchronized. Planting songs make the deities of the field happy, so they believe; and songs at harvest are thanksgiving. Indeed the natives are a happy lot.
Farm animals respond favorably to music, so with plants.
In a holding pen in Lipa, Batangas, where newly arrived heifers from Australia were kept, the head rancher related to his guests the role of music in calming the animals. “We have to acclimatize them first before dispersing them to the pasture and feedlot.” He pointed at the sound system playing melodious music. In the duration of touring the place I was able to pick up the music of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Bach. It is like being in a high rise office in Makati where pipe in music is played to add to pleasant ambiance of working. Scientists believe that the effect of music on humans has some similarity with that of animals, and most probably to plants.
Which brings us to the observation of a winemaker in Vienna. A certain Carlo Cagnozzi has been piping Mozart music to his grapevines for the last five years. He claims that playing round the clock to his grapes has a dramatic effect. “The grapes ripen faster,” he said, adding that it also keeps away parasites, fruit bats and birds. Scientists are now studying this claim to enlarge the limited knowledge on the physiological and psychological effects of music on plants and animals.
Once I asked a poultry raiser in Teresa, Rizal, who also believes in music therapy. “The birds grow faster and produce more eggs,” he said. “In fact music has stopped cannibalism.” I got the same positive response from cattle raisers where the animals are tied to their quarters until they are ready for market. “They just doze off, even when they are munching,” he said, adding that tension and unnecessary movement drain the animals wasting feeds that would increase the rate of daily weight gain. In a report from one of the educational TV programs, loud metallic noise stimulates termites to eat faster, and therefore create more havoc.
There is one warning posed by the proponents of music therapy. Rough and blaring music agitates the adrenalin in the same way rock music could bring down the house.
The enchantment of ethnic music is different from that of contemporary music.
Each kind of music has its own quality, but music being a universal language, definitely has commonalities. For example, the indigenous lullaby, quite often an impromptu, has a basic pattern with that of Brahms’s Lullaby and Lucio San Pedro’s Ugoy ng Duyan (Sweet Sound of the Cradle). The range of notes, beat, tone, expression - the naturalness of a mother half-singing, half-talking to her baby, all these create a wholesome effect that binds maternal relationship, brings peace and comfort, care and love.
Serenades from different parts the world have a common touch. Compare Enrico Toselli’s Serenade with that of our Antonio Molina’s Hating Gabi (Midnight) and you will find similarities in pattern and structure, exuding the effect that enhances the mood of lovers. This quality is more appreciated in listening to the Kundiman (Kung Hindi Man, which means, If It Can’t Be). Kundiman is a trademark of classical Filipino composers, the greatest of them, Nicanor Abelardo. His famous compositions are
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Man - Child of Years Ago*
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Part 3A - Nature's Art in the Garden
Snake Plant (Sanseviera zeylanica)
Sampaguita or Jasmine (Jasminium sambac)
"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." - Aristotle
Part 3B - Trees - Nature’s Gift to Man
Part 3C - Kids' World of Nature -
Where childhood is forever
ANNEX -
Philippine Folk and Classical Music Revival:
Music and Contemplation: Music and other forms of art help to raise the human spirit and lead people to contemplation, which can foster a greater awareness of the beauty of the world and our need to care for it.
"If someone has not learned to stop and admire something beautiful, we should not be surprised if he or she treats everything as an object to be used and abused without scruple." (Laudato Si', 215)
Art as a Source of Hope and Change: Arts and music have the capacity to move people emotionally and motivate them to action. The beauty they convey can foster a deeper connection to nature and inspire efforts to care for the Earth.
Pope Francis views art and music as crucial for nurturing an ecological spirituality, fostering contemplation of the world’s beauty, and moving people to protect creation.
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Part 1A - Listen to the Music of Nature!
"Classical music is patterned after nature's music." avr
Dr Abe V Rotor
Identify the sounds of nature in this painting, translate them into notes. Arrange the notes into a melody, and expand it into a composition. Try with an instrument - guitar, piano, violin, flute. This is your composition. Mural detail, Nature: Rivulets and Streams, AVR 2011 Ethnic music makes a wholesome life; it is therapy.
Have you ever noticed village folks singing or humming as they attend to their chores? They have songs when rowing the boat, songs when planting or harvesting, songs of praise at sunrise, songs while walking up and down the trail, etc. Seldom is there an activity without music. To them the sounds of nature make a wholesome music.
According to researcher Leonora Nacorda Collantes, of the UST graduate school, music influences the limbic system, called the “seat of emotions” and causes emotional response and mood change. Musical rhythms synchronize body rhythms, mediate within the sphere of the autonomous nervous and endocrine systems, and change the heart and respiratory rate. Music reduces anxiety and pain, induces relaxation, thus promoting the overall sense of well being of the individual.
Music is closely associated with everyday life among village folks more than it is to us living in the city. The natives find content and relaxation beside a waterfall, on the riverbank, under the trees, in fact there is to them music in silence under the stars, on the meadow, at sunset, at dawn. Breeze, crickets, running water, make a repetitious melody that induces sleep. Humming indicates that one likes his or her work, and can go on for hours without getting tired at it. Boat songs make rowing synchronized. Planting songs make the deities of the field happy, so they believe; and songs at harvest are thanksgiving. Indeed the natives are a happy lot.
Farm animals respond favorably to music, so with plants.
In a holding pen in Lipa, Batangas, where newly arrived heifers from Australia were kept, the head rancher related to his guests the role of music in calming the animals. “We have to acclimatize them first before dispersing them to the pasture and feedlot.” He pointed at the sound system playing melodious music. In the duration of touring the place I was able to pick up the music of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Bach. It is like being in a high rise office in Makati where pipe in music is played to add to pleasant ambiance of working. Scientists believe that the effect of music on humans has some similarity with that of animals, and most probably to plants.
Which brings us to the observation of a winemaker in Vienna. A certain Carlo Cagnozzi has been piping Mozart music to his grapevines for the last five years. He claims that playing round the clock to his grapes has a dramatic effect. “The grapes ripen faster,” he said, adding that it also keeps away parasites, fruit bats and birds. Scientists are now studying this claim to enlarge the limited knowledge on the physiological and psychological effects of music on plants and animals.
Once I asked a poultry raiser in Teresa, Rizal, who also believes in music therapy. “The birds grow faster and produce more eggs,” he said. “In fact music has stopped cannibalism.” I got the same positive response from cattle raisers where the animals are tied to their quarters until they are ready for market. “They just doze off, even when they are munching,” he said, adding that tension and unnecessary movement drain the animals wasting feeds that would increase the rate of daily weight gain. In a report from one of the educational TV programs, loud metallic noise stimulates termites to eat faster, and therefore create more havoc.
There is one warning posed by the proponents of music therapy. Rough and blaring music agitates the adrenalin in the same way rock music could bring down the house.
The enchantment of ethnic music is different from that of contemporary music.
Each kind of music has its own quality, but music being a universal language, definitely has commonalities. For example, the indigenous lullaby, quite often an impromptu, has a basic pattern with that of Brahms’s Lullaby and Lucio San Pedro’s Ugoy ng Duyan (Sweet Sound of the Cradle). The range of notes, beat, tone, expression - the naturalness of a mother half-singing, half-talking to her baby, all these create a wholesome effect that binds maternal relationship, brings peace and comfort, care and love.
Serenades from different parts the world have a common touch. Compare Enrico Toselli’s Serenade with that of our Antonio Molina’s Hating Gabi (Midnight) and you will find similarities in pattern and structure, exuding the effect that enhances the mood of lovers. This quality is more appreciated in listening to the Kundiman (Kung Hindi Man, which means, If It Can’t Be). Kundiman is a trademark of classical Filipino composers, the greatest of them, Nicanor Abelardo. His famous compositions are
· Bituin Marikit (Beautiful Star)· Nasaan Ka Irog (Where are You My Love)· Mutya ng Pasig (Muse of the River Pasig)· Pakiusap (I beg to Say)
Play the violin - or on the piano - Brahms' Lullaby alternately with Lucio San Pedro's Ugoy ng Duyan (Cradle Song), and discover yourself a very good babysitter, just like the boy Johannes Brahms serendipitously composed the world's most popular lullaby.
War drums on the other hand, build passion, heighten courage, and prepare the mind and body to face the challenge. It is said that Napoleon Bonaparte taught only the drumbeat of forward march, and never that of retreat, to the legendary Drummer Boy. As a consequence, we know what happened to the drummer boy. Pathetic though it may be, it's one of the favorite songs of Christmas.
Classical music is patterned after natural music.
The greatest composers are nature lovers – Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and our own Abelardo, Molina, Santiago, and San Pedro. Beethoven, the greatest naturalist among the world’s composers was always passionately fond of nature, spending many long holidays in the country. Always with a notebook in his pocket, he scribbled down ideas, melodies or anything he observed. It was this love of the countryside that inspired him to write his famous Pastoral Symphony. If you listen to it carefully, you can hear the singing of birds, a tumbling waterfall and gamboling lambs. Even if you are casually listening you cannot miss the magnificent thunderstorm when it comes in the fourth movement.
Lately the medical world took notice of Mozart music and found out that the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart music can enhance brain power. In a test conducted, a student who listened to the Sonata in D major for Two Pianos performed better in spatial reason. Mozart music was also found to reduce the frequency of seizure among coma patients, improved the interaction of autistic children, and is a great help to people who are suffering of Alzheimer’s disease. The proponents of Mozart’s music call this therapeutic powerMozart Effect.
What really is this special effect? A closer look at it shows similar therapeutic effect with many sounds like the noise of the surf breaking on the shore, rustling of leaves in the breeze, syncopated movement of a pendulum, cantabile of hammock, and even in the silence of a cumulus cloud building in the sky. It is the same way Mozart repeated his melodies, turning upside down and inside out which the brain loves such a pattern, often repeated regularly. about the same length of time as brain-wave patterns and those that govern regular bodily functions such as breathing and walking. It is this frequency of patterns in Mozart music that moderates irregular patterns of epilepsy patients, tension-building hormones, and unpleasant thoughts.
No one tires with the rhythm of nature – the tides, waves, flowing rivulets, gusts of wind, bird songs, the fiddling of crickets, and the shrill of cicada. In the recesses of a happy mind, one could hear the earth waking up in spring, laughing in summer, yawning in autumn and snoring in winter – and waking up again the next year, and so on, ad infinitum. ~
Classical music is patterned after natural music.
The greatest composers are nature lovers – Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and our own Abelardo, Molina, Santiago, and San Pedro. Beethoven, the greatest naturalist among the world’s composers was always passionately fond of nature, spending many long holidays in the country. Always with a notebook in his pocket, he scribbled down ideas, melodies or anything he observed. It was this love of the countryside that inspired him to write his famous Pastoral Symphony. If you listen to it carefully, you can hear the singing of birds, a tumbling waterfall and gamboling lambs. Even if you are casually listening you cannot miss the magnificent thunderstorm when it comes in the fourth movement.
Lately the medical world took notice of Mozart music and found out that the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart music can enhance brain power. In a test conducted, a student who listened to the Sonata in D major for Two Pianos performed better in spatial reason. Mozart music was also found to reduce the frequency of seizure among coma patients, improved the interaction of autistic children, and is a great help to people who are suffering of Alzheimer’s disease. The proponents of Mozart’s music call this therapeutic powerMozart Effect.
What really is this special effect? A closer look at it shows similar therapeutic effect with many sounds like the noise of the surf breaking on the shore, rustling of leaves in the breeze, syncopated movement of a pendulum, cantabile of hammock, and even in the silence of a cumulus cloud building in the sky. It is the same way Mozart repeated his melodies, turning upside down and inside out which the brain loves such a pattern, often repeated regularly. about the same length of time as brain-wave patterns and those that govern regular bodily functions such as breathing and walking. It is this frequency of patterns in Mozart music that moderates irregular patterns of epilepsy patients, tension-building hormones, and unpleasant thoughts.
No one tires with the rhythm of nature – the tides, waves, flowing rivulets, gusts of wind, bird songs, the fiddling of crickets, and the shrill of cicada. In the recesses of a happy mind, one could hear the earth waking up in spring, laughing in summer, yawning in autumn and snoring in winter – and waking up again the next year, and so on, ad infinitum. ~
Katydid, (upper photo) a long horned grasshopper (Phaneroptera furcifera), and the field cricket (Acheta bimaculata) are the world's most popular fiddlers in the insect world.
And, of course the Caruso in the animal kingdom - the frog. Here a pair of green pond frogs (Rana vittigera), attracted by their songs which are actually mating calls, will soon settle down in silent mating that last for hours.
Part 1B - Identify the sounds of nature in these paintings and photographs
Translate each scene into notes. Arrange the notes into melody, and expand it into musical compositions cum lyrics. Try with an instrument - guitar, piano, violin, flute. This is your composition.
Figure 1 - Pinsal Falls (Sta Maria, Ilocos Sur)
Figure 2 - Migration of Birds
Figure 3 - Idyllic Farm Life in October (painting by AVR)
Figure 4 - Raging Twin Falls of Patapat (Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte)
Figure 5 - Sunken Pier (Santo Domingo, Ilocos Sur)
Figure 6 - Friendly Love Birds (Safari, Thailand)
Figure 7 - Kite Flying detail of mural, AVR
Figure 8 - Seashore Combers Reflecting, (Calatagan, Batangas)
Figure 9 - Norfolk Pines on Tagaytay
Figure 10 - Rainbow across Bamban River, Tarlac
Figure 11 - Sea Urchins (Camindoroan, San Juan Ilocos Sur)
Figure 12 - Bikal Bamboo Grove (Tagaytay)
Figure 13 - Playing among the Saints (Manaoag, Pangasinan)
Figure 14 - On a Clear Day (Parks and Wildlife Center, QC)
Figure 15 - Sabado Gloria at Suso Beach (Sta Maria, IS)
Figure 16 - Honeybee at Work, Amadeo, Cavite
Figure 17 - Talisay Tree in autumn air, QC
Figure 18 - Bamboo Grove Playground (Taal, Batangas)
Figure 19 - Bamboo Xylophone, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Figure 20 - Author listening to the sea with conch shells
Part 2 A - Adventure with Nature through Drawing.
Living with Nature Center
San Vicente, Ilocos Sur
Dr Abe V Rotor
Instructor
"Lolo, can you teach us how to paint and draw?"That was the start of an adventure with nature;So I led the children as a guardian would do,but more on what to learn about life in store.
For once the children set their cellphoneaside one weekend, for the adventure.
With pastel colors, they went to the field,entered the forest, helped the sun rise.
They climbed the mountains and hills,followed the stream flow out to the sea.
They flew with the birds in the blue sky,met white doves come down to rest.
They drew a scary scene and entered;with black birds and strange creatures.
Real and make-believe scenes mixed up,where they have never been before.
Few creatures in the wild they encounteredon the field and forest - what are they really?
They missed the parrots, the eagle beggingfor rescue, other endangered animals.Aren't trees home of wildlife and ferns,orchids, vines and other epiphytes?
Seasons are always open to meet nature,what did they choose other than summer?
Have they found Nature's beauty and joy?A gust of wind came passing, whispered:
"Living with Nature is a lifetime experienceevery day, a most rewarding adventure."
Open the Book of Creation, I told the childrenlive BY, FOR, WITH Nature as you grow up.
"Lolo, can you teach us how to paint and draw?"That was the start of an adventure with nature;So I led the children as a guardian would do,but more on what to learn about life in store. ~
Art enthusiasts from the neighborhood attend drawing
session with the author as guide and instructor at the
Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur. ~
Part 2B - Painting: "Childhood is Forever"
“For in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be.” –John Connolly
Early childhood experiences from birth to age eight affect the development of the brain's architecture, which provides the foundation for all future learning, behavior and health. A strong foundation helps children develop the skills they need to become well-functioning adults. (Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Director Harvard Center on the Developing Child)
Dr Abe V Rotor
Art Instructor
Childhood is Forever, in acrylic on canvas by Hannah Hediko P Laurente and Harish Hamiko P Laurente, in 3 sessions, under the tutorship of the author at the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur. August 2024,
Childhood is...
- Childhood is a time in our life when everything seems perfect and wonderful.
- Childhood is a world far away from the real world free from burdens and tensions.
- Childhood is a period to learn and master the essentials of life and living.
- Childhood is the full and harmonious development of personality in a family environment.
- Childhood is living in an atmosphere of happiness, understanding and love.
- Childhood is time to enjoy bedside stories, family anecdotes, and life updates.
- Childhood is pure bliss, light moments, treasured memories, captured innocence.
- Childhood is wishing to be older, and when in old age wishing to be younger.
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- Full view of the painting (20" x 28") with details shown in succeeding images.
This is a beautiful world to the young:Faces clouds make, and kites fly high,In kaleidoscopic colors of the sun.While nests on trees sweetly cry.If not for the fish and Siberian breeze.The fields sleep, save a songbird;But the clock doesn't stop in hammock's ease -A chime's urging to be heard.Not enough is summer, transient is the gameThat starts with glee and ends with sighAs the season ends; but it is not the aimOf the sky to make children cry.Freud and Thoreau - these great minds before sawWhat makes man, child of years ago,Wading in a pond or climbing a bough,His kite rising to heaven's glow.
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Details: A flock of white doves playfully takes care of their fledglings and chicks in their nests, among kites hanging in the trees. Right, treetops serve as playground and home of many creatures like gecko lizard and wild bees, as well as foothold of ferns, lianas and orchids.
"White doves are symbolic of new beginnings, peace, fidelity,
love, luck and prosperity." (A Dove's Love)
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Promenading is a pastime in a beautiful scenery, a happy moment communing with Nature. Right, wild fowls, reptiles, amphibians, fish and other living things abound in a pristine and unspoiled environment. They comprise the natural landscape and ecological system. A pristine environment is synonymous with “untouched,” a place where human hands have not intruded into the natural progression of life, and not corrupted by civilization.
Loafing
Oh, how we love the fields like farmers do,But not our classmates in school though;And Nature more than our teachers knowWhat the sun and rain in childhood sow.*
Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”- Sir John Lubbock
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Fishing is but a hobby, a kind of sport friendly to nature. Here a fisherboy is not a stranger to the wildlife* indigenous to the place, indeed a manifestation of a friendly and harmonious relationship bound by a primal treaty of man and nature.
Fisherboy**
By a stream on a rock ledge many a dream grew with the water flowing, the clouds rising, the breeze whispering in a nearby tree, its shade creating images of art and fantasy.
Hours lazily passed, but how short was a day fishing, from sunrise to noon and back again when the fish would return, the bamboo pole suddenly becoming heavy with a big catch.
Other boys join the cheer, the louder the bigger the fish was, or fading with a whimper when it got away, and it was always "the big fish that got away," an adage of every fisher folk.
Away from town, away from school, away from home for a while - this freedom in innocence and adventure, the elders would call laziness, stubbornness and aimlessness in growing up.
Boys don't know the difference grownups want them to be, but wait for their own time, when childhood yields to the demands of the world, the world though big is "prison" to grownups.
They too, were children before - the "man in the boy" comes later when there are no more big fish to catch, the tree has overgrown the rock ledge and other boys are longer around.
Like birds migrating and returning, season after season in Vivaldi's refrain, and Mozart's lament, life goes on in rhythm, but time couldn't wait, while dreams sought for reality.
There are many fish in the world, the biggest to catch always a dream - fame, ideas, wealth, sacrifice, honor, popularity - aiming at these to the end, in triumph, surrender or defeat.
Years later a man in gray hair appeared, he saw a familiar boy fishing, his thoughts seemed far away, his fishing pole bending to his excitement, then snapped - it was the big fish that got away. ~
Wildlife is integral to the world's ecosystems, providing balance and stability to nature's processes. The goal of wildlife conservation is to ensure the survival of these species, and to educate people on living sustainably with other species. - National Geographic Society
Workshop attendees include parents of children participants, as well as older art enthusiasts who comprise a separate but similar art workshop sessions at the Center conducted regularly by the author upon requests from the community, organizations and schools, such as the University of Northern Philippines.
Growing Up With Art**
Kids' World Apart from "Kids"
Take a break from computers and the mall,confines of the small;break the wall of idleness, go for the ballfast and make a goal.Solve the puzzle, some genius await youfor all you know;left to right of the brain and back will showa wider view of you.Take the road rough, look ahead, move on,from the bandwagon;it's your adventure, and follow the sun,sunrise to sundown. ~
* AVRotor, Don't Cut the Trees, Don't UST 2010
** avrotor.blogspot.com Living with Nature
San Vicente Botanical Garden
Photographs by Dr Abe V Rotor
"Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature."
- Marcus Tullius Cicero
Leaf venation of croton (Codiaeum variegatum)
"Art is a man's nature; nature is God's art." - Philip James Bailey
Angel Wings (Caladium bicolor)
"...and then, I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?" - Vincent Van Gogh
Sander's Alocasia (Alocasia Sanderiana)
"Art is never finished, only abandoned." ― Leonardo da Vinci
San Francisco (Codiaeum sp)
"Art is a harmony parallel with nature." - Paul Cezanne
"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you."
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Frank Lloyd Wright
Variegated Pandan? (Pandanus sp)
"A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art." - Paul Cezanne
Anthurium (Anthurium scherzerianum, also A. andraeanum)
"Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye...
it also includes the inner pictures of the soul." - Edvard Munch
Ornamental Pineapple (Ananas sp)
"Great art picks up where nature ends." - Marc Chagall
"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." - Aristotle
"Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature."
- Marcus Tullius Cicero
Acknowledgement: Quotations from Internet ~
Acacia trees, Ateneo de Manila University QC
By Anna R. Rotor
We grow up with trees.
We want them to grow big;
we want them to be around us
to give us shade in which we play,
to give us strong trunk and branches
on which we climb and swing and laugh;
to give us fruits which make us full,
healthy and strong,
medicine to make us well,
wood that keeps our body warm,
cooks our food;
leaves to keep our air clean
and to whisper and sing
and dance with the breeze;
and above all,
to give us aesthetic beauty
through which we feel
how lucky we are alive.
How irrational would it be to kill a tree,
even if we reason out that we need its wood,
its bark, its roots, its flowers and fruits and seeds,
to keep us alive!
It is a paradox
that for us to survive and progress,
we kill the host of life –
life of birds that build nest on its branches,
passersby who find respite
from the beating sun,
a myriad of small life forms
from insects to lizards
that find a home
and harbor on its roots and crown.
What a paradox
if we kill the tree that gives us oxygen
that brings down the cloud as rain,
that keeps the environment cool, clean and green
to kill a friend,
a companion and a guardian,
the link of our earth and sun,
God and His Son.
Excerpt from a speech of Anna R. Rotor, then
16 years old at School of St. Anthony QC, 1999.
Where childhood is forever
(In celebration of UN Children's Month, November 2023)
Kids' World of Nature -
Where childhood is forever
"Fleeting moments are most precious,
ephemeral yet eternal. The child in you
lives to the golden years of your life."
Dr Abe V Rotor
Catching land crabs with a bamboo trap. Palauig, Zambales
How I love to catch gammarong (Ilk) crab
when I was like my son Leo Carlo;
he learned the skill early from me, passed on
by old folks by the sea; Leo in turn
shall teach others before the art is lost,
as treasured trade and tradition.
Building sandcastles. Morong, Rizal
Building sandcastles, building dreams,
on waking up are gone, but they return
as sandcastles and dreams again
throughout youth, higher and bigger,
crumbling leaving ruins of memories,
ruins where castles once stood proud,
uniting reality and fantasy into a happy,
wonderful and fulfilled life.
Summer fun on the beach. San Juan, Ilocos Sur
Frolic in company with the waves and tides,
when the sea is as blue as the sky, and wish
boyhood is forever and never dies;
or you'll always tarry in later years if you don't;
for fleeting moments are most precious,
ephemeral yet eternal in that child in you
who lives into the golden years of life.
Christmas for under-the-bridge children. Pasay MM
The bells of Christmas sound louder among the poor;
the Bethlehem star shines brighter, too.
The angels come earlier in their homes without door.
in exchange of a simple lantern or two.
Instant swimming pool from busted pipe. Sta. Mesa, MM
A swimming pool in the middle of a street,
a busted pipe blessing to a dozen kids
in the neighborhood in frolic and laughter;
like a Riviera or Thoreau's Walden;
it's a children's world, a corner of Eden.
Mushrooms growing on a tree stump. UP Diliman QC
Mushrooms on a stump, home of the dwarfs:
red, yellow, white, or in disguise,
each color a character, a foe or a friend,
to find where the pot of gold lies.
Nipa Hut by the river, Tagbilaran, Bohol
Frolicking - game of the vibrant and the young,
recreating a primordial social bond;
where innocence means freedom and adventure,
In sweet abandon, here and beyond. ~
ANNEX -
Philippine Folk and Classical Music Revival:
Sa Kabukiran (In the Countryside) and Other Songs
Paintings by Fernando C Amorsolo
Sa Kabukiran was a Spanish song that was translated into Cebuano. The famous lyricist Levi Celerio wrote Tagalog words for it, which were then popularized in a recording by Sylvia La Torre in the 1940's. It became such a hit that a movie was made with the title Sa Kabukiran in 1947.
TAGALOG SONG LYRICS
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Sa kabukiran, walang kalungkutan
Lahat ng araw ay kaligayahan
Ang halaman kung aking masdan
Masiglang lahat ang kanilang kulay
Paintings by Fernando C Amorsolo
Sa Kabukiran was a Spanish song that was translated into Cebuano. The famous lyricist Levi Celerio wrote Tagalog words for it, which were then popularized in a recording by Sylvia La Torre in the 1940's. It became such a hit that a movie was made with the title Sa Kabukiran in 1947.
TAGALOG SONG LYRICS
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Sa kabukiran, walang kalungkutan
Lahat ng araw ay kaligayahan
Ang halaman kung aking masdan
Masiglang lahat ang kanilang kulay
In the countryside, there is no sorrow
All the days are joyful
When I look at the plants
Their colors are all cheerful
............
Ang mga ibon nag-aawitan
Kawili-wili silang pakinggan
O aking buhay na maligaya
Busog ang puso at maginhawa
The birds are all a-singing
It's entertaining to listen to them
Oh, my happy life
My heart is full and at ease
Paruparong Bukid
Field Butterfly
All the days are joyful
When I look at the plants
Their colors are all cheerful
............
Ang mga ibon nag-aawitan
Kawili-wili silang pakinggan
O aking buhay na maligaya
Busog ang puso at maginhawa
The birds are all a-singing
It's entertaining to listen to them
Oh, my happy life
My heart is full and at ease
Paruparong Bukid
Field Butterfly
Paruparong bukid na lilipad-lipad
Sa gitna ng daan papagapagaspas
Isang bara ang tapis
Isang dangkal ang manggas
Ang sayang de kola
Isang piyesa ang sayad
May payneta pa siya — uy!
May suklay pa man din — uy!
Nagwas de-ohetes ang palalabasin
Haharap sa altar at mananalamin
At saka lalakad nang pakendeng-kendeng.
This song compares a certain woman to a field butterfly.
Santa Clara
Santa Clarang pinung-pino
Ang pangako ko ay ganito
Pagdating ko po sa Ubando
Ay magsasayaw ng pandanggo
Abaruray! abarinding!
ang pangako'y tutuparin!
Abaruray! abarinding!
ang pangako'y tutuparin!
Santa Clarang pinong-pino,
Ako po ay bigyan mo
Ng asawang labintatlo
Sa gastos ay walang reklamo!
Santa Clara
(English translation)
To the very refined, Saint Claire
This is my promise
Upon reaching Obando Town
I will dance the pandanggo.}
To the very refined, Saint Claire
I pray that you grant me
Thirteen spouses all in all
To the costs, I won’t complain at all!
Filipino Folk Song
Rice Planting
Planting rice is never fun
Bent from morn till the set of sun,
Cannot stand and cannot sit,
Cannot rest for a little bit.
Planting rice is no fun
Bent from morn till set of sun,
Cannot stand, cannot sit,
Cannot rest a little bit.
Oh, come friends and let us homeward take our way,
Now we rest until the dawn is gray,
Sleep, welcome sleep, we need to keep us strong
Morn brings another workday long.
Filipino Folk Song
Pandangguhan
I
Manunugtug ay nangagpasimula
At nangagsayawan ang mga mutya
Sa mga padyak parang magigiba
Ang bawat tapakan ng mga bakya
II
Kung pagmamasdan ay nakatutuwa
Ang hinhin nila'y hindi nawawala
Tunay na hinahangaan ng madla
Ang sayaw nitong ating munting bansa
III
Dahil sa ikaw mutyang paraluman
Walang singganda sa dagat silangan
Mahal na hiyas ang puso mo hirang
Ang pag-ibig mo'y hirap makamtan
Kung hindi taos ay masasawi
Mga pagsuyong iniaalay
Kung hindi taos ay masasawi
Mga pagsuyong iniaalay
IV
Halina aking mahal, ligaya ko ay ikaw
Kapag 'di ka natatanaw,
Ang buhay ko ay anong panglaw
Halina aking mahal, ligaya ko ay ikaw
Kapag 'di ka natatanaw,
Ang buhay ko ay anong panglaw
V
Kung may pista sa aming bayan,
Ang lahat ay nagdiriwang
May letchon bawat tahanan,
May gayak pati simbahan
Paglabas ni Santa Mariang mahal,
Kami ay taos na nagdarasal
Prusisyon dito ay nagdaraan,
Kung kaya't ang iba'y nag-aabang
May tumutugtog at may sumasayaw,
Mayrong sa galak ay napapasigaw
Ang pista sa bayan namin ay ganyan,
Ang saya'y tila walang katapusan.
(Ulitin ang I)
(English Rough Translation)
I
The musicians have began
And the maidens dance
Seems to be destroyed In the tramp
To each trample of the wooden shoes
II
If you look is so amusing
The refinement were not missing
Really admired by the people
The dance of our small country
III
As of you muse Pearl
Nothing as beautiful as to the east sea
Dear beloved jewel your heart
Your love is hard to attain
If you are not sincere is perish
Affection offered
If you are not sincere is perish
Affection offered
IV
Come my dear, you are my happiness
When I do not not see you,
My life is dreary
Come my dear, you are my happiness
When I do not not see you,
My life is dreary
V
If there is feast in our town,
Everyone is celebrating
There are letchon in every home,
There is decoration in the church
The release of Saint Mary dear,
We is sincerely praying
Here Procession is passing,
So the others waiting
There are playing instruments and dancing,
There are shouting to the delight
The feast in our town like that,
The happiness seems endless.
(Repeat I)
Ilocano Folk Song
Manang Biday
Manang Biday, ilukat mo man
’Ta bintana ikalumbabam
Ta kitaem ’toy kinayawan
Ay, matayakon no dinak kaasian
Siasinnoka nga aglabaslabas
Ditoy hardinko pagay-ayamak
Ammom ngarud a balasangak
Sabong ni lirio, di pay nagukrad
Denggem, ading, ta bilinenka
Ta inkanto ’diay sadi daya
Agalakanto’t bunga’t mangga
Ken lansones pay, adu a kita
No nababa, imo gaw-aten
No nangato, dika sukdalen
No naregreg, dika piduten
Ngem labaslabasamto met laeng
Daytoy paniok no maregregko
Ti makapidut isublinanto
Ta nagmarka iti naganko
Nabordaan pay ti sinanpuso
Alaem dayta kutsilio
Ta abriem ’toy barukongko
Tapno maipapasmo ti guram
Kaniak ken sentimiento
Philippine Songs
Mabuhay Singers
Halina't Umawit Album
1 Lawiswis Kawayan
2 Leron Leron Sinta
3 Carinosa
4 Aking Bituin
5 Chit-Chirit-Chit
6 Kataka-taka
7 Sinisinta Kita
8 Paruparong Bukid
9 Halina't Magsaya
10 Tugtuging Bukid
11 Sarung-Banggi
12 Sa Libis Ng Nayon
Sa gitna ng daan papagapagaspas
Isang bara ang tapis
Isang dangkal ang manggas
Ang sayang de kola
Isang piyesa ang sayad
May payneta pa siya — uy!
May suklay pa man din — uy!
Nagwas de-ohetes ang palalabasin
Haharap sa altar at mananalamin
At saka lalakad nang pakendeng-kendeng.
This song compares a certain woman to a field butterfly.
Santa Clara
Santa Clarang pinung-pino
Ang pangako ko ay ganito
Pagdating ko po sa Ubando
Ay magsasayaw ng pandanggo
Abaruray! abarinding!
ang pangako'y tutuparin!
Abaruray! abarinding!
ang pangako'y tutuparin!
Santa Clarang pinong-pino,
Ako po ay bigyan mo
Ng asawang labintatlo
Sa gastos ay walang reklamo!
Santa Clara
(English translation)
To the very refined, Saint Claire
This is my promise
Upon reaching Obando Town
I will dance the pandanggo.}
To the very refined, Saint Claire
I pray that you grant me
Thirteen spouses all in all
To the costs, I won’t complain at all!
Filipino Folk Song
Rice Planting
Planting rice is never fun
Bent from morn till the set of sun,
Cannot stand and cannot sit,
Cannot rest for a little bit.
Planting rice is no fun
Bent from morn till set of sun,
Cannot stand, cannot sit,
Cannot rest a little bit.
Oh, come friends and let us homeward take our way,
Now we rest until the dawn is gray,
Sleep, welcome sleep, we need to keep us strong
Morn brings another workday long.
Filipino Folk Song
Pandangguhan
I
Manunugtug ay nangagpasimula
At nangagsayawan ang mga mutya
Sa mga padyak parang magigiba
Ang bawat tapakan ng mga bakya
II
Kung pagmamasdan ay nakatutuwa
Ang hinhin nila'y hindi nawawala
Tunay na hinahangaan ng madla
Ang sayaw nitong ating munting bansa
III
Dahil sa ikaw mutyang paraluman
Walang singganda sa dagat silangan
Mahal na hiyas ang puso mo hirang
Ang pag-ibig mo'y hirap makamtan
Kung hindi taos ay masasawi
Mga pagsuyong iniaalay
Kung hindi taos ay masasawi
Mga pagsuyong iniaalay
IV
Halina aking mahal, ligaya ko ay ikaw
Kapag 'di ka natatanaw,
Ang buhay ko ay anong panglaw
Halina aking mahal, ligaya ko ay ikaw
Kapag 'di ka natatanaw,
Ang buhay ko ay anong panglaw
V
Kung may pista sa aming bayan,
Ang lahat ay nagdiriwang
May letchon bawat tahanan,
May gayak pati simbahan
Paglabas ni Santa Mariang mahal,
Kami ay taos na nagdarasal
Prusisyon dito ay nagdaraan,
Kung kaya't ang iba'y nag-aabang
May tumutugtog at may sumasayaw,
Mayrong sa galak ay napapasigaw
Ang pista sa bayan namin ay ganyan,
Ang saya'y tila walang katapusan.
(Ulitin ang I)
(English Rough Translation)
I
The musicians have began
And the maidens dance
Seems to be destroyed In the tramp
To each trample of the wooden shoes
II
If you look is so amusing
The refinement were not missing
Really admired by the people
The dance of our small country
III
As of you muse Pearl
Nothing as beautiful as to the east sea
Dear beloved jewel your heart
Your love is hard to attain
If you are not sincere is perish
Affection offered
If you are not sincere is perish
Affection offered
IV
Come my dear, you are my happiness
When I do not not see you,
My life is dreary
Come my dear, you are my happiness
When I do not not see you,
My life is dreary
V
If there is feast in our town,
Everyone is celebrating
There are letchon in every home,
There is decoration in the church
The release of Saint Mary dear,
We is sincerely praying
Here Procession is passing,
So the others waiting
There are playing instruments and dancing,
There are shouting to the delight
The feast in our town like that,
The happiness seems endless.
(Repeat I)
Ilocano Folk Song
Manang Biday
Manang Biday, ilukat mo man
’Ta bintana ikalumbabam
Ta kitaem ’toy kinayawan
Ay, matayakon no dinak kaasian
Siasinnoka nga aglabaslabas
Ditoy hardinko pagay-ayamak
Ammom ngarud a balasangak
Sabong ni lirio, di pay nagukrad
Denggem, ading, ta bilinenka
Ta inkanto ’diay sadi daya
Agalakanto’t bunga’t mangga
Ken lansones pay, adu a kita
No nababa, imo gaw-aten
No nangato, dika sukdalen
No naregreg, dika piduten
Ngem labaslabasamto met laeng
Daytoy paniok no maregregko
Ti makapidut isublinanto
Ta nagmarka iti naganko
Nabordaan pay ti sinanpuso
Alaem dayta kutsilio
Ta abriem ’toy barukongko
Tapno maipapasmo ti guram
Kaniak ken sentimiento
Philippine Songs
Mabuhay Singers
Halina't Umawit Album
1 Lawiswis Kawayan
2 Leron Leron Sinta
3 Carinosa
4 Aking Bituin
5 Chit-Chirit-Chit
6 Kataka-taka
7 Sinisinta Kita
8 Paruparong Bukid
9 Halina't Magsaya
10 Tugtuging Bukid
11 Sarung-Banggi
12 Sa Libis Ng Nayon
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