TATAKalikasan Ateneo de Manila University
97.8 FM Radyo Katipunan, 11 to 12 a.m. Thursday, January 30, 2025
Nature - Music - Culture
Interrelationships
Dr Abe V Rotor
Co-Host with Fr JM Manzano SJ, and Prof Emoy Rodolfo AdMU
Guest: Mr Joey Ayala
References and Reviews
Part 1 - Sh... Listen to the Music of Nature! It's Therapy
Part 2 - Philippine Folk and Classical Music Revival: Sa Kabukiran
(In the Countryside) and Other Songs
Part 3 - Nicanor Abelardo and Francisco Santiago - Titans in Philippine Music
Part 4 - Moonlight Sonata made a blind girl "see" and feel a moonlit nightPart 5 - Don't Say Goodbye to the Violin
Part 6 - Maestro Selmo Pelayre - Great Ilocano Music Teacher and Composer
Part 7 - Therapeutic Effects of Violin and Nature Composition
Part 8 - Ten Songs of the Violin
Part 9 - The Violin - the Soulful Musical Instrument
Part 10 - Can fish understand human music?Part 11 - Festive Sound of the Xylophone
Part 12 - A Night of Music in a Garden
Part 13 - Harmony of Nature and Human Music
Part 14 - Violin Recital: Life Let's Cherish
Part 15 - The Pianist in an Empty Hall
Part 16 - Reviving Our Native Philippine Songs
Part 17 - Birdsong at Sunrise
Part 18 - Music for Kids - where do they begin?
Part 19 - Young Musicians
Part 20 -The old piano in the old house
ANNEX - About Joey Ayala
Part 12 - A Night of Music in a Garden
Part 13 - Harmony of Nature and Human Music
Part 14 - Violin Recital: Life Let's Cherish
Part 15 - The Pianist in an Empty Hall
Part 16 - Reviving Our Native Philippine Songs
Part 17 - Birdsong at Sunrise
Part 18 - Music for Kids - where do they begin?
Part 19 - Young Musicians
Part 20 -The old piano in the old house
ANNEX - About Joey Ayala
1 - Sh... Listen to the Music of Nature! It's Therapy
"Classical music is patterned after nature's music." avr
Dr Abe V Rotor
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.
Field cricket (Acheta bimaculata); katydid, a long horned grasshopper (Phaneroptera furcifera) are the most popular fiddlers in the insect world.
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 Tosselli’sSerenade (renamed, The Nightingale) 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)
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, 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.
.jpg)
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 power Mozart 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. ~
Identify the sounds of nature in this painting, translate them into notes. Arrange the notes into melody, and expand it into a composition. Try with an instrument - guitar, piano, violin, flute. This is your composition.
The Sound of Nature in acrylic by AVRotor, 2016
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!
(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)
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 Tosselli’sSerenade (renamed, The Nightingale) 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)
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, 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.
.jpg)
Filipino composers: Molina, Lucio San Pedro, and Francisco Santiago
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 power Mozart 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. ~
Nature: Rivulets and Streams, mural details by AVRotor 2011
And, of course the Caruso in the animal kingdom - the frog. Here a pair of green pond frogs, attracted by their songs which are actually mating calls, will soon settle down in silent mating that last for hours.
Music of Sunrise on the Pond in acrylic by AVRotor c. 2010
Part 2 - 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.
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
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.
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!
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.
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)
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
Part 3 - Nicanor Abelardo and Francisco Santiago
- Titans in Philippine Music
They perfected the Kundiman, distinctly Filipino, into world class sonata and art song.
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Nicanor Abelardo (1893-1934) "Father of the Sonata in the Philippines".Composer, pianist, and teacher. His most popular works include the official song of the University of the Philippines,U.P. Beloved, Magbalik Ka Hirang, Himutok, Nasaan Ka Irog, Kundiman ng Luha, Bituing Marikit, and Mutya ng Pasig.
At age five the young Abelardo learned solfeggio and how to play the bandurria; at six he was already able to play the William Tell Overture on the guitar; at age eight, he composed a waltz, Ang Unang Buko, He later learned to play the piano while working for his uncle, painter Juan Abelardo, in Manila, where he studied in primary schools. He was barely 15 years old when he taught music in schools in San Ildefonso and San Miguel, Bulacan,Before he enrolled at the University of the Philippines Conservatory of Music, he worked as a pianist in pubs and theaters in Manila.
He eventually became a full-fledged instructor and obtained his teacher’s certificate in science and composition in 1921. In 1924, he became the head of the Conservatory’s composition department. He pursued further studies at the Chicago Musical College.
When he returned to the Philippines, he continued teaching at U.P. He also taught music to students in a boarding house run by his family. Among his students were National Artist Antonino Buenaventura, Alfredo Lozano and Lucino Sacramento.
Abelardo was credited for bringing the kundiman to the level of art. He also composed music for the sarswela as well as songs in different musical forms. He completed more than 140 compositions. He was given the title the "Father of the Sonata in the Philippines".
Our foremost Kundiman composer also showed the elements of modernism in his music. This is heard in his Cinderella Overture and Sinfonietta for Strings.
He died on March 21, 1934, at the age of 41. He left behind a number of unfinished works, including a symphony, an opera, and a concerto. The main theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the U.P. College of Music were named after him.
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Francisco Santiago (1889-1947) The Father of Kundiman Art Song.A renowned pianist, composer and teacher, he earned his masters degree and doctorate in music from the Conservatory of Chicago in 1924. College of Music from 1930-1946. Among his compositions are Kundiman and Anak Dalita, the first art song kundiman, was sung Royal Court of Spain upon the request of King Alfonso II. His masterpiece Concerto in B flat minor for pianoforte and orchestra was presented at the Chicago Music School, where he received his doctorate degree in 1924.
He became the Director of the University of the Philippines Conservatory of Music from 1930 to 1946. He also directed the music for such films as Manileña, Madaling Araw, and Pakiusap. Other compositions are Sakali Man, Hibik ng Filipinas, Pakiusap, Ang Pag-ibig, Suyuan, Alaala Kita, Ikaw at Ako, Ano Kaya ang Kapalaran?, Hatol Hari Kaya?, Sakali't Mamatay, Dalit ng Pag-ibig, Aking Bituin, Madaling Araw and Pagsikat ng Araw.
He died in September 28, 1947. Twenty-one years later, he was given a posthumous award as Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan by the City of Manila. A hall of BDO Makati head office is named Franscisco Santiago Hall in his honor.
Part 4 - Moonlight Sonata made a blind girl "see"
and feel a moonlit night
There was a blind girl who could not see the beauties of a moonlit night. She missed the silver sheen on trees and shrubs and grass; she could not imagine the world of milky white in the sky. A composer wanted to make his blind girl "see" and feel a moonlit night. So he created a beautiful piece of music which is now a masterpiece. The considerate and selfless composer was Beethoven and the piece of music he created is the well-known "Moonlight Sonata." (Anecdotes of the Great that help build a better Life, compiled by J Maurus, Saint Paul Publications)
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The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil, Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, it is one of Beethoven's most popular compositions for the piano. Sonata is almost a fantasy, hence the first edition is headed Sonata quasi una fantasia.
Critics are divided on Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata even after the composer was gone. Its romantic tone goes too far as to be interpreted as lament. Others interpret it as a fantasy but different from the original idea of the composer. The style was unconventional: it has three parts which are quite distinct, so that the shifting and joining the three in perfect harmony, many believe, could only be done by a genius.
It is not surprising that masterpieces are products of ideas whose time has yet to come. Geniuses think ahead of us, they are often branded controversial or revolutionary.
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Evangeline was patterned after Homer's epic, a style long discarded by poets in Longfellow's time. Yet in less than a century Walt Whitman further modified Longfellow's version into a freer and flowing poetry. This is true with Picasso leading the most radical school that led artists all over the world to accept and adopt. Hemingway's novels opened a new era of literature. We have our local versions of such radical movements. In music, Nicanor Abelardo brought the kundiman to the level of art. He also composed music for the sarswela as well as songs in different musical forms. He completed more than 140 compositions, foremost are Mutya ng Pasig, Nasaan Ka Irog and Bituwin Marikit. He was given the title the "Father of the Sonata in the Philippines".In painting Botong Francisco expanded into mural dimension cubism pioneered by French Impressionist Paul Cezanne, and further refined in classical abstract art by HR Ocampo.
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But the enduring nature of masterpieces, their timelessness and appeal, categorize them among the so-call Greats. Foremost among Beethoven's works to many of us, irrespective of audience - is Moonlight Sonata. Find time to listen to .Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and you will enjoy the serenity, the imagery of Lake Lucerne. Be transported into the land of peace and fantasy. Imagine you are that blind girl who was able to "see" and feel a moonlit night. ~
Part 5 - Don't Say Goodbye to the Violin
Included: A List of Violin PiecesThe Red Violin Synopsis
Dr Abe V Rotor
A copy of Stradivarius violin, retired.
German violin damaged by powder post beetle, so with its carrying case.
NOTE: I was able to restore these violins which I still play on them today. Thanks to my mentors in my younger years: Maestro Amselmo Pelayre, Maestro Evaristo Bolante, Uncle Mariano Navarette, the Rosal brothers: Charito, Elias and Antonio; and contemporary violinist Candido Raquepo.
Good bye, violin, you have done well your part;
your master has long been dead,
you're an orphan now bypassed by modernity,
and praised in your dying bed.
One virtuoso can play for millions in cyberspace,
faithful enough to the old school;
the avant-garde musician in many versions dare
the fine art, we may call him a fool.
Where is Elgar, Schubert, Ravel, Rachmaninoff?
Baroque, Romanesque, Gothic?
If the masters live forever in their masterpieces,
why are the youth shy and meek?
Music and noise, they bind, distinction is nil,
fashion, dance, antics deceive
the senses like Picasso's and Dali's art,
and the soulful violin to grieve.
I see a young child reach for the keyboard,
his tender fingers full of promise,
a maestro by his side, survivor of a storm
returning the music of peace.
A List of Violin Pieces
Virtuoso and popular compositions for the beginner and advanced violinist.
Search on the Internet, listen to the compositions on YouTube, download if possible. Search for many more compositions for the violin. You can be a violinist.
Virtuoso and popular compositions for the beginner and advanced violinist.
Search on the Internet, listen to the compositions on YouTube, download if possible. Search for many more compositions for the violin. You can be a violinist.
- Bach Chaconne
- Beethoven Kreutzer Sonata
- Paganini Caprice No. 1
- Wieniawski Polonaise No. 1
- Ysaye Sonata No. 8
- Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
- Sibelius Violin Concerto
- Glazunov Violin Concerto
- Elgar Violin Concerto
- Shostakovich Violin Concerto
- Monti Csardas
- Brandenburg Concertos, J.S. Bach
- D Minor Double Concerto, J. S. Bach
- Four Seasons, Vivaldi
- Nimrod, Elgar
- Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Mozart
- Messiah, Handel
- Watermusic, Handel
- Pachelbel Canon
- Second mazurka / Godard –
- Elegie / Massenet –
- Salut d'Amour / Elgar –
- Gipsy dance / Wier –
- Andante religioso / Thomé –
- My heart at thy sweet voice / Saint-Saens (Samson and Delilah)–
- Chaconne / Durand (Op.62)
- Ballade romantique / Jaggi –
- Liebestraum / Liszt (S.541)
- Poupee valsante / Poldini –
- Murmuring zephyr / Jensen –
- An den frühling / Grieg –
- Grande valse brillante / Chopin –
- Berceuse / Ilyinski (Op.13)
- Melancolie / Wier –
- Rain, the / Bohm
- Fountain, the / Bohm (Op.221)
- Ave Maria, Franz Schubert
- Flight of the Bumblebee, Jascha Heifetz / Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
- Liebesfreud, Fritz Kreisler
- Andante and Variations for violin and piano, Gioachino Rossini
- Caprice No. 24 in A minor, Op. 1/24 Niccolò Paganini
- Humoreske, Antonin Dvorák
From MovieWeb
The Red Violin: Synopsis
THE RED VIOLIN chronicles the journey of a legendary musical instrument -- a violin famous for its unusual reddish hue. Placed on the auction block in modern-day Montreal, after traveling around the globe for over three-hundred years, the violin comes to the attention of expert CHARLES MORRITZ (Samuel L. Jackson,) who mounts an investigation to authenticate the enigmatic instrument and establish its true worth.
Created by seventeenth-century Italian master violin-maker NICOLO BUSSOTTI (Carlo Cecchi) as a gift for his unborn son, the violin becomes the embodiment of Bussotti's grief when his beloved wife, ANNA (Irene Grazioli,) and his infant die in childbirth. Mysteriously, CESCA, the family's housekeeper and a reader of Tarot cards, has predicted a long and adventure-filled life for Anna, coupling her fate to the dramatic fate of the Red Violin.
From this moment on, the violin embarks on a journey through time, becoming the emotional, spiritual, and intellectual centerpiece of the lives of its various owners. As the Tarot cards predict the future "life" of the violin -- describing a death, an ocean journey, a trial, and other events that come to pass -- Morritz and his team of twentieth-century experts, scientists, and musicologists at the auction house, including EVAN WILLIAMS (Don McKellar,) use their skills and instruments to probe the secrets of the violin's past, searching for the key to its perfect acoustics and its unusual red finish. The answers can be found in the Red Violin's tumultuous history.
After Anna's death, the Red Violin leaves Italy, resurfacing in an Austrian monastery famed for its young orchestra. There, it is played by generations of orphans until it comes into the hands of six-year-old child prodigy KASPER WEISS (Christoph Koncz) in 1792. Realizing that the boy has an exceptional talent, the monks call in French music master GEORGES POUSSIN (Jean-Luc Bideau) to launch Kasper's career. The maestro recognizes the frail boy's musical potential and determines to find a patron to support him. But Poussin disapproves of Kasper's emotional dependency on the violin -- the lonely orphan even sleeps with his instrument -- and tries to separate them. As a result, Kasper becomes ill, dying at the very moment his royal audition begins.
The Red Violin is buried with Kasper, but grave-robbers steal the magnificent instrument and it ends up in the hands of nomadic gypsies. In England in 1893, the Red Violin captures the attention of FREDERICK POPE (Jason Flemyng) a Byronic violinist who enthralls audiences with his flamboyantly romantic musical style. Pope is equally passionate in his personal life. His affair with novelist VICTORIA BYRD (Greta Scacchi) becomes charged with eroticism when the Red Violin enters their lives, and sexual fulfillment and musical inspiration become one. When Victoria realizes that the Red Violin has become her rival -- a seductress who holds Pope in her power -- she tries to destroy it.
Pope's Oriental manservant rescues the Red Violin and transports it to his native Shanghai, where he sells the instrument to a pawnbroker. It languishes unnoticed in the shop for decades until a mother buys it for her young daughter XIANG PEI. Several years later, in 1965, Xiang Pei (Sylvia Chang,) now a grown woman, finds herself at the center of the maelstrom of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. A party official, she is expected to support the denunciation of a music teacher who is chastised for teaching a useless western instrument -- namely, the violin. Xiang Pei takes a chance and speaks up on behalf of the violinist, saving him from punishment. But she realizes that she must dispose of her own "corruption," the Red Violin she has owned since childhood. Rather than cast her violin to the flames, Xiang Pei locates the music teacher and implores him to take the instrument into hiding. Though aware of the risk, he hides the Red Violin in his attic, amongst dozens of other western instruments he has collected for safekeeping.
The Red Violin remains in its hiding place until the present. The Cultural Revolution long over, Chinese authorities realize the value of the music teacher's collection and decide to send the instruments to an auction house in Montreal. While other experts focus on a potential Stradivarius in the collection, New York based Charles Morritz, as tough as he is brilliant, concentrates on the beaten and battered Red Violin, conducting tests to determine if the instrument might be the lost 17th century Bussotti masterpiece. Intrigued by the violin's unusual color, Morritz sends samples of its unique red varnish for analysis.
Once Morritz establishes that the unusually-colored instrument is in fact the long-lost Red Violin, eager bidders come from all over the world to participate in the auction. They include modern-day trustees of the Austrian Monastery that raised -- and buried -- Kasper Weiss, a representative of the Frederick Pope Institute, and a Chinese businessman who knew Xiang Pei when he was a child. The Red Violin has a lasting hold on all the lives it has touched. And its newest conquest is Charles Momitz: the Red Violin has become his obsession.
Once Morritz' investigation leads him to the shocking and ultimately inspirational secret of the Red Violin, he alone understands its true value, a value that has nothing to do with money. He resolves that the violin will fulfill its original destiny -- to pass from father to child as an enduring symbol of love and the relationship between art and life. With the help of Evan Williams, Morritz substitutes a convincing fake for the precious Red Violin, hides the original under his coat, and leaves the auction to return to New York. Morritz has a different and more worthy plan for the instrument. He will present it to his child as a legacy of love, just as Bussotti hoped to do when he first created the magnificent Red Violin. Acknowledgement: MovieWeb Internet, Wikipedia, The Red Violin Movie--------------------------------------
The Red Violin touched the lives of many people, both the good and the bad; for the latter, the greedy and obsessed. Many of them changed, others have yet to learn. I hope they will. The Red Violin is a curse to those who defy true goodness. Its ending begins a cycle. And perhaps the story repeats itself if man does not reform.
Similar plots are found in John Steinbeck's The Pearl, also in The Moon Stone where a precious thing becomes a curse - and in many true-to-life stories. - AVRotor
Created by seventeenth-century Italian master violin-maker NICOLO BUSSOTTI (Carlo Cecchi) as a gift for his unborn son, the violin becomes the embodiment of Bussotti's grief when his beloved wife, ANNA (Irene Grazioli,) and his infant die in childbirth. Mysteriously, CESCA, the family's housekeeper and a reader of Tarot cards, has predicted a long and adventure-filled life for Anna, coupling her fate to the dramatic fate of the Red Violin.
From this moment on, the violin embarks on a journey through time, becoming the emotional, spiritual, and intellectual centerpiece of the lives of its various owners. As the Tarot cards predict the future "life" of the violin -- describing a death, an ocean journey, a trial, and other events that come to pass -- Morritz and his team of twentieth-century experts, scientists, and musicologists at the auction house, including EVAN WILLIAMS (Don McKellar,) use their skills and instruments to probe the secrets of the violin's past, searching for the key to its perfect acoustics and its unusual red finish. The answers can be found in the Red Violin's tumultuous history.
After Anna's death, the Red Violin leaves Italy, resurfacing in an Austrian monastery famed for its young orchestra. There, it is played by generations of orphans until it comes into the hands of six-year-old child prodigy KASPER WEISS (Christoph Koncz) in 1792. Realizing that the boy has an exceptional talent, the monks call in French music master GEORGES POUSSIN (Jean-Luc Bideau) to launch Kasper's career. The maestro recognizes the frail boy's musical potential and determines to find a patron to support him. But Poussin disapproves of Kasper's emotional dependency on the violin -- the lonely orphan even sleeps with his instrument -- and tries to separate them. As a result, Kasper becomes ill, dying at the very moment his royal audition begins.
The Red Violin is buried with Kasper, but grave-robbers steal the magnificent instrument and it ends up in the hands of nomadic gypsies. In England in 1893, the Red Violin captures the attention of FREDERICK POPE (Jason Flemyng) a Byronic violinist who enthralls audiences with his flamboyantly romantic musical style. Pope is equally passionate in his personal life. His affair with novelist VICTORIA BYRD (Greta Scacchi) becomes charged with eroticism when the Red Violin enters their lives, and sexual fulfillment and musical inspiration become one. When Victoria realizes that the Red Violin has become her rival -- a seductress who holds Pope in her power -- she tries to destroy it.
Pope's Oriental manservant rescues the Red Violin and transports it to his native Shanghai, where he sells the instrument to a pawnbroker. It languishes unnoticed in the shop for decades until a mother buys it for her young daughter XIANG PEI. Several years later, in 1965, Xiang Pei (Sylvia Chang,) now a grown woman, finds herself at the center of the maelstrom of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. A party official, she is expected to support the denunciation of a music teacher who is chastised for teaching a useless western instrument -- namely, the violin. Xiang Pei takes a chance and speaks up on behalf of the violinist, saving him from punishment. But she realizes that she must dispose of her own "corruption," the Red Violin she has owned since childhood. Rather than cast her violin to the flames, Xiang Pei locates the music teacher and implores him to take the instrument into hiding. Though aware of the risk, he hides the Red Violin in his attic, amongst dozens of other western instruments he has collected for safekeeping.
The Red Violin remains in its hiding place until the present. The Cultural Revolution long over, Chinese authorities realize the value of the music teacher's collection and decide to send the instruments to an auction house in Montreal. While other experts focus on a potential Stradivarius in the collection, New York based Charles Morritz, as tough as he is brilliant, concentrates on the beaten and battered Red Violin, conducting tests to determine if the instrument might be the lost 17th century Bussotti masterpiece. Intrigued by the violin's unusual color, Morritz sends samples of its unique red varnish for analysis.
Once Morritz establishes that the unusually-colored instrument is in fact the long-lost Red Violin, eager bidders come from all over the world to participate in the auction. They include modern-day trustees of the Austrian Monastery that raised -- and buried -- Kasper Weiss, a representative of the Frederick Pope Institute, and a Chinese businessman who knew Xiang Pei when he was a child. The Red Violin has a lasting hold on all the lives it has touched. And its newest conquest is Charles Momitz: the Red Violin has become his obsession.
Once Morritz' investigation leads him to the shocking and ultimately inspirational secret of the Red Violin, he alone understands its true value, a value that has nothing to do with money. He resolves that the violin will fulfill its original destiny -- to pass from father to child as an enduring symbol of love and the relationship between art and life. With the help of Evan Williams, Morritz substitutes a convincing fake for the precious Red Violin, hides the original under his coat, and leaves the auction to return to New York. Morritz has a different and more worthy plan for the instrument. He will present it to his child as a legacy of love, just as Bussotti hoped to do when he first created the magnificent Red Violin. Acknowledgement: MovieWeb Internet, Wikipedia, The Red Violin Movie--------------------------------------
The Red Violin touched the lives of many people, both the good and the bad; for the latter, the greedy and obsessed. Many of them changed, others have yet to learn. I hope they will. The Red Violin is a curse to those who defy true goodness. Its ending begins a cycle. And perhaps the story repeats itself if man does not reform.
Similar plots are found in John Steinbeck's The Pearl, also in The Moon Stone where a precious thing becomes a curse - and in many true-to-life stories. - AVRotor
Part 6 - Maestro Selmo Pelayre
Great Ilocano Music Teacher and Composer
In memory of the late Mr Anselmo Pelayre, foremost Ilocano music composer and arranger, teacher and conductor.
Before the break of dawn people of all walks of life - even from the farthest barrio - trek to attend the traditional misa de gallo.* There on the elevated choir of the old church stands a calmly gentleman, posed before a group of local singers. Below, the parish priest and a pair of sacristan, visibly await at the altar's entrance. In the muffled air of a old church overflowing with faithful, the clock strikes four. And the angelic celebration begins.
How I loved to play the violin during the misa de gallo. Maestro Selmo made it so.
All of a sudden you feel confident. Because you do not only play the music, you feel the music. You play in unity and harmony. You are the artist and the audience at the same time, your heart pouring out and theirs receiving. You may miss a note or two, but you don't lose the composition. You ride with the crescendo and decrescendo, swing with the cantabile, quicken with the allegro. And rise to the heavens with the Hallelujah.
How many young musicians Maestro Selmo made? I can only guess, and lose track. For music, the universal language is a language of peace and contentment, of brotherhood and true ecumenism. It is the language of the soul, and of the spirit that humanity commonly shares. Such is the measure of a maestro - in any field for that matter, illumined by the Great Teacher.
17th century church of San Vicente, Ilocos Sur
In Maestro Selmo's time it was a Phoenix bird coming out of the ashes of war, so to speak, a transition of war to peace. Childhood in my generation was short-lived. You have to mature fast and eager on behalf of the lost generation. it is responsibility, resolution to take over. And therefore, what we needed most was a guiding hand.
Imagine if there were no lullaby, no dance, no song. Mother-and-child would just be a symbol, the dance floor empty, poetry prosaic and dull, serenade lacking romance. Listen to the lullaby (Ugoy ng Duyan) of Lucio San Pedro, dance the dallot (Ilk) patterned after the dalliance of eagles for which it is performed in weddings. Sing Pamulinawen (stone-hearted Lady), Manang Biday (cheerful Ilocana lass), O, Naraniag a Bulan (Oh, Bright Moon), Diay Baybay (Over the Sea), or the hilarious Ti Ayat ti Maysa a Lakay (An old man's love for a lass), and enjoy the art of living. Be part of the element of art's gaily and timeless gifts, be part of the culture that built and preserve it. What make it truly Ilocano. And what makes a holistic life tuned with the ways of nature.
If a breeze passing through the leaves is music, so with the lapping of waves on the shore, chirping piping through a bird's nest up in a tree, bleating or mooing on the meadow, the rush of river, raindrops falling - or simply, lilting of children flying kites - you are blessed. If these are perceived as music, and you are aware that the origin of music is Nature, like Beethoven's Pastoral - you are blessed. Listen to the rowing song, planting song, humming on a lonely path. You may have been among the pupils of Maestro Selmo. You must have heard his plaintive country songs and happy folk music on tape or CD. You too, must have been among the faithful attending the misa de gallo in his time.
The compositions of Maestro Selmo may have lived with the misa de gallo until church music either became impromptu or electronic; it may have lived with the sarzuela until the stage was replaced by cinema, the orchestra by rock band, treasured masterpieces commercialized, live performance abridged and gimmicked, and the harana (serenade) a Shakespearean past.
And yet he carried his music to America, with his family, and kababayan, their friends and acquaintances, who, like him may not have left their homelands - were life and living less demanding, more promising, more peaceful, more fulfilling, and brighter for the next and new generations. If his music has brought light to life to be shared with one and many, then he shall have earned his place a genius in the art of music. Because he elevated music to the level of philosophy.
And so the vacuum became ours. Inevitably. It became a greater challenge indeed. But this is the whole essence of humanity. Dissemination. It is the binhi principle in action. It is the work of the Sower. And Maestro Selmo did it - through music. ~
Thomas Gray may have "perfected" his masterpiece Elegy on a Country Churchyard, yet this particular stanza remains unsettling. It is because life that is well earned, well shared, well devoted to the Creator is never wasted at all.
Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The deep unfathomed caves the ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste their sweetness in the desert air."Thomas Gray, Elegy on the Country Churchyard
Part 7 - Therapeutic Effects of Violin and Nature Composition
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SUPPLEMENT: Search the Web or Google for each video separately.
1. Balitang Amianan: Tinaguriang 'Obra House', Agaw-Pansin sa GMA
2. Know your North Season 7 Episode 6 Rotor Extra Mile Production
SUPPLEMENT: Search the Web or Google for each video separately.
1. Balitang Amianan: Tinaguriang 'Obra House', Agaw-Pansin sa GMA
2. Know your North Season 7 Episode 6 Rotor Extra Mile Production
for Victory Liner
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Author plays the violin
The whole idea of relaxation is in disciplining the body to budget life’s energies, and to immerse oneself to relaxing moods. Music and nature are a great inexhaustible source. Plato and Confucius looked at music as a department of ethics. They saw the correspondence between character of man and music. Great music, they believed, is in harmony with the universe, restoring order to the physical world. Aristotle on the other hand, the greatest naturalist of the ancient world supported the platonic view, which through the Renaissance to the present dominate the concept of great composition. Great music has always been associated with God’s creation.
Nature on the other hand, produces calming effects to the nerve. Sightseeing, picnic and camping are a good break to prosaic city life. Different from ordinary amusements in the park or theater, the countryside is one arena of peace and quiet. Features on TV and print media provide but an alternative scenario. Today “canned” Nature is being introduced in many forms such as traveling planetarium, CD-ROM Nature Series, Ecology Village, and the like, to illustrate the growing concern of people to experience the positive effects of Nature in an urban setting characterized by a stressful modern life.
This experiment is based on the premise that the combined effects of music and Nature help reduce tension in daily living, particularly among working students in the city.
Conceptual Framework
A- Tension tends to dominate the body to relax, resulting in tension build-up in the muscles;
Methodology
The Violin and Nature recorded in compact disc (CD) was then presented for evaluation to students in Research Methodology at the UST Graduate School on two aspects, namely, the content of the tape and the perception of the respondents. Physiologic response was determined by measuring the pulse rate before and after listening to eight sample compositions from the tape for thirty minutes.
These are as follows:
1. Serenade (Nightingale) by Toselli (semi- classical)
2. Meditation, from the Thais by Massenet (classical)
3. Lara’s Theme (sound track of the movie, Dr. Zhivago)
4. Beyond the Sunset (ballad)
5. Paper Roses (popular)
6. A Certain Smile (popular)
7. Fascination (popular dance music)
8. Home on the Range (country song)
Respondents Profile
This is the profile of the 42 respondents, which made up one class in research methodology. They are predominantly female students (81%), employed (86%), with ages from 21 to 29 years old (76%).
Content Analysis
The average pulse rates before and after listening to the tape are 79.47 and 73.29 per minute, respectively, or a difference of 6.18. Statistically, the difference is significant, thus confirming the relaxing effects to the respondents after listening to the CD.
Perception
The ten criteria used in rating the perception of the respondents are ranked as follows, adopting the Likert Scale. Note: A scale of 1 to 5 was used, where 1 is very poor, 2 poor, 3 fair, 4 good, and 5 very good.
Criteria Rating Rank
The means the first three criteria fall between good and very good, while the others, except the 10th, are between fair and good. This finding supports the positive relaxing effects of Violin and Nature.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Listening to Violin and Nature slows down pulse rate significantly, thus reducing tension, and brings the listener closer to a state of relaxation. The effects are measured as based on ten criteria. Topping the scores which are classified Very Good are:
1. One has the feeling of being transported to a Nature /Wildlife Scene;
3. It is the violin which mimics the sound of Nature - lambs, stream flowing, cows on the meadow, and the distant thunder, all put into one beautiful composition - Pastoral;
4. It is the violin that accompanies perfectly the song of the Nightingale, the masterpiece of Andrei Rieu, which he adapted from Enrico Tosseli’s Serenade, reversing its theme of "Regret" to one that is happy as the Nightingale bird that sings in the night.
9. It is also our own Kabayao who skillfully translated with the violin Filipino compositions into immortal classics. Gilopez Kabayao has been honored worldwide for his violin virtuosity and using his and his family's musical gifts to touch the lives of people.
Violins must be checked and played regularly to enhance their sound quality. A violin which has not been played for some time loses its timbre and radiance, like a singer who has stopped exercising his vocal chord.
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The violin, while it has ancient origins, acquired most of its modern characteristics in 16th-century Italy, with some further modifications occurring in the 18th century. Violinists and collectors particularly prize the instruments made by the Gasparo da Salò, Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Stradivari, Guarneri and Amati families from the 16th to the 18th century in Brescia and Cremona and by Jacob Stainer in Austria. (Wikipedia)
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If there is any musical instrument that appreciates with time, count on the violin. The more antique it is and it is "original" the more it is prized. An original Stradivarius was auctioned in the US for than $3 million. Since then there was a frantic search for the other Stradivarius violins - at least a dozen believed to be still existing.
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Stradivarius instruments are recognized by their inscription in Latin: Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno [date] Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, [made in the year ...].
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My first violin was a three-quarter, then moved on to the standard (4/4) violin. Children can start early with the one-half or the three-fourth violin, to be able to reach the strings and learn the rudiments of this enigmatic classical instrument. The violin was already in its form as we know it today as early as during the Renaissance in Europe.
It was during the Spanish conquest in 1521 and subsequent colonization of the Philippines that the violin - and other classical instruments found their way to the hands of Filipinos - and were passed on through generations. One old violin found its way to my family. My dad got a 1776 Czechoslovakian violin, Guadagnini , which he gave to me as a gift in high school. It is the most treasured of all my violin collections.
Parts of a Violin
Checking acoustic soundness; setting the bridge and strings,
and post (inside); repairing a badly damaged violin;
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Antonio Stradivari (1644? - December 18, 1737) was an Italian luthier (maker of violins and other stringed instruments), the most prominent member of that profession. The Latin form of his surname, "Stradivarius" - sometimes shortened to "Strad" - is often used to refer to his instruments.
Edgar Bundy (1862-1922) painting of Antonio Stradivari in his workshop.1893
Violin -Stradivarius, Palacio Real, Madrid 
Stradivarius violin: front and profile
Messiah Violin
Acknowledgment: Dr Progresso Reviews
Long horned grasshopper produces a sound katydid-
katydid-katydid... for which it got its name. It is music
to the ear, soothing and pleasant, it will lull one to sleep.
What makes a garden an ideal place for the relaxation may miss the eye. Beyond the beauty of flowers, of the diversity of life forms, and the coolness it brings to a tired soul, there is still one more thing a nature lover must not miss: a night of a music, courtesy of nature’s miniature musicians.
I refer to these principal singers, the cricket (Acheta domesticus and Gryllus sp.) and the long-horned grasshopper or katydid (Microcentrum rhombifolium), all belonging to a large group, Order Orthoptera, in which the grasshopper is a typical member.
Since childhood I have always been fascinated by insect music. Stealthily, in many attempts, I tried to look for the singer; but on getting nearer to the source of the music, the singer abruptly stopped. I learned later that these insects are ventriloquists and a slight turn of their wings or bodies would deceive the hunter.
But not until I finally succeeded in pinning down with a flashlight the little Caruso in the middle of his performance.
He is well hidden behind a leaf, brown to black, compact and sturdy, nearly two inches long, with a long tail and a pair of antennae. His front wings are raised 45 degrees above his abdomen on which the hind wings are folded. This is the cricket’s fiddling position. Now he rubs the two leathery wings against each other in a back and forth motions, a process called stridulating, which inspired man to invent the violin. On closer examination the base of the front in lined with sharp edge, the scrapper, while the ventral side has a file like ridge, the file, which represents the bow of the violin.
And what about the stereoscopic sound effect? A pair of tympana, which are drum-like organs, found at the base of the front tibia, are actually ears which, together with the raised wings, serve as resonator, sending the sound to as far as a mile away on a still night.
Now let us analyze the music produced or is it only a sound, mistaken for some music qualities? A sound produced by a single stroke called pulse. Each pulse is composed of a number of individual tooth strokes of the scraper and file. Pulse rate is from four to five per second, but on warm summer night the rate becomes faster; thus, cricket are not only watchdogs (they stop when they sense an intruder), they are also indicator of temperature – and perhaps the coming of bad weather. It is for these reasons, other than their music, that the Chinese and the Japanese love them as pets.
The pulses of cricket are relatively musical; that is, they can usually be assigned a definite pitch, varying from 1,500 to 10,000 hertz, depending on the species. Those of the long-horned grasshopper or katydid are more noise like; that is, they contain a wide band of frequencies, including clicking and lapsing, and cannot be assigned to a definite pitch. The monotony of its sound must have led to the coining of the insect’s name, katydid-katydid-katydid…
There are three musical pieces the cricket play. Calling songs are clear crisp, and loud, which, of course, suit the intention when a female comes around and nudges the singing male, his music becomes soft and romantic, lasting for many minute to hours, and he forgets his role of warning of an intruder or telling of the coming of storm. Anyone who is love- struck is like that.
But worse can come all of a sudden. This sentinel falls silent as he takes the bride. And when another suitor is around, this Valentino takes a fighting stance and sings the Storm the Bastille, a battle song.
I came across studies on insect music. I began to take interest, imitating it with the violin. It is impossible and the audiospectrogram tells why. Biologically, only the members of the same species understand one another. No two species can communicate vis-à-vis this auditory means. This is one area in development biology, which has not been fully explored. How did this mechanism of species communication evolve? With computers today, can it be explored as an alternative and safe means of controlling destructive species? Maybe we can mimic the music a species produces to lure its members, then trap or eliminate them.
As the garden meets sunrise with fluttering butterflies, so does it enters the night with an array of concerto and orchestra music, and the garden becomes a place for meditation. I say that the music produced by this insect –whatever is the interpretation - is a sound of peace and a chant of praise for life itself. The chores of the day vanish easily, and I find the evening so relaxing and conducive to good sleep - and dreams.
The great Charles Darwin himself expressed his deep feelings for these night’s musicians in his book, “Cricket at the Heart”. He said, “I love it for the many times I have heard it, and the many thoughts its harmless music has given me.”
Carolus Linneaus was more affected by these insects. He kept them to send him to sleep. Japanese children delight in collecting them, as American children trap fireflies. Caged crickets are sold in shops. Haven’t I found a battery- operated caged cricket lately? Computer age! Poet David McCord laments, “The cricket’s gone. We only hear machinery.”
As for me, I still find peace with these humble companions in the night. ~
Katydid, (left) 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, attracted by their songs which are actually mating calls, will soon settle down in silent mating that last for hours.~
Part 14 - Violin Recital
NOTE: The "graduation" equivalence after finishing a set of music lessons, like in violin and piano, is having to give a recital, or to demonstrate what one has learned (and developed as skill) in front of an audience. In the 1500s, recital was strictly a legal term, the "statement of relevant facts," but the musical meaning had come into use by the 1800s. The root is the Latin word recitare, "repeat from memory." That's the reason one has to play without reading notes in a recital.
Accomplished pianist Jen Belar plays in his leisure time classical music on a grand piano. Photos were taken from the Mall lobby by the author. Vertis North QC, March 16, 2019.
Dr and Mrs Abe and Cecille
Rotor pose with the virtuoso
after his superb performance
at nearby Katherine's Cafe
where he is head of operations.
"A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?" - Albert Einstein
Music must be elevated from the level of entertainment and expression of skills to one that brings the listener to a state of catharsis, relieving him of the stresses and tensions of daily living. Music therapy is now recognized as part of alternative medicine. There are musical compositions that bring about the so-called Mozart Effect, named after Amadeus Mozart whose compositions are acclaimed by scientists to be the most therapeutic of all musical compositions, even among his contemporaries in the classical and romantic schools.
Author plays the violin
This article is the result of a research conducted by the author with his class at the UST Graduate School as respondents to the hypothesis that the combination of Violin and Nature sounds has therapeutic effects to the listener. And if so, how? What aspects of our body physiology, mind, psyche, and spirit are affected? In what ways, and how do we measure such effects?
Cover of tape, later copied into CD. Shorter versions are available: Violin and Birds, Violin and Waves
Can auditory art be developed by converting word to music, and re-create the sound of nature to accompany it? The idea is to find a compatible blend of science - the prosaic and formal, with humanities - the entertaining, cultural, and the sounds of nature, definitely a rare experience that takes place in the inner vision of the mind. Violin and Nature is a CD recording or 32 extemporaneous popular and semi-classical compositions played on the violin by the author with accompaniment of birds, insects, wind, waterfall and running stream.
People say, “ Relaks lang” or “just do it” as part of daily conversation. Either it is taken as advice or compliment, the message is clear: life today is growing tenser. “ Take it easy” has a reassuring note that everybody must learn to live in a stressful world.
Both the poor and rich are subject to different forms of stress, so with the city and village dweller. Ironically, stress does not spare growing affluence. In fact, it persists invariably throughout life, virtually from womb to tomb.
The idea of dealing with tension or stress is how one is able to reduce it effectively so as to enjoy life and get rid of its complications from headaches to various psychosomatic symptoms- and eventual health problems, if it is not checked on time.
One proposal is the use of therapeutic effects of music and nature, thus the rationale of this experiment that employs the combined soothing sound of the violin, and the harmony of nature.
Music is well known to reduce tension. Pipe-in music increases work efficiency in corporate offices, takes out boredom in otherwise monotonous assignments, and fosters proper attitude and disposition, when correctly applied. In fact, scientists have established the biological basis of music by being able to increase the production efficiency in poultry and livestock with the use of background music. The key is the reduction of stress in the animal. The same result has yet to be established in plants.
A stressful life builds tension in the body. Headache, wakefulness, palpitation, indigestion, trembling and many other symptoms, which wear away the life force, accompany tension. Tired nerves need rest and quiet, as nature needs time to recuperate her exhausted energies.
What is tension? It is the effort that is manifested in the shortening of muscle fibers. Physiologists compare muscle tension with “neuromuscular relaxation” to differentiate popular interpretation of relaxation as amusement, recreation, or hobbies. To be relaxed is the direct physiology opposite of being excited or disturbed.
Neurosis and psychoneurosis are at the same time physiological disturbance, for they are forms of tension disorders. Therefore, the key to treatment lies in relaxation.
Who are victims of tension? Everybody is a candidate. These are models of tensed individuals: the “burnt out” housewife, the tagasalo in the family, the gifted child, the dominant lola, the authoritative patriarch. These persons themselves are not only victims of tension; they spread tension among people around them.
Multitudes long for a better life, but they lack courage and resolution to break away from the power of habit. On the other hand, many escape from the harsh realities of life by taking alcohol and drugs.
Hypothesis
Can auditory art be developed by converting word to music, and re-create the sound of nature to accompany it? The idea is to find a compatible blend of science - the prosaic and formal, with humanities - the entertaining, cultural, and the sounds of nature, definitely a rare experience that takes place in the inner vision of the mind. Violin and Nature is a CD recording or 32 extemporaneous popular and semi-classical compositions played on the violin by the author with accompaniment of birds, insects, wind, waterfall and running stream.
People say, “ Relaks lang” or “just do it” as part of daily conversation. Either it is taken as advice or compliment, the message is clear: life today is growing tenser. “ Take it easy” has a reassuring note that everybody must learn to live in a stressful world.
Both the poor and rich are subject to different forms of stress, so with the city and village dweller. Ironically, stress does not spare growing affluence. In fact, it persists invariably throughout life, virtually from womb to tomb.
The idea of dealing with tension or stress is how one is able to reduce it effectively so as to enjoy life and get rid of its complications from headaches to various psychosomatic symptoms- and eventual health problems, if it is not checked on time.
One proposal is the use of therapeutic effects of music and nature, thus the rationale of this experiment that employs the combined soothing sound of the violin, and the harmony of nature.
Music is well known to reduce tension. Pipe-in music increases work efficiency in corporate offices, takes out boredom in otherwise monotonous assignments, and fosters proper attitude and disposition, when correctly applied. In fact, scientists have established the biological basis of music by being able to increase the production efficiency in poultry and livestock with the use of background music. The key is the reduction of stress in the animal. The same result has yet to be established in plants.
A stressful life builds tension in the body. Headache, wakefulness, palpitation, indigestion, trembling and many other symptoms, which wear away the life force, accompany tension. Tired nerves need rest and quiet, as nature needs time to recuperate her exhausted energies.
What is tension? It is the effort that is manifested in the shortening of muscle fibers. Physiologists compare muscle tension with “neuromuscular relaxation” to differentiate popular interpretation of relaxation as amusement, recreation, or hobbies. To be relaxed is the direct physiology opposite of being excited or disturbed.
Neurosis and psychoneurosis are at the same time physiological disturbance, for they are forms of tension disorders. Therefore, the key to treatment lies in relaxation.
Who are victims of tension? Everybody is a candidate. These are models of tensed individuals: the “burnt out” housewife, the tagasalo in the family, the gifted child, the dominant lola, the authoritative patriarch. These persons themselves are not only victims of tension; they spread tension among people around them.
Multitudes long for a better life, but they lack courage and resolution to break away from the power of habit. On the other hand, many escape from the harsh realities of life by taking alcohol and drugs.
Hypothesis
The whole idea of relaxation is in disciplining the body to budget life’s energies, and to immerse oneself to relaxing moods. Music and nature are a great inexhaustible source. Plato and Confucius looked at music as a department of ethics. They saw the correspondence between character of man and music. Great music, they believed, is in harmony with the universe, restoring order to the physical world. Aristotle on the other hand, the greatest naturalist of the ancient world supported the platonic view, which through the Renaissance to the present dominate the concept of great composition. Great music has always been associated with God’s creation.
Nature on the other hand, produces calming effects to the nerve. Sightseeing, picnic and camping are a good break to prosaic city life. Different from ordinary amusements in the park or theater, the countryside is one arena of peace and quiet. Features on TV and print media provide but an alternative scenario. Today “canned” Nature is being introduced in many forms such as traveling planetarium, CD-ROM Nature Series, Ecology Village, and the like, to illustrate the growing concern of people to experience the positive effects of Nature in an urban setting characterized by a stressful modern life.
This experiment is based on the premise that the combined effects of music and Nature help reduce tension in daily living, particularly among working students in the city.
Conceptual Framework
A- Tension tends to dominate the body to relax, resulting in tension build-up in the muscles;
B- Music (violin solos) and Nature’s sounds( birds, running stream etc.) make a composition which provides a rare listening experience in varying intensity; and
C- The experience enhances relaxation, reduces tension and its physiologic effects in the individual.
The Violin and Nature recorded in compact disc (CD) was then presented for evaluation to students in Research Methodology at the UST Graduate School on two aspects, namely, the content of the tape and the perception of the respondents. Physiologic response was determined by measuring the pulse rate before and after listening to eight sample compositions from the tape for thirty minutes.
These are as follows:
1. Serenade (Nightingale) by Toselli (semi- classical)
2. Meditation, from the Thais by Massenet (classical)
3. Lara’s Theme (sound track of the movie, Dr. Zhivago)
4. Beyond the Sunset (ballad)
5. Paper Roses (popular)
6. A Certain Smile (popular)
7. Fascination (popular dance music)
8. Home on the Range (country song)
Respondents Profile
This is the profile of the 42 respondents, which made up one class in research methodology. They are predominantly female students (81%), employed (86%), with ages from 21 to 29 years old (76%).
Content Analysis
The respondents counted eight tunes or pieces, of which 5 are familiar to them. They identified three non-living sounds (running stream, wind, and waterfall, aside from the violin), and two living sounds (mainly birds).
Physiologic Response
Physiologic Response
The average pulse rates before and after listening to the tape are 79.47 and 73.29 per minute, respectively, or a difference of 6.18. Statistically, the difference is significant, thus confirming the relaxing effects to the respondents after listening to the CD.
Perception
The ten criteria used in rating the perception of the respondents are ranked as follows, adopting the Likert Scale. Note: A scale of 1 to 5 was used, where 1 is very poor, 2 poor, 3 fair, 4 good, and 5 very good.
Criteria Rating Rank
1. One has the feeling of being
transported to a Nature/Wildlife scene. 4.48 1
2. Listening to the tape creates an aura
of peace and serenity. 4.39 2
3. The composition is soothing to hear,
Has calming effect on the nerves. 4.24 3
4. The composition creates a meditative
mood. 3.95 4
5. It brings reminiscence to the
listener of a past experience. 3.64 5
6. It helps one in trying to
forget his problems. 3.59 6
7. One has the felling of being
transported heavenward, to Cloud 9. 3.55 7
8. There is tendency to sleep while
listening to the composition. 3.52 8
9. It brings about a nostalgic feeling. 3.19 9
10. The composition makes one
sad and melancholic. 2.55 10
transported to a Nature/Wildlife scene. 4.48 1
2. Listening to the tape creates an aura
of peace and serenity. 4.39 2
3. The composition is soothing to hear,
Has calming effect on the nerves. 4.24 3
4. The composition creates a meditative
mood. 3.95 4
5. It brings reminiscence to the
listener of a past experience. 3.64 5
6. It helps one in trying to
forget his problems. 3.59 6
7. One has the felling of being
transported heavenward, to Cloud 9. 3.55 7
8. There is tendency to sleep while
listening to the composition. 3.52 8
9. It brings about a nostalgic feeling. 3.19 9
10. The composition makes one
sad and melancholic. 2.55 10
Analysis and Interpretation
The means the first three criteria fall between good and very good, while the others, except the 10th, are between fair and good. This finding supports the positive relaxing effects of Violin and Nature.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Listening to Violin and Nature slows down pulse rate significantly, thus reducing tension, and brings the listener closer to a state of relaxation. The effects are measured as based on ten criteria. Topping the scores which are classified Very Good are:
1. One has the feeling of being transported to a Nature /Wildlife Scene;
2. Listening to the tape creates an aura of peace and serenity; and
3. The composition is soothing to hear, and has calming effect on the nerves.
There are six other parameters that support the hypothesis that the CD is relaxing. This is different from its effect of bringing nostalgia, sadness and melancholy that received the lowest scores and rankings.
However, there is need to improve the quality of the compositions, and their recording. It is also recommended that similar evaluation be conducted on other age groups and people of different walks of life who are similarly subject to stressful life and environment. ~
Author's children play in a "home concert."
There are six other parameters that support the hypothesis that the CD is relaxing. This is different from its effect of bringing nostalgia, sadness and melancholy that received the lowest scores and rankings.
However, there is need to improve the quality of the compositions, and their recording. It is also recommended that similar evaluation be conducted on other age groups and people of different walks of life who are similarly subject to stressful life and environment. ~
Part 8 - Ten Songs of the Violin
Dr Abe V Rotor
I love the violin. It is not only music that it creates, it conveys the thoughts, feelings and soul of the player. And playing not only to himself, but to the whole world.
1. It is Vivaldi’s violin that brings into our living room the Four Seasons at any time of the year;
2. It is Beethoven’s symphony he wrote for Napoleon, whom he revered so much, but at the end, changed his dedication of the piece to the French people;
2. It is Beethoven’s symphony he wrote for Napoleon, whom he revered so much, but at the end, changed his dedication of the piece to the French people;
This is the violin I played in my elementary and high school days. It's a 1776 Guadagnini violin made in Czechoslovakia. I still play on it today with my children and grandchildren.
5. It is the violin with organ accompaniment that literally brings down to earth God, His saints and angels in Michelangelo’s Sistine chapel.
6. It is the violin that gives the peak of ascendancy in the world’s greatest religious chorus Alleluia by Frederick Handel.
7. It is the violin that captures the ultimate in musical dexterity of Paganini; and the sensual appeal in Ravel’s Bolero.
8. It is our own Redentor Romero’s (PHOTO) playing the violin that brought pride to the Philippines while conducting the world’s famous Philharmonic Orchestra in New York.
10. It is Requiem Mozart wrote for a strange visitor in the night who never returned, and at Mozart’s death the music became his own requiem. ~
Part 9 - The Violin - the Soulful Musical Instrument
Happiness is a thing to be practiced, like the violin.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog
Violins must be checked and played regularly to enhance their sound quality. A violin which has not been played for some time loses its timbre and radiance, like a singer who has stopped exercising his vocal chord.
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The violin, while it has ancient origins, acquired most of its modern characteristics in 16th-century Italy, with some further modifications occurring in the 18th century. Violinists and collectors particularly prize the instruments made by the Gasparo da Salò, Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Stradivari, Guarneri and Amati families from the 16th to the 18th century in Brescia and Cremona and by Jacob Stainer in Austria. (Wikipedia)
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If there is any musical instrument that appreciates with time, count on the violin. The more antique it is and it is "original" the more it is prized. An original Stradivarius was auctioned in the US for than $3 million. Since then there was a frantic search for the other Stradivarius violins - at least a dozen believed to be still existing.
I received a dozen calls and personal visits from my friends looking for a Stradivarius. One decoyed a ball park price. Who knows if there's one in the Philippines?
To my surprise a religious guest visited me and asked if I know of a violin there has a hand written certification in ink by the master violin maker Stradivarius. The inscription is supposed to be expertly hidden in the violin's chamber and can be seen only through the sound hole with the aid of a magnifying glass. What a luck if indeed this is true. That would mean a fortune. I related to prominent violinists like the late Professor Paulino Capitulo of the Manila Symphony of this ambitious quest. He wryly commented, "Treasure hunting, huh!"
Because of this incident, I am posting an article I sourced from the Internet, "Stradivarius Violin - How Genuine?" See Part 3: The Violin - Beware of "Experts" How do you know if a Stradivarius is Genuine?
Because of this incident, I am posting an article I sourced from the Internet, "Stradivarius Violin - How Genuine?" See Part 3: The Violin - Beware of "Experts" How do you know if a Stradivarius is Genuine?
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Stradivarius instruments are recognized by their inscription in Latin: Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno [date] Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, [made in the year ...].
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My first violin was a three-quarter, then moved on to the standard (4/4) violin. Children can start early with the one-half or the three-fourth violin, to be able to reach the strings and learn the rudiments of this enigmatic classical instrument. The violin was already in its form as we know it today as early as during the Renaissance in Europe.
It was during the Spanish conquest in 1521 and subsequent colonization of the Philippines that the violin - and other classical instruments found their way to the hands of Filipinos - and were passed on through generations. One old violin found its way to my family. My dad got a 1776 Czechoslovakian violin, Guadagnini , which he gave to me as a gift in high school. It is the most treasured of all my violin collections.
Part 2: Restoring Old Violins
The first time I tried to repair a violin was when I was in Grade 3. Two strings broke, the bridge cracked and all pegs got stuck up. Lolo Mariano Navarette whom I fondly called Uncle Anno came to the rescue. He was a violin maker and his children were all musicians. Manong John and Manong Berning both played the violin and Manang Katy would accompany them on the piano. What a lovely weekend the family did make! Anyone passing by would pause and looked up to this house of music. And we kids in our time would dream someday of becoming musicians.
Uncle Anno took the dilapidated instrument and gently examined it. "Come," he said, and we went to his small shop, a couple of blocks away from our house. Step by step the instrument returned to its original form and at the end of the day began playing the melodies of Mozart and Liszt. I did not only witness a Lazarus, I was transported into the land of the cherubim.
The violin takes you away from the cares and worries of the world. The soul leaves behind the material world. There musical notes are not mere symbols, they are real expressions. The sounds of Nature - waves, breeze, birdsong, even thunder - transform into music which only the violin can best mimic. But mimicry is a biological term; the violin does more - it elevates it to the level of humanities and the highest and most fleeting form of art.
Even the blue sky - silent and seemingly empty - exudes music, at first inaudible, then incubating into a musical composition. Music of the great naturalists like Beethoven can do just that. The conventions of music become intimately personal to a violinist and no one would question his honest interpretation emanating from mind-heart-soul. This is one aspect of the universality of music as a language for all humanity.
I saw the transformation of the forgotten musical instrument as Uncle Anno brought it back to life.
Since then for the past sixty years, I became a disciple of this unsung great violin maker, the local counterpart of Stradivarius - here in San Vicente, a small town three kilometers west of Vigan, which in many respects was then a little Vienna (Austria), and a little Cremona (Italy).
I really did not make violins, instead I repaired damaged ones and restored those that have been put away for a long time. Some relegated to the garbage bin. More often I would set (break, in technical parlance) new units until they "open up" into fullest expression. And I would check violins regularly or on occasions.
Violin is my favorite thing. Like in the song of Maria in The Sound of Music, the violin perks me up, "... and then I won't feel so sad." More so, every time a small child carrying a violin would come to me. Just like Uncle Anno, I would examine his violin and put music in it that would last a lifetime. ~
Parts of a Violin
Checking acoustic soundness; setting the bridge and strings, and post (inside); repairing a badly damaged violin;
Part 3: The Violin - Beware of the "Experts." How Genuine are Stradivarius Violins?
NOTE: This article was published in Dr Progresso Reviews on the Internet. I decided to post it in this blog with the aim at making people aware on the genuineness of violins claimed to be original Stradivarius. This is a guide to unwary victims after a guest came to the museum looking for an original Stradivarius. For sixty long years as a violin enthusiast I never had a chance to get hold of a genuine Strad. Beware of "copy" versions. This holds true to other famous brands. - Dr AV Rotor
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Antonio Stradivari (1644? - December 18, 1737) was an Italian luthier (maker of violins and other stringed instruments), the most prominent member of that profession. The Latin form of his surname, "Stradivarius" - sometimes shortened to "Strad" - is often used to refer to his instruments.
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Edgar Bundy (1862-1922) painting of Antonio Stradivari in his workshop.1893So You Think You’ve Found A Strad? Guess Again!
In 1908 a famous Belgian violinist named Eugene Ysaye was on a concert tour in St. Petersburg in Russia. He had with him four Stradivarius violins. One of the Strads was stolen from his hotel room, and was not recovered.
In 1951 a soldier in the Korean war found a violin hidden in the wall of a rundown farm house. It was subsequently authenticated as a genuine Stradivarius.
Out of such stories as these – which are supposed to be true – has arisen a collectors’ myth. That myth is that you might find an incredibly valuable Strad yourself – hidden away in your attic or basement or perhaps at a yard sale down the block. And many people actually have found violins which carry the name of that master genius of violin-makers, the maestro of Cremona, Antonius Stradivari (whose name some misrepresent as “Stradivarius”). But these people are most often the victims of a cruel, if perhaps unwitting, hoax.
Antonio Stradivari was born in 1644 and set up his shop in Cremona, Italy, where he made violins and other stringed instruments (harps, guitars, violas and cellos) until his death in 1737. He took a basic concept for the violin and refined its geometry and design to produce an instrument which has served violin makers ever since as the standard to strive for. His violins sang as none had before them, with a clearer voice and greater volume, and with a pureness of tone which made them seem almost alive in the hands of a great violinist. His was one of three great families of violin makers in Cremona during the 1700s and 1800s, the other two being those of Guarneri and Amati, but Stradivari’s violins have been judged by history to be the best. Two of Stradivari’s sons continued his work after his death.
Every Strad was made entirely by hand, with a painstaking care devoted to the selection of woods and even the texture of the finishing varnishes. This was no assembly-line operation, and the best estimates have Antonio producing no more than around 1,100 instruments, including the violins, in his entire lifetime. Of these, an estimated 630 to 650 still survive the more than 250 years since they were made. 512 of these survivors are violins. Many others were destroyed in fires or other accidents, were lost at sea or in floods, and some were destroyed by the fire-bombing of Dresden in World War II. Virtually none are unaccounted for. Today a genuine Strad is worth two to three million dollars.
So where did those violins which have turned up in attics and closets all over the world come from? Why would anyone who found one think he had a real Strad? The answer is very simple: copies.
Today master violin-makers are using modern science – including the latest scanning devices and digital imaging techniques – to unlock the “secrets” of Stradivari and recreate instruments of his quality. One Canadian violin-maker, Joseph Curtin, and his American partner, Gregg Alf, created a copy, right down to every scratch and shading of varnish, of a specific instrument known as the Booth Stradivari, which Stradivari made in 1716. It sold at a Sotheby’s auction in 1993 for $42,460 – to a concert violinist.
But for close to two centuries much shabbier copies have been made and sold – bearing “Stradivarius” labels. For this reason, the presence of a Stradivarius label in a violin does not mean the instrument is genuine.
The usual label – both genuine and false – carries the Latin inscription “Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno [date],” which gives the maker (Antonio Stradivari), the place (Cremonia), and the year of manufacture, the actual date either printed or handwritten. It was this Latin label which gave the world the name “Stradivarius.” After 1891, when the United States required it, copies might also have the actual country of origin printed in English at the bottom of the label: “Made in Czechoslovakia,” or just “Germany.”
Hundreds of thousands of these copies were made in Germany, France, central and eastern Europe, England, China, and Japan, starting in the mid-19th century and continuing into current times – and literally millions exist today. They bear counterfeit labels proclaiming them to be by not only Stradivari but Vuillaume, Amati, Bergonzi, Guarneri, Gasparo da Salo, Stainer, and others.
Music shops and mail order houses originally sold these violins at prices which made it plain no deception of the buyer was intended – some were claimed to be “tributes” – they ranged from $8.00 to $27.00 apiece, and were identified in advertisements as “copies” or “models.” But their similarity to the instruments they were copied from is minimal to a trained eye – or ear. While some involved hand-crafting, the vast majority were mass-produced. It was not until 1957 that the words “Copy of” were added to some of the labels.
Even today one can find advertisements for a “Stradivarius Violin” which comes “Complete with Decorative Stand and Bow,” and is claimed to be “a wonderful replica of the eminent Stradivarius violin,” designed for displaying “on the wall or atop a bureau or coffee table” for a mere $29.95.
Once in a while a real Strad turns up – usually after a theft or accidental loss.
In 1967 a 1732 Strad, named for the Duke of Alcantara and owned by UCLA’s Department of Music, was loaned to a member of UCLA’s Roth String Quartet. He apparently either left it on top of his car and drove off, or had it stolen from inside his car. A woman turned up with it in 1994, claiming her former husband’s aunt had given it to her husband, and she had acquired it in a divorce settlement. She said their family lore had it that the aunt had found the violin beside a road. UCLA eventually gave the woman $11,500 to regain the violin and avoid a protracted court fight.
So what should you do if you find a violin with a Stradivarius label – or that of any other famous violin maker from centuries ago? You should have it appraised by an expert, and most such experts are members of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers. Expect to pay for the appraisal. The authentication of a violin can be determined only by a careful examination of such factors as the design, model, craftsmanship, wood, and varnish. It’s not hard to separate out the mass-produced violins from the actual hand-made instruments, but it takes a well-trained violin appraiser to be able to attribute the violin to a specific maker or place of manufacture.
Don’t expect your find to be genuine. The odds against finding the real thing are slim to none. Nevertheless, you might have a decent violin, and if you can play the instrument, that will be its own reward.~
Violin -Stradivarius, Palacio Real, Madrid
Stradivarius violin: front and profile
Messiah Violin
Famous Violinist-Composers
• Johann Sebastian Bach
• Ludwig van Beethoven
• Johannes Brahms
• George Enescu
• Fritz Kreisler
• Rodolphe Kreutzer
• Felix Mendelssohn
• Claudio Monteverdi
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Niccolo Paganini
. Redentor Romero, Filipino
. Redentor Romero, Filipino
Acknowledgment: Dr Progresso Reviews
Part 10 - Can fish understand human music?
"Our worlds apart, sea and land
across a thin transparent sand." avr
Dr Abe V Rotor
Author plays violin before a home aquarium of Oscar fish.
I touch your senses with the violinin a variety of tune and melody;I touch your world, and yours with mine,together we make a fantasy.I wonder what song you sing in waterif ever heard outside your realm;The bleating lamb in Beethoven's ear,thunder and the bubbling stream.Do you also sing a Brahms's lullabyor San Pedro's Ugoy sa Duyan?March with Mendelssohn's graduation,for real or just for the fun?My fish do not answer, they are dumb;Or I can't hear and understand;For worlds apart we are, sea and landacross a thin transparent sand. ~
Part 11 - Festive Sound of the Xylophone
The Xylophone is a musical instrument consisting of wooden or metal slats of various lengths, which produce different notes when struck by wooden hammers.
An all-girls xylophone band. Lagro, QC, 2013
I like the resonance of the sound of the xylophone: metallic and tingling in the distance, its bars of metal; gong-like when made of wood; and naive when made of bamboo;
I like the resonance of the sound of the xylophone: metallic and tingling in the distance, its bars of metal; gong-like when made of wood; and naive when made of bamboo;
I cannot miss the sound of the xylophone, for its distinct clear notes no other instrument can equally produce - festive and happy - and I know I am part of the occasion;
I saw and heard a bamboo xylophone in Vietnam's Reunification Palace; it made me feel for the Vietnamese in their struggle during the war, and more for their victory;
I saw and heard an orchestral xylophone, made of metal bars and tubes, you would think it's a miniature church organ but played as a percussion instrument;
I saw one in Egypt, shaped like a lyre, its bars of hard wood, and as it was played I watched the camels and their riders drift on the sea of sand around the pyramids.
I got a bamboo xylophone from old friends, the bars arranged on a vinta-like receptacle as sounding board, amplifying each of the seven notes like rowing song;
I treasure most the caroling by a band of high school girls at home, a rare experience to listen to six xylophones playing in harmony the songs of Christmas. ~
Part 12 - A Night of Music in a Garden
Dr Abe V Rotor
Long horned grasshopper produces a sound katydid-katydid-katydid... for which it got its name. It is music
to the ear, soothing and pleasant, it will lull one to sleep.
I refer to these principal singers, the cricket (Acheta domesticus and Gryllus sp.) and the long-horned grasshopper or katydid (Microcentrum rhombifolium), all belonging to a large group, Order Orthoptera, in which the grasshopper is a typical member.
Since childhood I have always been fascinated by insect music. Stealthily, in many attempts, I tried to look for the singer; but on getting nearer to the source of the music, the singer abruptly stopped. I learned later that these insects are ventriloquists and a slight turn of their wings or bodies would deceive the hunter.
But not until I finally succeeded in pinning down with a flashlight the little Caruso in the middle of his performance.
He is well hidden behind a leaf, brown to black, compact and sturdy, nearly two inches long, with a long tail and a pair of antennae. His front wings are raised 45 degrees above his abdomen on which the hind wings are folded. This is the cricket’s fiddling position. Now he rubs the two leathery wings against each other in a back and forth motions, a process called stridulating, which inspired man to invent the violin. On closer examination the base of the front in lined with sharp edge, the scrapper, while the ventral side has a file like ridge, the file, which represents the bow of the violin.
And what about the stereoscopic sound effect? A pair of tympana, which are drum-like organs, found at the base of the front tibia, are actually ears which, together with the raised wings, serve as resonator, sending the sound to as far as a mile away on a still night.
Now let us analyze the music produced or is it only a sound, mistaken for some music qualities? A sound produced by a single stroke called pulse. Each pulse is composed of a number of individual tooth strokes of the scraper and file. Pulse rate is from four to five per second, but on warm summer night the rate becomes faster; thus, cricket are not only watchdogs (they stop when they sense an intruder), they are also indicator of temperature – and perhaps the coming of bad weather. It is for these reasons, other than their music, that the Chinese and the Japanese love them as pets.
The pulses of cricket are relatively musical; that is, they can usually be assigned a definite pitch, varying from 1,500 to 10,000 hertz, depending on the species. Those of the long-horned grasshopper or katydid are more noise like; that is, they contain a wide band of frequencies, including clicking and lapsing, and cannot be assigned to a definite pitch. The monotony of its sound must have led to the coining of the insect’s name, katydid-katydid-katydid…
There are three musical pieces the cricket play. Calling songs are clear crisp, and loud, which, of course, suit the intention when a female comes around and nudges the singing male, his music becomes soft and romantic, lasting for many minute to hours, and he forgets his role of warning of an intruder or telling of the coming of storm. Anyone who is love- struck is like that.
But worse can come all of a sudden. This sentinel falls silent as he takes the bride. And when another suitor is around, this Valentino takes a fighting stance and sings the Storm the Bastille, a battle song.
I came across studies on insect music. I began to take interest, imitating it with the violin. It is impossible and the audiospectrogram tells why. Biologically, only the members of the same species understand one another. No two species can communicate vis-à-vis this auditory means. This is one area in development biology, which has not been fully explored. How did this mechanism of species communication evolve? With computers today, can it be explored as an alternative and safe means of controlling destructive species? Maybe we can mimic the music a species produces to lure its members, then trap or eliminate them.
As the garden meets sunrise with fluttering butterflies, so does it enters the night with an array of concerto and orchestra music, and the garden becomes a place for meditation. I say that the music produced by this insect –whatever is the interpretation - is a sound of peace and a chant of praise for life itself. The chores of the day vanish easily, and I find the evening so relaxing and conducive to good sleep - and dreams.
The great Charles Darwin himself expressed his deep feelings for these night’s musicians in his book, “Cricket at the Heart”. He said, “I love it for the many times I have heard it, and the many thoughts its harmless music has given me.”
Carolus Linneaus was more affected by these insects. He kept them to send him to sleep. Japanese children delight in collecting them, as American children trap fireflies. Caged crickets are sold in shops. Haven’t I found a battery- operated caged cricket lately? Computer age! Poet David McCord laments, “The cricket’s gone. We only hear machinery.”
As for me, I still find peace with these humble companions in the night. ~
Part 13 - Harmony of Nature and Human Music
"When we pay attention to nature's music, we find that everything
on the Earth contributes to its harmony."
Dr Abe V Rotor
Singing cicadas. How many are they in this photo? Only the male sings and attracts the female. A beautiful song brings in two or more potential mates such as the case in this photo.
Katydid, (left) a long horned grasshopper (Phaneroptera furcifera), and the field cricket (Acheta bimaculata) are the world's most popular fiddlers in the insect world.
The Music of Nature in Colors, painting by the author (30"x40") 2009
Identify the sounds of nature in this painting, translate them into notes. Arrange the notes into melody, and expand it into a composition.Try with an instrument - guitar, piano, violin, flute. This is your composition.
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 Serenata 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. Nicanor Abelardo's Kundiman compositions are
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 Serenata 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. Nicanor Abelardo's Kundiman 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)
Here are some Kundiman compositions of Francisco Santiago:
Sakali Man, Hibik ng Filipinas, Pakiusap, Ang Pag-ibig, Suyuan, Alaala Kita, Ikaw at Ako, Ano Kaya ang Kapalaran?, Hatol Hari Kaya?, Sakali't Mamatay, Dalit ng Pag-ibig, Aking Bituin, Madaling Araw and Pagsikat ng Araw.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, 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 PHOTO) 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 power Mozart 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 PHOTO) 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 power Mozart 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.
--------
Music and nature are often thought to have a strong relationship. Many people find that listening to music that incorporates natural sounds, such as birdsong or running water, can have a calming and soothing effect. Additionally, some musicians and composers draw inspiration from nature when creating their music, using natural imagery and sounds to evoke certain emotions or themes. Nature's patterns and rhythms can also be reflected in musical compositions. Overall, the connection between music and nature is a deeply personal and subjective experience for many people. (Internet)
Part 14 - Violin Recital
Life Let's Cherish in 2 Variations
by Henry Farmer
Dr Abe V Rotor
Author plays Life Let's Cherish by Henry Farmer in 2 variations,
accompanied by Miss Lory Mercader in 1958 at Rosary College
in Vigan, now St. Paul College Ilocos Sur.
Other compositions of Henry Farmer*
Dr Rotor was in his senior year in high school at the Colegio de la Imaculada Concepcion (now Divine Word College of Vigan) at the time of his violin recital at Rosary College beside the CIC campus. His tutor was Mr Evaristo Bolante from nearby municipality of Caoayan, birthplace of President Elpidio Quirino.
- The Last Rose of Summer
- Home Sweet Home
- The Blue Bells of Scotland
- The Harp that Once Thro' Tara's Halls
NOTE: The "graduation" equivalence after finishing a set of music lessons, like in violin and piano, is having to give a recital, or to demonstrate what one has learned (and developed as skill) in front of an audience. In the 1500s, recital was strictly a legal term, the "statement of relevant facts," but the musical meaning had come into use by the 1800s. The root is the Latin word recitare, "repeat from memory." That's the reason one has to play without reading notes in a recital.
*Henry Farmer (13 May 1819 – 25 June 1891) was a British organist and composer based in Nottingham, self-taught as a musician, but undertook some study in harmony with Henry Bishop. He played violin in the orchestra when Felix Mendelssohn conducted his oratorio Elijah premiered in Birmingham at the Triennial Music Festival on 26 August 1846. He was organist of High Pavement Chapel in Nottingham and conductor of the Nottingham Harmonic Society.
"The family that plays music together makes a Home, Sweet Home."
Author plays with children Anna on the keyboard and Marlo with
the flute popular songs, including "oldies", and contemporary
pieces. The family conducts children's art workshop in drawing
and painting cum basic music lessons.
The author accompanies a centenarian, Auntie Constancia Rocero Andino, sing old Ilocano songs, almost unknown to the younger generations, like O Naraniang a Bulan (Oh, Bright Moon), Ti Balasang No Mabaketan (When a Woman Turns Old Maid), Bannatiran (Kingfisher), Ti Ayat ti Maysa a Lakay (The Love of an Old Man), Diay Baybay (The Sea or Across the Sea) Dungdungguen Kanto (Lullaby, classical in the category of Brahms' Lullaby and Lucio San Pedro's Ugoy ng Duyan). The conservation and revival of ethnic and classical music is a major challenge in musicology today.
The author entertains guests at the Living with Nature Center,
San Vicente, Ilocos Sur. Nature's music - birds singing, crickets fiddling,
goats bleating, sounds of breeze, drizzle, ripples and waves lapping - have
therapeutic effect to ease tension and anxiety in postmodern living.~
Cassette case of a collection of musical compositions played
on the violin by the author,
Life Let's Cherish in 2 Variations by Henry Farmer
Violin Recital of Dr Abe V Rotor
March 9, 1958 Rosary College (SPCIS)
(Facsimile of the Original Composition of Henry Farmer)
Also on display at the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, are facsimiles of other original compositions by Henry Farmer, WF Ambrosio, and Filipino composers Abelardo, Santiago, Buenaventura, Molina, Pelayre, Valdez and others.~
Part 15 - The Pianist in an Empty Hall
"Through a glass pane reverberates the music
that slows down busy feet and calms weary hearts."
He is from a different world outside our own;
our own is noisy but deaf, bright but blind,
his own of Schubert, Chopin, et al filling the room;
ours the throng with cell phone and its kind.
Classic is timeless but fleeting, fading away,
old school for archive, tradition for variety;
if we don't change and move on fast enough, sorry;
faithful Old Big Ben chimes aren't here to stay.
But he keeps on playing in an empty hall
the music postmodern life's no longer a part;
through a glass pane still reverberates the music
that slows down busy feet, calms the weary heart. ~
Dr and Mrs Abe and Cecille
Rotor pose with the virtuoso
after his superb performance
at nearby Katherine's Cafe
where he is head of operations.
* Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday
Part 16 - Reviving Our Native Philippine Songs
Ethnic Music reduces anxiety and pain, induces relaxation, thus promoting the overall sense of well-being of the individual.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday
Have you ever noticed village folks singing or humming as they attend to their chores?
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.
Fernando Amorsolo's paintings such as this, provide the ideal backdrop of Philippine ethnic music.
.jpg)
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. Seldom is there an activity without music. The sound of nature to them is music.Typical Filipina on the countryside (Ang Dalagang Pilipina),
painting by Fernando Amorsolo
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.
Ethnic music has greatly influenced folk music that we know today, such as the following. These are songs about
Matulog ka na, bunso
Sleep now, youngest one
Ang ina mo ay malayo
Your mother is far away
at hindi ka masundo
and she can't come for you
May putik, may balaho
There's mud, there's a swamp
Among the Filipino musicologists who have contributed much to the revival and conservation of traditional Philippine music are
1. Fr. Morice Vanoverberg, who focused on the traditional music of the Lepanto Igorots of the north.
2. Emilia Cavan, for her collection of Filipino Folk Songs published in 1924.
3. Norberto Romualdez , for his collection of Folk Songs in the 'Philippine Progressive Music Series' published in the late 1920s. The series became the textbook for teaching music in the Primary School. It remains to be the most important collection of traditional music from the Philippines, since a copy of it is still available in major Municipal and Provincial Libraries in the country.
4. Emilia Reysio-Cruz, for her collection of 'Filipino Folk Songs' that caters to the so- called 'Eight Major Languages' of the country. The collection is perhaps the best representation of the songs from these ethnolinguistic groups.
Ethnic music has greatly influenced folk music that we know today, such as the following. These are songs about
- rowing the boat (Talindaw)
- planting rice (Magtanim Hindi Biro);
- a happy, simple home (Bahay Kubo),
- wedding (Diona)
- the butterfly (Paruparong Bukid)
- a tiny bird (Ang Pipit)
- lullaby (uyayi, hele, Ugoy ng Duyan)
- love's pleading (Kundiman)
- serenade (Harana)
- countryside living (Sa Libis ng Nayon)
- a light or star (O Ilaw, Aking Bituin)
- wooden clog (Bakya Mo Neneng)
- exulting the young Filipina (Dalagang Pilipina
- early love, "The Love of a Girl" (Ti Ayat ti Maysa nga Ubing Ilk)
- a broken clay pot (Nabasag ang Banga)
Matulog ka na, bunso
Sleep now, youngest one
Ang ina mo ay malayo
Your mother is far away
at hindi ka masundo
and she can't come for you
May putik, may balaho
There's mud, there's a swamp
Among the Filipino musicologists who have contributed much to the revival and conservation of traditional Philippine music are
1. Fr. Morice Vanoverberg, who focused on the traditional music of the Lepanto Igorots of the north.
2. Emilia Cavan, for her collection of Filipino Folk Songs published in 1924.
3. Norberto Romualdez , for his collection of Folk Songs in the 'Philippine Progressive Music Series' published in the late 1920s. The series became the textbook for teaching music in the Primary School. It remains to be the most important collection of traditional music from the Philippines, since a copy of it is still available in major Municipal and Provincial Libraries in the country.
4. Emilia Reysio-Cruz, for her collection of 'Filipino Folk Songs' that caters to the so- called 'Eight Major Languages' of the country. The collection is perhaps the best representation of the songs from these ethnolinguistic groups.
5. Dr. Jose Maceda, former chair of the Department of Asian Music Research of the College of Music of the University of the Philippines, also did some collection which began in 1953 and lasted until 1972. This was followed by collections from his students as well.
6. Lucrecia Roces Kasilag (August 31, 1918- August 16, 2008) was a noted composer, educator, cultural and arts administrator, and performing artist. She was named National Artist in Music in 1989. She pioneered the fusion of Filipino ethnic and Western music. She dared to mix indigenous Filipino instruments with Western orchestra in her prize-winning "Toccata for Percussions and Winds, Divertissement and Concertante," and the scores of the Filiasiana, Misang Pilipino and De Profundis. She was fondly called "Tita King".
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7. Prof. Raul Sunico, currently the dean of the Conservatory of Music of the University of Santo Tomas, published his own collection. He began with publishing a collection of lullabies, followed by love songs, then by work songs. Finally, he published a collection of songs about Filipino women, a major topic of traditional songs from all the ethnolinguistic groups. All these collections were arranged for the piano and the words are given in their original languages. A translation is also supplied, not to mention a brief backgrounder about the culture of the specific ethnic groups.
Part 17 - Birdsong at Sunrise in a Garden
Birds (16" 28") painting in acrylic by the author 2012
They chirp, but you don't see them,
only leaves moving, rustling;
their becks red, their eyes sullen,
and they blend with everything.
their becks red, their eyes sullen,
and they blend with everything.
When you get near to admire,
they shun, they stop moving,
silence the rule of their game,
discreet and subtle warning.
Birds are indeed real strange,
they fly fast or sit at ease;
they sing with few notes to trace,
like passing breeze in the trees. ~
they sing with few notes to trace,
like passing breeze in the trees. ~
When you have a garden around your house you would know if it’s already sunrise when the birds start singing in the trees. Meantime the sun seeps through the foliage and hedges, and sparkles on the dewdrops clinging on them. The lawn comes alive, flooded with sunlight. Its many tenants – crickets, slugs, earthworm, caterpillars, and even frogs wake up.
Soon more birds come around. Their songs begin to take shape and form: cadence, pitch, and melody – all these help us in identifying the birds without seeing them. One advantage of being surrounded by a garden is that the resonance of sound heightens every note and even projects it with a ventriloquist effect that makes it difficult to be traced. What a contrast between the sounds we hear at sunrise with that in the darkness of night before! In the latter we are entertained by the unending fiddling of crickets that lulls us to sleep. Now it is a melodious wake up call.
But one morning as I listened intently to the concert of the warblers, finally pinning down their whereabouts. Soon enough one posed, perched on a terminal branch overlooking the garden and calling for its mate.
Meticulously I transcribed its song in alphabets and soon realized it was actually communicating. But putting the syllables together did not mean anything to humans. To transcribe them into music would take a composer to do just that. I could only pick up the melody that seems to be the theme of any composition.
Common Tailor Bird (Orthotomus atrogularis rabori Parkes)
Tag-wa-tee-e-e-e-et, tag- wa- tee-e-e-e-et, tag-wa- tee-e-e-e-et,
Tag-wa- tee-e-e-e-et, tag-wa- tee- e-e-e-et, tag-wa-tee- e-e-e-et
(Refrain)
Tig- wa- too- tee- e- et, tig- wa- too- tee- e- et, tig- wa- too- tee- e- et,
Tig- wa- too- tee- e- et, tig- wa- too- tee- e- et, tig –wa too- tee- e- et-
(Refrain)
Ter- r-r-r-r-r-r-, ter-r-r-r-r-r-r, ter-r-r-r-r-r-r, ter-r-r-r-r-r-r,
Ter-r-r-r-r-r-r-, ter-r-r-r-r-r-r, ter-r-r-r-r-r-r, ter-r-r-r-r-r-r
If one analyzes Beethoven’s Pastoral or Peer Gynt’s Morning he will certainly find close association and similar pattern of their notes with those occurring in nature. Drums and thunder, steam and flute, cows mooing and horn or oboe, raindrops and castanets, cricket fiddling and violin - are easy to recognize and appreciate.
But there are sounds too faint to recognize as music. Such is the music of the hummingbird, the world’s smallest bird. Take the sound of whales in the deep ocean.
Once I saw (pipit) in our farm lot. Its deep high pitch call could hardly penetrate the foliage and humid habagat air. Its source seems very far that you would think it is coming from the other side of a solid wall. I saw and heard it as it sipped the nectar of Heliconia flowers. These banana-like plants are also known as Lobster’s Claws and Birds of Paradise. It was a rare sight. The bird hovers like a dragonfly, and darts forward and backward, inserting its long beak deep into the newly opened flowers, its feathers matching the color of the flowers around. As it did this, it continuously uttered a deep but sweet “chee-wee-e-e-et”.
Perhaps if we plant more Heliconia and trees around that make a four-tier structure of an arboretum - annuals, shrubs, canopy trees and emergents – we may make the garden conducive to more birds. Only by simulating the natural habitats of organisms that we expect them to establish their niches or domains. Here the birds would build their nests, and as they raise their brood, their music becomes a chorus of hungry bridling and parental calls.
I have had a number of occasions to observe other birds in the garden. The pandangera or fantail (Rhipidura javanica nitgritorquis), as its name implies, is a dancer and singer combined. Its crispy, continuous song and brisk movement of its trail spread like a fan, stops any passerby to full attention.
Once in our ancestral home in the province, I watched a pandangera dance and sing in front of a dresser’s mirror. The following day it came again and did the same. It was courting its own image on the mirror! This is a sign of intelligence. Zoologists know of very few creatures that are attracted by their own image, treating it like their own kind. Among these is the orangutan.
Others birds include the swift. The smaller ones are pygmy swiftlets (Collocalia troglodytes), while the glossy and larger species are Collocalia esculenta marginata). When they come, they sit on a Mearalco wire at exactly an arm’s length apart so that they appear in equidistant formation. They are sit silently, eyeing at potential preys below. And once they start swooping on flies and other insects you could hear them uttering short and distant sounds like birds in captivity.
In an aviary during feeding time, one is met by a cacophony of sounds like an orchestra rehearsing without the baton master. Imagine sounds like those of a trotting turkey, Guinea fowl taking off from the brooding basket, doves romantically in pairs, ducks and geese impatient at getting their share, uneasy native chicken (labuyo). Truly it is only in the wild that we hear true birdsongs.
Outside the aviary a flock of house sparrows came down chirping. Don’t ask them to choose between food and freedom. Domestication has changed many things. Even if they have defied domestication, they have learned to live with him wherever he goes, on the countryside or in the metropolis. While you can hand-feed doves and pigeons, house sparrows will eat only when you have turned you back on them. For birds in general, I suppose that it is freedom that gives true meaning in their songs.
Peer into a caged wild pigeon, a Philippine turtle dove (Streptopelia bitorquata dusumieri). The bird is silent, its round eyes empty. Wait for its song, then when it is time to leave, it expands its breast and sent deep booming sounds. This is the other side of a warbler’s song.
“How exiting it is to be interconnected with nature,” says a young naturalist. Yes, it is indeed the key to the conservation of our environment. It is the very source of inspiration to express our talents – to paint, write and compose music. It links us to our Creator.
I invite songwriters and music enthusiasts to explore the music of the birds and nature as a whole as an alternative to pop and rock music. We can explore the many things nature has given us to enjoy life in peace and harmony. While only very few are geniuses in music and in the other arts, all of us can be scholars of nature, learning and enjoying her bounty and ways
“And to another branch he repeats his song,
Crispy and clear as the light of dawn,
And if trees are not enough and the streets
Are wider than the field, on cable or antenna be perches,
And sings still the song of his ancestors.
Shouldn’t I wake up with a happy heart
And spare a tree and two for his art?”
- AVR
Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday
Part 18 - Music for Kids - where do they begin?
Music revival for kids summer workshop, Lagro QC
Music for kids -where do they begin?They begin in growing upcurious, inquisitive, sensitiveto sound with quality,notes and melody.A note here, a note there,Brahms the kid babysitting,barely reaching the piano,composed a lullaby,world's most popularcradle song.Today's rap and tapare music denied;drums dull, cymbals empty,ye-ye-ye - defeatistversion of simpletonof the finest piece.But they insist, these kids;instant guitar, violin,piano, keyboard:opera, concert, aria -Can't they wait?Only few of so many.To make music instant,push buttons, shout, dance,be weird, grotesque,a little puff here, too,music like weeds isnever music at all.What is music then?the waves, stream on the rocks,fiddling cricket, lamb, frog,passing breeze in the leavesthe thunder - noise tamedin strings wind, percussion.How they wish, these kidssomeday in their handsmusic flows, through breaththe sweetest song;but where do they begin?It is in believing they can. ~
Part 19 - Young Musicians
"Happier are those who play the tune,
than he who stops at the chord,
they who keep alive the inner vision,
the music that lights the world." avr
Dr Abe V Rotor
Author's children: Marlo, Anna and Leo at home, c.1989
I imagine young Haydn mimicked
a strolling fiddler with pieces of stick,
and young Beethoven writing music
from birds and lambs at the creek.
In Messiah Handel saw God's image,
while Mozart excelled before the king,
and Chopin the piano-poet of his age
saw neo-classical music emerging.
Happier are those who play the tune,
than he who stops at the chord,
they who keep alive the inner vision,
the music that lights the world.
Light in the Woods, 1995 Megabooks
Part 20 -The old piano in the old house
Where has the Music that brings us closer to God, and God closer to man, a communion of Creator and creation gone?
I hear Moonlight Sonata, Beethoven on the piano, in deep concentration about a girl wishing to see the moon and the stars in glorious sight even though she was blind;
Music to make the blind see through the inner eye, the deaf to hear through the inner ear - senses cut from the outside world only to be connected to an internal world;
I hear Tosselli's Serenade in violin in the middle of the night in complete silence except the throbbing of the heart of a lover longing and pleading for the sweetest answer;
Music is the radiance of the morning sun 'til sunset and into the lovely night for those in love, the kundiman of Abelardo and Santiago, Hating Gabi (Midnight) of Molina;
I hear Alleluia or the Messiah, the greatest religious song ever written, which Handel composed in isolation for days, emerging with heavenly light on his face;
Music that brings us closer to God, and God closer to man, a communion of Creator and creation, an expression of the highest level of reverence to the Supreme Being;
I hear Brahm's Lullaby the greatest composition that make babies smile, babies crying to stop and settle on their mothers' breast or in their crib guarded by angels;
Music that is universal to baby and mother, the origin of prototype melodies, inspiring our own Lucio San Pedro to compose Ugoy ng Duyan in a compatible melody;
I hear Czardas by Monti, typical Russian, vibrant and quick yet romantic and classical, a challenging piece to play with virtuosity on the violin accompanied by piano;
Music that tests the ultimate of skill in playing a musical instrument, alone and with accompaniment, virtuosity on the stage, flawless and finesse;
I hear Requiem of Amadeus Mozart, his last and his own, commissioned by an unknown patron. Was he a ghost, or that of Mozart? Music accompanies us to our grave;
Music that laments, bringing out the sorrow and pain in the saddest hour, yet kind and soothing, calming the bereaved, releasing them from pain and prison;
I do not hear them anymore - Beethoven, Tosselli, Handel, Brahms, Monti, Mozart et al - they're no longer around, not in the old house, and the piano is forever silent. ~
ANNEX - About Joey Ayala
For Reference onlyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
José Iñigo Homer Lacambra AyalaBorn June 1, 1956 (age 68)
Bukidnon, Philippines
Genres Folk music, Neofolk, Acoustic rock, Kundiman, World music
Occupation(s) singer, songwriter, musician
Instrument(s) guitar, vocals, harmonica, percussion
Years active 1982-present
Website joeyayala.com
José Íñigo Homer Lacambra Ayala (born June 1, 1956), professionally known as Joey Ayala, is a Filipino singer, songwriter and former chairman of the music committee of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. He is well known for his style of music that combines the sounds of Filipino ethnic instruments with modern pop music. His public music life started when he released an album recorded in a makeshift studio in 1982 in Davao City. To date, he has released fourteen albums.
Some of the Filipino ethnic instruments Ayala is known to use include the two-stringed Hegalong of the T'Boli people of Mindanao, the Kubing, the bamboo jaw harp found in various forms throughout the Philippines, and the 8-piece gong set, Kulintang, the melodic gong-rack of the indigenous peoples of the southern regions of the country. He also uses modern instruments in his music, such as the electric guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer/sequencer and drums.
The name of his band "Bagong Lumad" literally means "New Native", a name and philosophy that was carried over into Bagong Lumad Artists Foundation, Inc. (www.blafi.org), now a "UNDP Responsible Party" working on SiningBayan (Social Artistry) capacity-building projects with the Civil Service Commission, the Department of Education, and other GOs and NGOs in the Philippines. He served as the (2008–10) Chairman and Vice-Chairman (2011–13) of the National Committee on Music under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
In 2013, Ayala entered the second Philippine Popular Music Festival as a composer and interpreter for the song, "Papel", where it vied as one of its twelve finalists. The song featured collaborations with rapper Gloc-9 and guest vocals by Denise Barbacena. He previously participated in 2012 as an interpreter for the song "Piso" written by Kristofferson Melecio.
In 2014, Ayala was featured in the BBC Travel episode featuring the Philippines.
Some of the Filipino ethnic instruments Ayala is known to use include the two-stringed Hegalong of the T'Boli people of Mindanao, the Kubing, the bamboo jaw harp found in various forms throughout the Philippines, and the 8-piece gong set, Kulintang, the melodic gong-rack of the indigenous peoples of the southern regions of the country. He also uses modern instruments in his music, such as the electric guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer/sequencer and drums.
The name of his band "Bagong Lumad" literally means "New Native", a name and philosophy that was carried over into Bagong Lumad Artists Foundation, Inc. (www.blafi.org), now a "UNDP Responsible Party" working on SiningBayan (Social Artistry) capacity-building projects with the Civil Service Commission, the Department of Education, and other GOs and NGOs in the Philippines. He served as the (2008–10) Chairman and Vice-Chairman (2011–13) of the National Committee on Music under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
In 2013, Ayala entered the second Philippine Popular Music Festival as a composer and interpreter for the song, "Papel", where it vied as one of its twelve finalists. The song featured collaborations with rapper Gloc-9 and guest vocals by Denise Barbacena. He previously participated in 2012 as an interpreter for the song "Piso" written by Kristofferson Melecio.
In 2014, Ayala was featured in the BBC Travel episode featuring the Philippines.
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