20th Century Traditional Composers

Philippine compositions were influenced by the musical styles of 20th Western composers
due to the colonization of European and American foreigners.

Francisco Buencamino founded the Centro Escolar de Senoritas, Conservatory of Music. He also
created the Buencamino Music Academy in 1930. He wrote several zarzuelas and kundiman.

Francisco Santiago is known as the “Father of the Kundiman” and belongs to the “Triumvirate
of Filipino Composers.”

Nicanor Abelardo developed a style that combined European romanticism with chromaticism.
He belongs to the “Triumvirate of Filipino Composers” together with Francisco Santiago and
Antonio Molina. Some theaters are named after him, an example is The Tanghalang Nicanor
Abelardo.

Antonio Molina came to be known as the “Father of Philippine Impressionist Music.”

Hilarion Rubio was a Filipino composer, music teacher, conductor, and clarinetist. His name was
closely identified with his works for the orchestra, conductor for opera, ballet, dance recitals, and
music for movies.

Col. Antonio Buenaventura promoted Philippine music by extensively using folk materials in
his work. He recorded folk and dance music around the country with Ramon Tolentino and
National Artist for Dance Francisca Reyes Aquino.

Rodolfo S. Cornejo was considered “the first Filipino composer who received an honory degree
from a government recognized music school in the United States.” He was known for his “pianistic
and compositional talent” by extemporizing a piano composition at the spur of the moment.

Felipe P. de Leon wrote piano compositions, hymns, marches, art songs, chamber music,
zarzuelas and kundiman. He was known as a nationalist composer who expressed the Philippines’
cultural identity through his compositions.

Lucio San Pedro is known as a “romantic nationalist.” He incorporated Philippine folk elements
in his compositions with Western forms and harmony. His chords have a rich expressive tonality,
as represented in his well-loved Sa Ugoy ng Duyan.

Rosendo Santos Jr. is listed in the “New Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians.” A prolific
composer, his works include concerti, sonatas, symphonies, symphonic poems, fine operas in
Philippine dialect and many more.
Alfredo Buenaventura is among the few composers in the Philippines who composed five full
length operas. He has his own set of ideas about music and composition.

Ryan Cayabyab is a contemporary composer and conductor who spans both popular and classical
worlds with his pop, ballads, operas, zarzuela, orchestral, and choral compositions.

New Music Composers

Jose Maceda’s musical style shifted when he encountered the music of the indigenous tribes of
Mindoro in 1953. His extensive research resulted in an immense collection of recorded music
taken from the mountain villages in the Philippines.

Lucrecia Kasilag’s compositional style demonstrated a fusion of Eastern and Western styles in
using instruments, melody, harmony, and rhythm. She is particularly known for incorporating
indigenous Filipino instruments into orchestral productions.

Ramon Santos’ compositional style features chromatism, music seria, and electronic components
combined with indigenous Philippine music elements.

Fr. Manuel Maramba OSB, one of the most accomplished musicians in the Philippines, is best
known as a liturgical composer whose body of works lean towards religious figures and events.
His versatility as a pianist, composer, arranger, theorist, and teacher is widely recognized in the
local musical scene.

Jerry Dadap, the first Filipino composer to conduct his own works at the Carnegie Recital Hall
in New York City.

Francisco Feliciano is one of Asia’s leading figures in liturgical music, having composed
hundreds of liturgical pieces, mass settings, hymns, and songs for worship. He supervised the
publication of a new Asian hymnal containing mostly works of Asian composers at the Asian
Institute for Liturgy and Music.

Josefino Toledo is the founding music director of the Metro Manila Community Orchestra, the
UP Festival Orchestra, and the Crosswave Symphony Orchestra. His own music has been
performed by well-known international artists and ensembles. He is noted for conducting the
premiere performances of the works of Filipino composers as well as other Asian composers.

Jonas Baes, Associate Professor in Composition and Theory, ethnomusicologist, cultural activist,
and writer, has explored innovative territories and unusual musical treatments in his works.
 Song Composers

Levi Celerio made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for being the only person to make
music with a leaf. He received numerous awards for his musical achievements in film.

Constancio de Guzman was acknowledged as the “Dean of Filipino movie composers and
musical directors.” He is the composer of the nationalistic song Bayan Ko.

Mike Velarde Jr. was a composer, conductor, and musical director. In 1975, the Philippine
Government Cultural Association awarded him the Cultural Achievement Award in Popular
Music. He also received the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining in 1986.

Ernani Cuenco was a composer, film scorer, musical director, and music teacher. He was hailed
as a National Artist in Music in 1999. His works embody the Filipino sense of musicality. The
classical sound of the kundiman is evident in some of his ballads.

Restie Umali was a composer, teacher, and musical arranger. He arranged the Philippine national
anthem and the local classic Kataka-taka for the Boston Pops Orchestra when it performed for the
Philippine Independence Night in Boston in 1972.

George Canseco was considered “a nationally acclaimed composer of numerous popular Filipino
classics.” He composed songs for Filipino singers and movie stars.

Angel Peña is a classical and jazz composer, musical arranger, and bass player. He is widely
considered by modern Filipino jazz musicians as “one of the founders of traditional jazz in the
Philippiens.”

Leopoldo Silos Sr. was a composer, singer, and musical arranger. He composed and recorded
romantically soulful songs. He was the award winning musical director of the television musical
Aawitan kita.

Santiago Suarez was an accomplished composer of traditional Filipino love songs. His popular
works inclue Dungawin mo Hirang, Sa libis ng Nayon, and Kataka-taka.
 Photography

In its early stages during the late 19th century, photography was viewed as a purely
technical process, that of recording visible images by light action on light-sensitive materials. In
fact, its very name- from the Greek “photos” (meaning light) and “graphos” (meaning writing)-
states this process literally.

The Photographer as Artist

Focusing a camera at a subject and clicking the shutter is photography as process. In a pictorial
shoot, the photographer may position lighting, modify the lens setting, or use filters to create an
effect he or she has conceptualized beforehand.

Photography as Communication
Next to the printed word, the photographic image is today’s most important means of conveying
information and ideas, expressing emotions, even championing causes. This power comes from
two distinctive characteristics of photography: immediacy and detail.

Noteworthy Philippine Photographers

These are George Tapan, John K. Chua, Manny Librodo and many other talented members of
the Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation (FPPF).

Film

Another art form which has risen to tremendous heights within the last century is film or
cinema. As its early name “motion pictures” declared, film brought yet another dimension into
play- that of moving images. The possibilities of this medium created a new art form that was to
become a powerful social and economic force, and a legacy to the 20th century to the world.

A Technology-driven Art
Cinema, just as all modern arts, has been greatly influenced by technology. In the case of cinema,
however, it is an art form that came into being because of technological advances. The transition
from still photography came in the late 1800s with “series photography” and the invention of
celluloid strip film. This allowed successive still photos of a moving subject to be captured on a
strip of film advancing through a single camera.

The Collaborative Art of Filmmaking

Filmmaking, because of its technical complexity, involves entire terms of artists, writers, and
production experts, supported by technicians taking charge of the cameras, lighting equipment,
sets, props, costumes and the like-all under the supervision of a film director.
Film Genres
The public response to motion pictures was immediate and enthusiastic. First there were the silent
films starring Charlie Chaplin. With sound still unavailable, the first films relied on purely visual
comedy that audiences found hilarious. Horror films and fantasy films was then introduced which
took advantage of the sound technology that was newly available that time.

Sound plus color then allowed for further development of animated feature films. More and more
genres were produced as cinematic and sound technology continued to advance rapidly. War and
disaster films, “cowboy movies”, thrillers or suspense films, as well as futuristic films such as Sci-
fi film became possible and moved alongside the previous genres of films. Documentary films, a
non-fiction genre, were made using real-life footage as well as file materials, in many cases to
present an issue.

Philippine Filmmakers
In the Philippine film scene, many filmmakers became well-known due to their works. Among
them were Lino Brocka, Mike de Leon, Ishmael Bernal, and Peque Gallaga.

Animation
In recent decades, a whole new career opportunity has emerged for creative Filipinos via
the field of animation. In fact, Filipino animators have been involved in the creation of some of
the best-loved and technically challenging animated feature films produced in the last few years.
Among these are Toy Story, Up, The Incredibles, Monsters University, Cars, Finding Nemo,
Planes, Brave, Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and more. Such recognition of Philippine talent abroad has,
in fact, spurred the development of the local animation industry as well.

Among the other exciting milestones in the fast-emerging Philippine animation industry was the
creation in 2008 of Urduja, an animated film adaptation of the legend of the warrior princess of
Pangasinan. Produced by APT Entertainment, Seventoon, and Imaginary Friends. Urduja is
recognized as the first fully-animated Filipino film, created by an all-Filipino group of animators
using the traditional (hand-drawn) animation process with some 3d effects. The characters were
voiced by an all-star cast of actors from Philippine cinema and television, with the screenplay
written in Filipino.

Also released in 2008 was Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia, said to be the country’s first all-
digital full-length animated feature film. Which was produced by Cutting Edge Productions. The
film presents Philippine mythical creatures as heartwarming characters in a young boy’s adventure.
The production involved over 500 local animators and featured a “tra-digital animation” technique.
Its characters were rendered in 2D animation. Dayo was also the first-ever animated movie to be
screened during the Metro Manila Film Festival.

Another breakthrough was the first Filipino full 3D-animated film, RPG Metanoia, co-produced
by Ambient Media, Thaumatrope Animation, and Star Cinema in 2010.
 Print Media

Alongside the digital media forms discussed above, there remains the more conventional
form known as print media. Included here are large-scale publications such as newspapers,
magazines, journals, books of all kinds, as well as smaller-scale posters, brochures, flyers, menus,
and the like.
Advertising
One major field that still relies heavily on print media is advertising. To advertise is to spread the
word of a specific product, trend or service in order for more people to be aware of such product
which draws more buyers for the sellers. These usually are found directly as flyers or found on
newspapers or any print media for that matter.
Comic Books
Another field of print media that highlights the artistic gifts of Filipinos is that of comic books.
These comic books are usually hand-drawn which show strips of scenes in order to tell a
progressing story through drawings and speech bubbles. This is solely made for entertainment
among children or even adults and are sold still up to this date. Comic books aren’t necessarily
entertaining, some are made to inform certain issues.
Book Design and Illustration
Yet another extremely rich and promising area for young Filipino artists is the field of book design
and illustration. Thanks to the visionary mindsets of progressive Philippine book publishers such
as Bookmark, Anvil Publishing, Adarna Books, and Tahanan Books for Young Readers.
Digital Media
All the artistic skills and techniques that go into the producing books like those just presented, of
course have their counterpart in the ever growing world of digital media. This means that books
that were originally available only in print are being gradually converted to digital format.

Innovation in Product and Industrial Design

Kenneth Cobonpue is a multi-awarded designer and the creative director of Hive. His fresh and
exciting concepts have earned him the patronage of discerning clientele, including celebrities.
Monique Lhuillier first rose to prominence for her exquisite wedding gowns. Her creations have
even been used by Hollywood celebrities and for gala events. She studied at the Fashion Institute
of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, and now has her own retail boutiques in that city
and in New York.
Rajo Laurel is a much-admired Filipino fashion designer with a number of national and
international awards to his name. His creations maintain a Filipino sensibility, incorporating
embroidery and beadwork.
Josie Natori has a prestigious place in the New York fashion industry. She went on to establish
The Natori Company that has built up a lifestyle brand.
Lulu Tan Gan is known for her fashionable knitwear lines since 1985 and had been dubbed as
“The Queen of Knitwear”. She encourages stylized indigenous and traditional wear.
Dita Sandico-Ong advocates local weaving techniques and natural fibers. She is known as the
“Wrap Artiste” of the Philippines. Her collection includes wraps or panuelos.
 ANHS
MAPEH
PORTFOLIO

Name: Muhaimen I.
Sacar
Section: X - Einstein