21

st

century

For its October 2009 edition,[1] the BBC Music Magazine asked 10 composers, mostly British, to
discuss the latest trends in western classical music. The consensus was that no particular style is
favoured and that individuality is to be encouraged. The magazine interviewed Brian
Ferneyhough, Michael Nyman, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Henri Dutilleux,John Adams, James
MacMillan, Jonathan Harvey, Julian Anderson, John Tavener, and Roxanna Panufnik. The works of
each of these composers represent different aspects of the music of this century but these
composers all came to the same basic conclusion: music is too diverse to categorise or limit. In his
interview with the magazine, Dutilleux argued that "there is only good or bad music, whether serious
or popular".
Anderson, a British composer, combines the music of traditional cultures from outside the western
concert tradition with elements of modernism, spectral music and electronic music. His largescale Book of Hours for 20 players and live electronics premiered in 2005.
Tavener, another British composer, draws his inspiration from eastern mysticism and the music of
the Orthodox Church.[2]
Nyman is an English minimalist best known for his film score for The Piano. He often borrows
from Baroque music and is an acclaimed composer of operas, including (in this century) Facing
Goya and Sparkie. The latter work draws its inspiration from a talking budgie. His shorter works often
written for his own Michael Nyman Band.
Often styled the "Father of New Complexity", English composer Brian Ferneyhough has recently
started writing works which reference those of past composers. His Dum transisset are based on
Elizabethan composer Christopher Tye's works for viol; the fourth string quartet
references Schnberg. His opera Shadowtime (libretto by Charles Bernstein), which premiered in
Munich in 2004, is based on the life of the German philosopher Walter Benjamin.
Rautavaara is a Finnish composer writing in a variety of forms and styles. His
opera Rasputin premiered in 2003 and he has written a largeand rapidly growingbody of
orchestral and chamber works.
Active from the mid-1940s until his death in 2013, the French composer Dutilleux followed
the Impressionist and Neoclassical tradition of Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, andAlbert Roussel.
His last works include Correspondances and Le temps l'horloge, both of which are song cycles.

John Adams is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer with strong roots in minimalism. His
best-known recent works include On the Transmigration of Souls (2002), a choral piece
commemorating the victims of the 11 September 2001 attacks (for which he won the Pulitzer Prize
for Music in 2003) and Doctor Atomic (2005), which covers Robert Oppenheimer, the Manhattan
Project, and the building of the first atomic bomb. In October 2008, Adams told BBC Radio 3 that he
had been blacklisted by the U.S. Homeland Security department and immigration services. [3]
MacMillan is a Scottish composer and conductor influenced by both traditional Scottish music and
his own Roman Catholic faith. His most recent works include operas (The Sacrifice premiered in
2007) and a St John Passion (2008).
Harvey, a British composer, was Composer-in-Association with the BBC Scottish Symphony
Orchestra from 2005 to 2008. His 21st-century works include the large-scale cantataMothers Shall
not Cry (2000), written for the BBC Proms Millennium, and the orchestral works Body
Mandala (2006) and Speakings (2008).[4]

Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg (Norwegian: [ d hrp r]; 15
June 1843 4 September 1907) was
a Norwegian composer andpianist. He is widely considered one of the
leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the
standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use and development
of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions put the music of
Norway in the international spectrum, as well as helping to develop
a national identity, much as Jean Sibelius and Antonn Dvok did
in Finland and Bohemia, respectively.[1] Grieg is regarded as
simultaneously nationalistic and cosmopolitan in his orientation, for
although born in Bergen and buried there, he traveled widely
throughout Europe, and considered his music to express both the
beauty of Norwegian rural life and the culture of Europe as a whole..

Nicanor Abelardo
Nicanor Abelardo was born in San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan. His
mother belonged to a family of artists in Guagua, the Henson. He was
introduced to music when he was five years old when his father taught
him the solfeggio and the banduria. Abelardo completed his first
composition, a waltz entitled "Ang Unang Buko" dedicated to his
grandmother, at the age of eight. By the age of thirteen, he was
playing at saloons and cabarets in Manila, and by fifteen, he was
teaching at barrio schools in San Ildefonso and San Miguel in
Bulacan.

N. Abelardo Hall (UP Diliman).

In 1916, Abelardo entered the University of the Philippines

Conservatory of Music, taking courses under Guy F. Harrison and
Robert Scholfield. During his studies, he composed the melody of the
university's official anthem, U.P. Naming Mahal. After earning a
teacher's certificate in science and composition in 1921, he was
appointed head of the composition department at the Conservatory in
1924. Years later, he ran a boarding school for young musicians,
among which were Antonino Vuenaventura, Alfredo Lozano, and
Lucino Sacramento.
Abelardo died in 1934 at the age of 41, leaving behind a collection of
roughly 140 compositions. [1] He is known for redefining thekundiman,
bringing the form to art-song status. Notable among his works are
'Nasaan Ka Irog," "Magbalik Ka Hirang," and "Himutok."
The main theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the
building housing the College of Music in UP Diliman (Abelardo Hall)
were named in his honor and memory.[2]

Andrea Veneracion
She was born on July 11, 1928, to Macario Ofilada and Raymunda
Carriaga.[4] She was raised in Manila, Philippines.
She earned her Bachelor of Music degrees in Piano and Voice at
the University of the Philippines Diliman, graduating cum laude. She
was a lyric soprano soloist in various Oratorio works and in the Opera

Stage. She was also a very accomplished pianist and accompanist

and was the accompanist of National Artist for Music, Jovita
Fuentes for a number of years. Apart from being an extraordinary
musician, she was also an exceptional athlete as a competitive
swimmer. She was part of the Philippine swimming team who first
competed internationally in Hong Kong.

Levi Celerio
Levi Celerio was born on April 30, 1910, in Tondo, Manila to parents
that hailed from Baliuag, Bulacan. He received a scholarship to the
Academy of Music in Manila and became the youngest member of
the Manila Symphony Orchestra. He wrote several number of songs
for local movies, which earned for him the Lifetime Achievement
Award of the Film Academy of the Philippines. Celerio has
written lyrics for more than 4,000 Filipino folk, Christmas, and love
songs, including many that became movie titles.
Known for being a good lyricist, his songs cherish life, convey
nationalistic sentiments and utter grand philosophies. Celerio wrote
more than 4,000 songs, among them are popular pieces, which many
consider to be immortal. At one time or another, no Filipino could miss
the tune or lyrics of Levi's Christmas songs: Pasko na
Naman, Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon (Ang Pasko ay
Sumapit), and Misa de Gallo.

His more popular love songs include: Saan Ka Man Naroroon?, Kahit
Konting Pagtingin, Gaano Ko Ikaw Kamahal, Kapag Puso'y
Sinugatan, and Ikaw, O Maliwanag na Buwan,Dahil Sa Isang
Bulaklak, Sa Ugoy ng Duyan, Bagong Pagsilang, and Sapagkat
Kami'y Tao Lamang, while his folk songs include Ang
Pipit, Tinikling, Tunay na Tunay, Itik-Itik,Waray-Waray, Pitong
Gatang, Ako ay May
Singsing, Alibangbang, Alembong, Galawgaw, Caprichosa, Ang Tapis
ni Inday, Dungawin Mo Hirang, Umaga na Neneng, Ikaw Kasi,
and Basta't Mahal Kita. Celerio also wrote nationalistic songs such
as Ang Bagong Lipunan, Lupang Pangarap, and Tinig ng Bayan.
Celerio, for a time, was also recognized by the Guinness Book of
World Records as the only man who could play music with a leaf.
Because of his talent, Celerio was invited toThe Merv Griffin Show,
where he played "All the Things You Are" with 39 musicians. Using his
leaf, Levi wowed the crowd and got the attention of the Guinness
Book of World Records. The Book later listed the entry: "The only leaf
player in the world is in the Philippines". He would also later appear
on That's Incredible!.[1]