LESSON 11

THE NATIONAL ARTISTS OF THE PHILIPPINES FOR MUSIC

Introduction
Prior to Spanish colonization, musicologist Corazon Canave – Dioquino said that there were “subsequent
reports made by friars, civil servants, and travelers that include descriptions of instrumental and vocal music”. She
further identified these instruments as “various kinds of gong, drums, various types of flute, zithers, lutes, clappers,
and buzzers”. On vocal music, she enumerated “epics relating genealogies and exploits of heroes and gods; work
songs, ritual songs, songs for festive occasions, mourning songs, courting songs, and children’s game songs”.
Due to the dominance of Catholic Christianity during the Spanish period, Canave – Dioquino described
Philippine music as “religious music connected to and outside the Catholic liturgy and a European – inspired secular
music adapted by the Filipinos and reflected in their folk songs and instrumental music”.
In the American period, she explained that music started to be taught in schools, and Filipinos were
exposed to pop culture, paving the way for “music created by Filipinos using Western pop forms”.
The National Artists for Music

ANTONINO BUENAVENTURA
(1904 – 1996)
Year of Conferment: 1988
Antonino Buenaventura popularized folk songs by creating music based on folk songs of various ethnic
groups in the Philippines. He was once band director of the Philippine Constabulary Band (later renamed as the
Philippine Army Band), in which he brought it back to its former glory, being “the only band that can sound like a
symphony orchestra”. His notable works include Ode to Freedom, Echoes of the Past, Echoes from the Philippines,
History Fantasy, and Triumphal March.

ERNANI CUENCO
(1936 – 1988)
Year of Conferment: 1999
Ernani Cuenco was a music teacher, a composer, a musical director, and a film scorer. He composed music
for the films Wild, Wild; Jess, and El Vibora, which earned him the Best Music Award at the Metro Manila Film
Festival in 1982, and the FAMAS awards, respectively. He was also known for his Filipino ballads such as Kalesa,
Bato sa Buhangin, Gaano Kita Kamahal, and Inang Bayan. According to the NCCA, he had written “an
outstanding and memorable body of works that resonates with the Filipino sense of musicality and which embodies
an ingenious voice that raises the aesthetic dimensions of contemporary Filipino music”.

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 JOVITA FUENTES
(1895 – 1978)
Year of Conferment: 1976
The first female National Artist for Music, Jovita Fuentes was an opera star being mentored by the famous
Italian singer Salvina Fornari. She performed roles in major Western opera productions, such as Mimi in Giacomo
Puccini’s La Boheme, Princess Yang Gui Fe in Li Tai Pe, and Cio Cio – San in Madame Butterfly, also by Puccini.

JOSE MACEDA
(1917 – 2004)
Year of Conferment: 1997
Jose Maceda was a highly acclaimed composer and ethnomusicologist. His works have resulted in a vast
collection of recorded music taken from the most remote regions of the country. Most of is compositions are
performed as a communal ritual. These include Ugma-Ugma, Pagsamba, Udlot-Udlot, Ugnayan, Aroding, and
Suling-Suling.

LUCIO SAN PEDRO

(1913 – 2002)
Year of Conferment: 1991
An educator, master conductor, and a brilliant composer, Lucio San Pedro, through his works, “evoked the
folk elements of the Filipino heritage”. Coming from a family of musicians, he followed the footsteps of his
grandfather who was an organist of the local church. San Pedro led local bands such as the Banda Angono Numero
Uno, the San Pedro Band of Angono, and the Peng Kong Grand Mason Concert Band as master conductor. Some of
his popular works are The Devil’s Bridge (orchestral music), Sa Mahal Kong Bayan (choral music), Lahing
Kayumanggi (band music), and Sa Ugoy ng Duyan” (vocal music), a famous Filipino lullaby. He was a cousin of
Carlos (Botong) Francisco, National Artist for Visual Arts.

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 LEVITICUS CELERIO
(1910 – 2002)
Year of Conferment: 1997
Leviticus (Levi) Celerio was a highly talented lyricist with more than 4,000 songs under his name. He was
also known as an excellent leaf player, using a leaf to create music as cited by the Guinness Book of World Records.
He wrote the lyrics of love songs such as Saan Ka Man Naroroon, Kahit Konting Pagtingin, and Ikaw. He also
wrote some of the most well – liked Christmas songs such as Misa De Gallo, and Pasko Na Naman.

FELIPE PADILLA DE LEON

(1912 -1992)
Year of Conferment: 1991
Felipe Padilla de Leon was a multitalented musician who was a composer, a conductor, and a scholar. His
works have “Filipinized Western music forms”. De Leon’s body of works include concertos, sonatas, and marches
which often describe how Filipinos express their feelings and aspirations in times of strife and peace. Some of his
notable works include Mariang Makiling Overture, Orchestertuk, Lupang Tinubuan, and the opera adaptation Noli
Me Tangere.

LUCRESIA KASILAG
(1917 – 2008)
Year of Conferment: 1989
Lucresia Kasilag was a renowned Filipino composer. According to the NCCA, her legacy in Philippine
music is “to discover the Filipino roots through ethnic music and fusing it with Western influences”. Kasilag
created the Bayanihan Folk Arts Center for research and theatrical presentations that urges to integrate native
Filipino instruments in orchestral productions. Her popular works include Her Son, Jose, Sisa, and the Legend of
Sarimanok, all of which are orchestral music.

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 ANTONIO MOLINA
(1894 – 1980)
Year of Conferment: 1973
Considered as the “Dean of Filipino Composers”, Antonio Molina was a multitalented musician, writer,
and music educator. Molina taught some of the most astonishing Filipino musicians, such as National Artist Felipe
Padilla de Leon. His popular works include Hatinggabi, a popular serenade for solo violin and piano supplement;
Kung sa Iyong Gunita, Awit ni Maria Clara, and Larawan Nitong Pilipinas.

ANDREA VENERACION
(1928 – 2013)
Year of Conferment: 1999
Andrea Veneracion was the founder of the Philippine Madrigal Singers, one of the most passionate and
talented musical groups in the country, which acquired several international awards, including the UNESCO Artist
for Peace in 2009. She also created the Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music (AILM) Chorale. By founding the
Philippine Madrigal Singers, Veneracion had been responsible for “spearheading the development of Philippine
choral music”, according to the NCCA.

FRANCISCO FELICIANO
(1941 – 2014)
Year of Conferment: 2014
Francisco Feliciano was a prolific composer of over 30 major works. He studied music composition at the
University of the Philippines, the Hochschule der Kuenste in Berlin, Germany; and the Yale University School of
Music in the United States. His mentors were internationally renowned conductors and composers, such as Martin
Behrmann, Jacob Druckman, Isang Yun, H.W. Zimmerman, and Krystof Penderecki. He composed operas such as
La Loba Negra, Ashen Wings, Sikhay sa Kabila ng Paalam (Beyond the Farewell), and Yerma. He received the
John D. Rockefeller Award in Music Composition in 1977.

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 RAMON SANTOS
(1941 – )
Year of Conferment: 2014
Ramon Santos is a composer, conductor and musicologist. He is currently the country’s foremost exponent
of contemporary Filipino music. A prime figure in the second generation of Filipino composers in the modern idiom,
Santos has contributed greatly to the quest for new directions in music, taking as basis non-Western traditions in the
Philippines and Southeast Asia. An active musicologist, Santos’ interest in traditional music cultures led him to
embark on a fieldwork to collect and document music from folk religious groups in Quezon in 1976. He has also
done research and fieldwork among the Ibaloi of Northern Luzon. An intense and avid pedagogue, Santos, as Chair
of the Department of Composition and Theory (and formerly, as Dean) of the College of Music, UP, has remained
instrumental in espousing a modern Philippine music rooted in old Asian practices and life concepts. He has
received awards, such as the Composer-in-Residence of Bellagio Study Center/Rockefeller Foundation (1997);
Artist-in-Residence, Civitella Ranieri Center (1998); Achievement Award in the Humanities from National Research
Council of the Philippines (1994); Fellowships from the Asian Cultural Council and The Ford Foundation (1998-
1999); and Chevalier de l’Ordre des Artes et Lettres, French Government. (ncca.gov.ph and columbia.edu)

CIPRIANO (RYAN) CAYABYAB

(1954 - )
Year of Conferment: 2018
Known as “Mr. C”, Ryan Cayabyab is perhaps the most famous Filipino composer in recent history. He
has composed musical scores for award-winning films, 10 full-length Filipino musicals, full-length ballets, a major
opera, and a plethora of songs, including beloved classics like Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka and Da Coconut
Nut. A force for original Pilipino music, he has spearheaded the Philippine Popular Music Festival and served as
judge in talent shows, like Philippine Idol and Philippine Dream Academy. Together with his wife, he established
The Music School of Ryan Cayabyab in 1986, and has led the 7-member Ryan Cayabyab Singers. He also
previously worked as an assistant professor in theory and composition in the UP College of Music. Cayabyab has
been a recipient of various awards, such as the TOYM Award (1978), the Antonio Barreiro Achievement Award
(1996), and a lifetime achievement award from the Awit Awards (also in 1996). He has also served as the executive
and artistic director for the San Miguel Foundation of Performing Arts from 2001 to 2006, program director for the
ASEAN Music Camp at the 3rd National Arts Center at Mt. Makiling and the ASEAN Song Festivals, and
executive director of Philippine Pop Music Festival (Philpop), in 2012.
(https://www.rappler.com/nation/214953-list-national-artists-philippines-for-2018 and https://www.
tvguide.com/celebrities/ryan-cayabyab/bio/833791)
oOo

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