NATIONAL ARTISTS

Music
 LEVI CELERIO
(April 30, 1910-April 2, 2002)
 LEVI CELERIO

• A Filipino composer, lyricist, and songwriter

with over 4, 000 songs to his credit
• He is perhaps best known for being a leaf-player,
which put him into the Guinness Book of World
Records
• Received his scholarship at the Academy of
Music in Manila that made it possible for him to
join the Manila Symphony Orchestra becoming
its youngest member.
 LEVI CELERIO
• A great number of his songs had been written for
the local movies, which earned for him the
lifetime achievement award from the Film
Academy of the Philippines.
ANTONIO BUENAVENTURA
(May 4, 1904-January 25, 1996)
 ANTONIO BUENAVENTURA

• He composed songs for solo instruments as well

as symphonic and orchestral works based on the
folk songs of various Philippine ethnic groups.
• He was also a conductor and restored the
Philippine Army Band to its former prestige as
one of the finest military bands in the world
making it “the only band that can sound like a
symphony orchestra”.
 ANTONIO BUENAVENTURA
• He proficiently wrote several marches such as:
Triumphal March
Echoes of the Past
History Fantasy
Second Symphony in E flat
Echoes from the Philippines
Ode to Freedom
Concert Overture
Prelude and Fugue in G minor
Philippines Triumphant
Mindanao Sketches
Symphony in C major
 JOSE MACEDA
(January 31, 1917-May 5, 2004)
 JOSE MACEDA
• A composer, musicologist, teacher, and performer,
explored the musicality of the Filipino deeply.
• He embarked on a life-long dedication to the
understanding and popularization of Filipino
traditional music.
• His researches and field work have resulted in the
collection of an immense number of recorded music
taken from the remotest mountain villages and
farthest island communities.
 JOSE MACEDA
• He wrote papers that enlighten scholars, both
Filipino and foreign, about the nature of
Philippine traditional and ethnic music.
• His experimentation also freed Filipino musical
expression from a strictly Eurocentric mold.
 JOSE MACEDA
• His compositions are:
▫ Ugma-Ugma
▫ Pagsamba
▫ Udlot-udlot
▫ Agungan
▫ Kubing
▫ Ugnayan
▫ Ading
▫ Aroding
▫ Siyasid
▫ Suling-suling
 LUCRECIA R. KASILAG
(August 31, 1918-August 16, 2008)
 LUCRECIA R. KASILAG

• An educator, performing artist, administrator,

and cultural entrepreneur of national and
international caliber.
• She had involved herself wholly in sharpening
the Filipino audiences’ appreciation of music.
• Her pioneering task is to discover the Filipino
roots through ethnic music and fusing it with
western influences which led many Filipino
composers to experiment with such approach.
 LUCRECIA R. KASILAG
• She dared to incorporate indigenous Filipino
instruments in orchestral productions such as the
prize-winning “Toccata for Percussions and
Winds, Divertissment, and Concertante, and the
scores of Filiasiana, Misang Pilipino, and De
Profundis.”
• “Tita King” as she was fondly called, worked
closely as music director with colleagues Lucrecia
Reyes Urtula, Isabel Santos, Jose Lardizabal, and
Dr. Leticia P. De Guzman
 LUCRECIA R. KASILAG
• Her orchestral music include:
 Love songs
 Legend of Sarimanok
 Ang Pamana
 Philippines Scenes
 Her Son
 Jose
 Sisa
 Awit ng mga Awit
 Psalms
 Fantaisie on a Four Note Theme
 East Meets Jazz Ethnica
 ERNANI J. CUENCO
(May 10, 1936-June 11, 1988)
 ERNANI J. CUENCO

• He played with the Filipino Youth Symphony

Orchestra and the Manila Symphony Orchestra
from 1960-1968, and the Manila Chamber
Soloists from 1966-1970.
• He completed a music degree in piano and cello
from the University of Santo Tomas where he
also taught for decades until his death in 1988.
 ERNANI J. CUENCO
• His songs and ballads include:
▫ Nahan
▫ Kahit na Magtiis
▫ Diligin Mo ng Hamog ang Uhaw na Lupa
▫ Pilipinas
▫ Inang Bayan
▫ Isang Dalangin
▫ Kalesa
▫ Bato sa Buhangin
▫ Gaano Kita Kamahal
The latter song shows how Cuenco has enriched the Filipino
love ballad by adding the elements of kundiman to it.
 LUCIO SAN PEDRO
(February 11, 1913-March 31, 2002)
 LUCIO SAN PEDRO
• A master composer, conductor, and teacher
whose music evokes the folk elements of the
Filipino heritage.
• He produced a wide-ranging body of works that
includes band music, concertos for violin and
orchestra, choral works, cantatas, chamber
music, music for violin and piano, and songs for
solo voice.
 LUCIO SAN PEDRO
• He was the conductor of the much acclaimed
Peng Kong Grand Mason Concert Band, The San
Pedro Band of Angono, and his father’s former
band, and the Banda Angono Numero Uno.
• His civic commitment and works with town
bands have significantly contributed to the
development of the civic culture among Filipino
communities and open a creative outlet for
young Filipinos.
 LUCIO SAN PEDRO
• His orchestral music include:
▫ The Devil’s Bridge
▫ Malakas at Maganda Overture
▫ Prelude and Fugue in D minor
▫ Hope and Ambition
• Choral Music
• Easter Cantata
• Sa Mahal Kong Bayan
• Rizal’s Valedictory Poem
 LUCIO SAN PEDRO
• Vocal Music
• Lulay
• Sa Ugoy ng Duyan
• In the Silence of the Night
• Band Music
• Dance of the Fairies
• Triumphal March
• Lahing Kayumanggi
• Angononian March
 ANTONIO J. MOLINA
(December 26, 1894 – January 29, 1980)
 ANTONIO J. MOLINA
• A versatile musician, composer, music educator
and was the last of the musical triumvirate who
elevated music beyond the realm of folk music.

• At an early age, he took to playing the violoncello

and played it so well.

• As a member of the UP Conservatory, he had

taught many of the country’s leading musical
personalities like Lucrecia Kasilag and Felipe de
Leon.
 ANTONIO J. MOLINA
• His famous works includes:
Hatinggabi- a serenade for solo violin and
piano accompaniment.

Orchestral Music:
Misa Antoniana Grand Festival Mass
Ang Batingaw
Kundiman-kundangan

Chamber Music:
String Quartet
Kung sa iyong gunita
Pandangguhan
 ANTONIO J. MOLINA
Vocal Music:
Amihan
Awit ni Maria Clara
Larawan Nitong Pilipinas
FRANCISCO FELICIANO
National Artist for Music (2014)
 FRANCISCO FELICIANO
National Artist for Music (2014)

• A composer, conductor and educator

contributed to bringing the awareness of people
all over the world to view the Asian Culture as a
rich source of inspiration and celebration of our
ethnicity, particularly Philippines.

• He brought out the unique sounds of our

indigenous music in compositions that have high
technical demands equal to the compositions of
masters in the western world.
 FRANCISCO FELICIANO

• He has elevated the Filipino artistry into one that is

highly esteemed by the people all over the world.

• Many of his choral compositions have been

performed by the best choirs in the country.

• His operas and orchestral works also showcase the

masterful treatment of a musical language that is
unique and carries with it a contemporary style
that allows for the use of modal scales.
 FRANCISCO FELICIANO

• In his modest hymns, he was able to bring out

the Filipino mysticism in the simple harmonies
that is able to captivate and charm his audiences.
 FRANCISCO FELICIANO
• His Major works includes:
Ashen Wings
Sikhay sa Kabila ng Paalam
La Loba Negra
Yerma
Pamugun
Pokpok Alimako
 JOVITA FUENTES
( February 15, 1895- August 7, 1978)
 JOVITA FUENTES

• An opera artist, performer and a music teacher.

• She portrayed Cio-Cio san in Giacomo Puccini’s

Madame Butterflyat Italy’s Teatro Minicipale di
Piacenza.

• Her performance was hailed as the “most sublime

interpretation of the part”

• She was also a teacher in the UP Conservatory of

Music n 1917 before leaving for Milan in 1924 for
further voice studies.
 JOVITA FUENTES

• She later embarked on string of music

performances in Europe essaying the roles of Liu
Yu in Puccini’s Turnadot, Mimi in Puccini’s La
Boheme, Iris in Pietro Macagni’s Iris, the title
role of Salome.

• In recognition of these achievements, she was

given the unprecedent award of “Embahadora de
Filipinas a su Madre Patria by Spain.
 JOVITA FUENTES

• Her dream to develop the love for opera among

her countrymen led her to found the Artists’
Guild of the philippines, which was responsible
for the periodic “Tour of the Operaland”
productions.
 FELIPE PADILLA DE LEON
( May 1, 1912- December 5, 1992)
 FELIPE PADILLA DE LEON

• A composer, conductor and scholar, Filipinized

western music forms, a feat aspired for by
Filipino composers who preceded him.

• The prodigious body of his musical

compositions, notably the sonatas, marches and
concertos have become the full expression of the
sentiments and aspirations of the Filipino in
time of strife and of peace, making him the
epitome of a people’s musician.
 FELIPE PADILLA DE LEON

• He is the recipient of various awards and

distinctions such as:
Republic Cultural Heritage Award
Doctor of Humanities from UP
Rizal Pro-Patriotic Award
Presidential Award of Merit
Patnubay ng Kalinangan Award
 FELIPE PADILLA DE LEON

• His famous works includes:

Orchestral Music:
Mariang Makiling Overture
Roca Encantada
Symphonic Legend
Maynila Overture
Orchesterstuk

Choral Music:
Payapang Daigdig
Ako’y Pilipino
Lupang Tinubuan
Ama Namin

Other songs:
Bulaklak
Alitaptap
Mutya ng Lahi
HONORATA “ATANG” DELA RAMA
(January 11, 1902- July 11, 1991)
 HONORATA “ATANG” DELA RAMA

• Known to be the Queen Of Kundiman in 1979, then

already 74 years old singing the same song (“Nabasag na
Banga”) that she sang as a 15 year old girl in the
sarsuela Dalagang Bukid.

• She became the very first actress in the very first Tagalog
Film when she essayed the same role in the sarsuela’s
film version.

• At age of seven, she was already being cast in Spanish

Zarzuelas such as Mascota, Sueño de un Vals, and
Marina.
 HONORATA “ATANG” DELA RAMA

• She firmly believes that the sarswela and the

kundiman expresses best the Filipino soul, and
has even performed kundiman and other
Filipino songs for the Aetas or Negritos of
Zambales and Sierra Madre, the Bagobos of
Davao and other Lumad od Mindanao.
 HONORATA “ATANG” DELA RAMA

• Her famous works includes the singing of:

Pakiusap
Ay Ay Kalisud
Kung Iibig ka
Madaling Araw
Mutya ng Pasig
She also wrote her own sarswelas:
Anak ni Eba
Aking Ina
Puri at Buhay
ANDREA VENERACION
(July 11, 1928- July 9, 2013)
 ANDREA VENERACION

• A highly esteemed for her achievements as choir master

and choral arranger.

• Two of her contributions in culture and the arts include the

founding of the Philippine Madrigal Singers and the
spearheading of the development of Philippine Choral
Music.

• As a former faculty member of the UP College of Music and

honorary chair of the Philippine Federation of Choral
Music, she organized a cultural outreach program to
provide music education and exposure in several provinces.
 ANDREA VENERACION

• She was also recognized as an authority on

choral music and performance and has served as
adjudicator in international music competitions.
 RAMON P. SANTOS
NATIONAL ARTIST FOR MUSIC (2014)
 RAMON P. SANTOS

• A composer, conductor and musicologist.

• He graduated in 1965 from the UP College of Music with

a teacher’s diploma and a Bachelor of Music degree in
both Composition and Conducting.

• He is currently the country’s foremost exponent of

contemporary Filipino music.

• He has contributed greatly to the quest for new directions

in music, taking as basis non-Western traditions in the
Philippines and Southeast Asia.
 RAMON P. SANTOS

• His higher studies in the United States exposed him to the

world of contemporary and avant-garde musical idioms: the
rigorous processes of serialism, electronic and contemporary
music, indeterminacy, and new vocal and improvisational
techniques.

• As active musicologist, his interest in traditional music

culture was heretofore realized in 1976 by embarking on
fieldwork to collect and document music from folk religious
groups in Quezon.

• He has also done research and fieldwork among the Ibaloi of

Northern Luzon.
 RAMON P. SANTOS

• As Chair of the Department of Composition and

Theory of UP College of Music, he remained
instrumental in espousing a modern Philippine
music rooted in Old Asian Practices and life
concepts.