Cool Stuff no. 4 - Philippine Choral Music, Manoj Rai, Pagodes

Choral music is a really important part of the Philippine music tradition. In the mid-1900s, performing choirs began to emerge and increasingly gained popularity.  Philippine choral arrangers such as Robert Delgado, Fidel Calalang, Lucio San Pedro, Eudenice Palaruan among others have arranged versions of folk songs, patriotic songs, and love songs.  The Philippine Madrigal Singers is one of the most well-recognized professional choral groups not only in the Philippines, but also internationally. Winning competitions, the group became one of the most famous choral groups in the Philippines. Here is a video of them singing an arrangement of “Prayer of St. Francis” by Philipine arranger Robert Delgado. 


Manoj Rai is a refugee from Bhutan. After being subjugated to persecution, Rai left for the border and was sent to eastern Nepal with others from Bhutan. Thousands of refugees from Bhutan lived under plastic sheets by the side of the Kankai River in Jhapa, Nepal for 20 years. Many fainted from trauma, culture shock and homesickness. On a single day, Manoj Rai remembers cremating 28 children who had died of epidemics. After settling in Charlotte, NC in 2012 he recorded 70 songs mostly about Bhutan. Here are some lyrics from one of his songs:

‘In the lap of the Himalaya is our 
dear Bhutan 
We blossom as we live together as 
one
Don’t cry, mother, we will make 
you smile
We will decorate our motherland 
with flowers.’

In 1889, the World’s Fair was held in Paris, France. In attendance was Claude Debussy. As he walked past the Indonesian exhibits, he was struck by the gamelan; this inspired his 1903 composition, Pagodes. The four elements of gamelan music -- timbre, polyphonic layering, tuning, and rhythmic structure -- are remarkably achieved on the piano in this composition. 






Comments

  1. Elizabeth JettonJanuary 30, 2020 at 6:17 PM

    I didn’t know that choral music in The Philippines is so popular and important! That’s so cool!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dr. Kelly VanemanFebruary 3, 2020 at 8:40 AM

    So now will you learn to play Debussy's Pagodes? Sounds like a good goal to me! And I loved the choir in the first video--really, really beautiful.

    ReplyDelete

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