Filipino Pieces for Doublebass

Aslag

As a way of saying goodbye to the connections and friends I made in Rochester, I programmed "Aslag," my farewell concert during my last months in the beautiful city of Rochester. I divided the program into two parts. For the first part, I wanted to showcase the evolution of double bass music, so I performed pieces from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th-century periods. In the second part, I focused on a full Filipino repertoire, and two of the pieces I played were "Romanza" and A Visayan Caprice by Nicanor Abelardo. Although Romanza was originally written for cello, I adapted it for the double bass. Similarly, A Visayan Caprice was originally composed for Violin, Cello, and Piano and we played it on the French Horn, Doublebass, and Keyboard. I'm honored to program this farewell concert with my amazing musician friends, Augustine on the organ and Weverton on the French Horn.

From Page to Melody

In 2024, Sir Joed Balsamo reached out to me about his project and his upcoming travel to the U.S. to give talks at various institutions. His vision for the one at Eastman focused on Filipino compositions inspired by the writings of José Rizal, our national hero. This is part of my previous collaborative project with Dr. Crystal Sellers Battle at the George Walker Center, where I served as Eastman's International Students Liaison. In this project, we showcased an all-Filipino repertoire performed by Filipino students and alumni of the Eastman School of Music. In this project, I played "Maria Clara's Lullaby" originally for cello and piano by Rosendo Santos.

What a joy to perform this piece with my friend, Lorenzo Medel!

Vincent

For my master's recital, I transcribed three Filipino art songs (Kundiman, originally written for voice) for the double bass. I selected these pieces to demonstrate the instrument's potential for solo performance and to broaden the bass repertoire by adapting these traditional Filipino art songs to the double bass .

Sa Ugoy ng Duyan

Lucio San Pedro was a scholar of the Filipino Youth Orchestra, enabling him to study at the Juilliard School of Music in 1947. He had seamlessly embraced his roots and injected his personality into every music he created, earning him the title “Creative Nationalist.” This song was based on the melody that Lucio San Pedro’s mother, Soledad Diestro, used to hum to put Lucio and his siblings to bed.

I also adapted this poem from the song's meaning:

I wish the old days had never come to an end

As a small child when my parent’s voices blend

I hope to hear that song again one day

With the song of love the cradle they’ll sway

In my peaceful slumber, the stars watch over

Life was like heaven in your arms, my mother and father

I’m longing for when you rock my cradle gently

Ma, Pa, I wish you were here with me

Ave Maria

Santiago composed this version of "Ave Maria" for high voice with violin obligato in 1919 and dedicated this to Amy Beach. Dr. Francisco Santiago is one of the most celebrated Filipino composers today and he is sometimes called “The Father of Kundiman (Filipino Art Song).

He was born on the 29th of January, 1889 in Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines. He was a composer, pianist, teacher, and film director. Dr. Santiago obtained his teacher's certificate in science and composition from the University of the Philippines in 1922. He obtained his master’s in music at the Conservatory of Chicago, USA in 1924 and his doctorate at the Chicago Music School in the same year.

Ang Maya

Jose Estella was a Spanish insular, a criollo, and a Filipino composer. He composed waltzes and Filipinized Spanish zarzuelas. Practically all of Estella’s music were safeguarded from many wars (the 1896 revolution against Spanish rule, the 1898 Filipino-American war, and the 1945 liberation from the Japanese).

In the Philippines, the brown sparrow is called “Maya,” a typical object in the Philippine landscape. This beautiful art song is about the Maya flying so quickly that makes it hard to catch. This waltz was a piece in Estella’s 1905 zarzuela, “Filipinas para los Filipinos” with Severino Reyes as librettist. This piece critiqued the racist bill forbidding Filipino men to marry American women, a double standard in colonial policy.

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