Contemporary

Philippine Music
By Group 3
 Contemporary Music
According to National Artist Ramon Santos, PhD,
“contemporary music in the Philippines refers to
compositions that have adopted ideas and elements from
20th century art music in the west, as well as the
latest trends and musical styles in the entertainment
industry.”
• The modern Filipino repertoire consists of musical pieces
that have been written in 20th century idioms that have
evolved out of such stylistic movements as impressionism,
expressionism, neo-classicism, as well as avant-garde and
new music.
• New music are compositions which are improvisational
works such as the early compositions of Dr. Ramon
Santos, Radyasyon and Quadrasyon, Josefino “Chino”
Toledo’s Samut-Sari, Pintigan and Terminal Lamentations,
and Jonathan Baes’ Wala and Banwa.
20th Century With Spain and then America
Traditional having colonized the
Composers Philippines from the early
1500s to the late 1800s, it was
unavoidable that Western
compositional techniques
found their way into the works
of Filipino composers.

Lucio D. San Pedro
(February 11, 1913 – March 31, 2002)
 Lucio San Pedro was born in Angono,
Rizal
He was also known as the “ Romantic
Nationalist ”
He was a Filipino composer and teacher
who was proclaimed a National Artist
of the Philippines for Music in 1991.
Among his most famous masterpieces
were “Lahing Kayumanggi” (1961),
“Sa Lupang Sarili” (1940), “Sa Mahal
Kong Bayan” (1950).
His other vocation was teaching. He has taught at the
Ateneo de Manila University, virtually all the major
music conservatories in Manila and at the College of
Music of the University of the Philippines, Diliman,
where he retired as a full professor in 1978. He later
received the title professor emeritus from the university
in 1979.

San Pedro was also known for composing the official

march of Makati.
 • Antonio Molina was born in Quiapo,
Manila.
• A Filipino composer, conductor and
Antonio J. Molina
( Dec. 26, 1894 – Jan 29, 1980)
music administrator.
• He was named a National Artist of
the Philippines for his services to
music.
• He was also known as the Claude
Debussy of the Philippines due to
his use of impressionist themes in
music.
Molina made his first composition in 1912
titled Matinal, which is preserved in an unpublished
volume called Miniaturas, Vol. 1. He was appointed
to teach harmony, composition, music history, and
violincello at the UP Conservatory of Music,
pursuing a career in music education until being
appointed dean of the Centro Escolar Conservatory
of Music.

As a composer Molina is credited with over 500

compositions.
 • Col. Antonino Buenaventura was born
Antonio R. in Baliuag, Bulacan.
Buenaventura • was a Filipino composer, conductor, and
teacher.
(May 4, 1904 – January 25, 1996)

• Buenaventura's music was influenced

by different ethnic Philippine folksongs.
• In 1936 he composed the
accompaniment to the folk dance
"Pandanggo sa Ilaw" and incorporated
ethnic melodies and instruments to
some of his compositions.
 • Hilarion Rubio was born in Bacoor, Cavite.
• A composer, music teacher, conductor, and
clarinetist.
Hilarion F. Rubio • His interest in music came from the
(Oct. 21, 1902 – Dec. 28, 1985) influence of his uncle who was then
playing with the Bacoor Band.
• He became a member of Bacoor Band as a
Clarinetist at the age of 8.
• He served as a conductor for opera, ballet,
dance recitals, and movie music.
• Made his first composition “Unang Katas”
for his concert with the band.
 •Rosendo Santos was born in Caridad, Cavite City
in the Philippines.
•At age 11, he started composing band marches,
instrumental and vocal scores, and Catholic
Rosendo E. Santos masses. He was later named a UNESCO scholar
(Sept. 3, 1922 – Nov. 4, 1994)
and received the Composer of the Year Award. In
Manila, he was a Composer of the Year in 1956
and 1957, and won 12 prizes consecutively in
composition contests. Most recently, he received
the title of “ The Philippine Composer of the
Century.”
•A prolific composer, his works include concertos,
sonatas, symphonic poems, five operas in
Philippine dialect, Numerous band overtures, and
more than 200 marches.
 • Ryan Cayabyab was born in Manila.
• He was a prominent Filipino musician, composer,
and conductor.
Ryan Cayabyab
(May 4, 1954)
• He was named as National Artist of the Philippines
for Music in 2018. His works range from
commissioned full-length ballets, theater musicals,
choral pieces, a Mass set to unaccompanied chorus,
and orchestral pieces, to commercial recordings of
popular music, film scores and television specials.
• Famous for composing the “Da Coconut Nut” Song
performed by his Smokey Mountain band.
• He is the executive director of the Phil Pop Music
Fest Foundation Inc., the organization behind the
Philippine Popular Music Festival.
 • Ramon Santos was born in Pasig, Rizal.
• A Filipino composer , musicologist, and
ethnomusicologist.
Ramon Santos
(Feb. 25, 1941)
• known for being the Philippines' foremost
living exponent of contemporary Filipino
classical music, for work that expounds on
"the aesthetic frameworks of Philippine
and Southeast Asian artistic traditions,"
and for finding new uses of indigenous
Philippine instruments.
• Some of Santos' compositions include
Rituwal ng Pasasalamat, Likas-An, Badiw
as Kapoonan and many others.
 • Josefino Toledo was born in Manila,
Philippines.
Josefino “Chino” • He is a Filipino composer and conductor. He
Toledo teaches music composition and theory at the
(March 6, 1959)
University of the Philippines College of Music,
and is the cofounder of the Metro Manila
Community Orchestra.
• His music is characterized by great energy and
often bears a relationship to the traditional
music of Southeast Asia. Toledo’s works also
include music for theater, films, scoring
libraries, orchestrations and arrangements for
different performing forces, and revisions and
editing of Philippine Sarsuwelas.
 • Francisco Feliciano was born in
Francisco F. Morong, Rizal.
Feliciano • He is a Filipino conductor and
(Feb. 19, 1941 – Sept. 19, 2014)

song composer.
• He was a National Artist of the
Philippines for Music.
• Among his major works were
‘’Missa Mysterium’’ and
‘’Sikhay sa Kabila ng Paalam’’.
 He started his music career when he joined a band
in high school and played cymbals and the clarinet.
He studied at the University of the Philippines (UP)
and attained a Masters degree in Music
Composition.
 He has created several of liturgical pieces, mass
settings, hymns, and songs for worship. His works
were published worldwide in hymnals and worship
books of various churches. He was an active
clinician, having conducted workshops on creative
music writing in so many countries.