Music reviewer

• Ibalon Festival


  • Held in Legazpi, Albay every August
  • Celebrates the history of the founding of Bicol as contained in the Ibalong epic
  • Ibalon festival comes from the word Ibalong, the old name of the region of Bicol
• Ibalong Epic


  • Tells the story of 3 heroes who fought to maintain peace in the town of Ibalong
  • Battled legendary beasts like tandayag, dambuhala, the oryol, and rabot
• Sublian Festival


  • Founded July 23, 1988 by Mayor Eduardo Dimacuha
  • Performed to honor Batangas City's Sto Nino the Child Jesus and the Holy Cross of Bauan
  • Combination of the word subsub and bali
• Ati-atihan


  • Celebration in honor of the Infant Jesus
  • It means "making like Atis" which is pretending to be like the indigenous natives that once inhabited Aklan
  • It was Christianized when the Spaniards came
  • Held every 3rd week of January
• Kadayawan festival


  • It is a secular festival
  • Celebrated every 3rd week of August
  • A celebration that brings indigenous people and Davao residents together to thank the gods for a bountiful harvest
• Moriones Festival


  • Celebrated in marinduque
  • The Moriones first appeared in Mogpog in 1807
  • Held from Holy Monday to Easter Sunday
  • Penitents wear costumes similar to Roman soldiers as a way of atonement for their sins
  • Reenactment of the biblical story of Longinus, a Roman centurion
• Sinulog Festival


  • Was said to have originated when Baladhay, adviser of King Humabon, fell sick and got cured because of the image of the Holy Child
  • Sinulog is the same as "Sinug" which means "water current movement"
  • Held every January in Cebu
  • Center of the Sto Nino Christian celebrations in the Philippines
  • Pit Senyor = panangpit sa senyor which means "Call on the Child Jesus"
• Komedya


  • Colorful theatrical tradition used to spread Christianity
  • Descended from the 16th-century Spanish Comedia
  • Secular and religious komedya
• Secular komedya


  • Performed during town celebrations
  • Most notable is the "Moro-moro" that used stories that revolve around kings, queens, princesses, and supernatural beings
  • Portrays the clash between Christians and Muslims
• Religious komedya

  • Centers on the life of Christ or any saint
  • Usually seen during church celebrations
• Sarsuela


  • Originated from Spain and became popular in the 1800s
  • Portrays the typical Filipino realities and stories
• Philippine festivals often use what type of instruments?

  -drum and lyre bands

  -brass bands

  -percussion ensembles
• Folk song


  • Written folk song sung to accompany daily activities such as farming, fishing, etc.
  • Sung in their own dialect
  • Begins and ends in the same key
  • Composers and lyricists are usually unknown
  • Short and simple
  • Duple and triple meter
• Sacred mass song


  • The word "Mass" came from the Latin word "Missa" used in the concluding rite of the Mass in Latin
  • A sacrament of the Eucharist mostly celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church
  • Its purpose is for praising and thanksgiving
  • Known as the Highest form of Praying to God
• Order of Mass


  1. Kyrie/Lord have mercy/Panginoon maawa ka

  2. Gloria/Glory to God/Papuri

  3. Credo/Creed/Sumasampalataya

  4. Sanctus/Holy/Santo

  5. Agnus Dei/Lamb of God/Kordero ng Diyos
• Liturgy


  A fixed set of ceremonies, words, etc. that are used during public worship in a religion. Technically speaking, Liturgy is a subset of ritual
• Devotional music


  A hymn that accompanies religious observances and rituals
• Pasyon


  • The Philippine narrative of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ
  • A book with stanzas of five lines of eight syllables
  • The whole text is chanted
  • Also known as "Pabasa" and is cited during Holy Week
• Salubong


  A religious ritual that reenacts the meeting of the Risen Christ with His mother on the dawn of Easter Sunday
• Flores de Mayo


  • "Flowers of May" is a Catholic festival held in the month of May
  • Performed in the church wherein children offer flowers to the image of the Virgin Mary while singing "alay"
• Santa Cruzan


  • A religious historical event that dramatizes the finding of the Holy Cross by Queen Helena and her son, Constantine the Great
  • The Santacruzan (from the Spanish santa cruz, "holy cross") is the ritual pageant held on the last day of the Flores de Mayo
• Secular music

  Balitaw, Kundiman, Harana
• Harana


  • A secular music used by young men to express their feelings, sentiments, love and appreciation to young women by serenading them in their houses
  • Harana is a Filipino tradition of serenading a woman which derives its rhythmic style from the Spanish Tango or Habanera
• Balitaw


  • The music of the balitaw is usually written in 3/4 time
  • It is also danced to, although it originally was something that was merely sung
  • Balitaw is an extemporaneous exchange of verses between a man and a woman and usually sung in triple meter
• Kundiman


  • Kundiman is the classic form of Filipino love song
  • the singer who expresses undying love for his beloved is actually singing about his love for the country
• Rondalla


  The history of ______ in the Philippines dates back more than a century, when plucked string instruments were introduced to the country during Spanish occupation
• Banduria


  • Pear-shaped body with a round sound hole, the ______ is the mainstay of the group
  • This instrument usually carries the main melody and plays melodies and counterparts
• Octavina


  • Formed like a guitar with shorter neck and with round sound hole, the ______, like the laud, plays the lower notes in accompaniments, in counterparts, and in unison with the bass
• Guitar


  • Six-stringed with long, fretted neck larger body than the octavina with round sound hole, the ______ plays the accompaniments, plays melodies and counterparts, and provides the permanent rhythm for the group using chordal and arpeggio accompaniments
• Double bass/Bajo


  • The double bass, also called bass VIOL or contrabass, is four-stringed, the largest instrument of the rondalla, shaped like the violin with two f sound holes, provides the fundamental tone, and reinforces the rhythm
• Drum set


  • A set of drums, cymbals and possibly some other percussion instruments, intended to be played by a single player and arranged accordingly
  • Drum set is the foundation of rhythm and lead the tempo of music