Answer:
Contemporary music in the Philippines usually refers to compositions that have adopted ideas and elements from twentieth century art music in the West, as well as the latest trends and musical styles in the entertainment industry. This brief introduction covers only the works written by the art music composers.
The modern Filipino repertoire consist of pieces that have been written in twentieth century idioms that have evolved out of such stylistic movements as impressionism, expressionism, neo-classism, as well as the so-called avant-garde and New Music. A good number of these works have utilized the standard formats of classical European music such as the concerto, the symphony, the symphonic and tone poems, cantata, etc. and may therefore be broadly categorized as neo-classic. At the same time, they have also been greatly influenced by the textural colors of Debussy’s music and the ambiguous and “dissonant” tonalities of early 20th century expressionist compositions. Moreover, the sounds of non-Western instruments have been added to the tonal fabric.
The first modern works that belong to the above descriptions are attributed to Nicanor Abelardo, who from 1931 till his death in 1934 produced works that show a dramatic departure from his highly chromatic–tonal idiom to dissonant and ambiguous tonalities and complex rhythmic textures. Some of the representative works of that period are the “Sinfonietta for Strings” and the “Cinderella” Overture. In Panoramas, a chamber music suite, Abelardo also experimented on unorthodox instrumental combinations (flute, violin, viola, celesta, piano). Two short pieces for piano Dancing Fool and Malikmata by Antoni Molina, Philippine Suite by Ramon Tapales, and Mindanao Sketches by Antonio Buenaventura were isolated works that assumed some degree of modernistic structural elements, immediately following Abelardo’s output.
Philippine neo-classism is significantly represented by three names: Eliseo Pajaro, Rosendo Santos and Lucresia Kasilag. Most of Pajaro’s works (usually bitonally chromatic) are set in such extended formats as the symphony; concerto; symphonic ode; e.g. Ode to Academic Freedom; and song cycles using Filipino folk tunes (Himig Iloko). the prolific Rosendo Santos, also a versatile performer in the keyboard, percussion, and wind instruments, has written hundreds of compositions for a variety of instruments and instrumental combinations; e.g. Suite Brevet for clarinet, alto saxophone and piano, Two Poems for flute, vibes, and percussion,Etude for six timpanist and multi-percussion, Fantasy for Contrabass and Harp, etc.
