on music and Filipinos

We are too fond in England of looking on music as a master of detatched appreciation.  The English amateur believes with Rossini that there are only two kinds of music—good and bad—adn if he can afford it, he prefers to import, together with the best brands of cigars and champagne, the best brands of music too.  The connexion between music and every-day life is entirely severed.

Now in no other art except music is this connexion doubted.  No one with any pretence to culture would fail to keep abreast with all that his fellow-countrymen were saying in literature, painting, or drama.  Such a man may well say, ‘I think Velasquez a greater painter than Augustus John, Goethe a greater poet than Masefield, and Dostoievsky a greater novelist than Arnold Bennett,’ yet he would know that unless he had seen and read the pictures, poems, novels, or plays of his contemporaries, he would lose one of the surest means of realizing what he himself was dimly and inarticulately feeling and thinking, and that the temper of the age was in danger of passing over him, leaving him untouched and unready.

And yet music, the subtlest, most sensitive, and purest means of self-expression, is supposed to be on a plane by itself, a thing detatched from its surroundings, a mere sensation to be enjoyed by the epicure.  Thus it comes about that the cultured amateur says to the composer, ‘What have you to offer me better than the great Masters?  I have my Bach, my Beethoven, my Brahms.  They are enough to satisfy me; or can you show me more subtle harmonies than Debussy, more striking orchestral effects than Strauss?  If not, why should I bore myself by listening to you or trying to play you?’  And the amateur, judged by his own standard, is perfectly right.  The English composer is not and for many generations will not be anything like so good as the great Masters, nor can he do such wonderful things as Strauss and Debussy.  But is he for this reason of no value to the community?  Is it not possible that he has something to say to his own countrymen that no one of any other age and any other country can say?  When English people realize this—that the composer is their own voice speaking through his art those things which they can only dimly grope for—then indeed the English composer will be wanted, if only he is ready.
—Ralph Vaughn Williams

 

Ralph Vaughn Williams was a composer in the early 20th century who bore a strong force on nationalistic music for England.  Today, English music has its own say and is very recognizable to the public.

However, I believe Vaughn Williams’ words transcend not only the time, but the culture.  I am sad to say this, but I feel like the Filipino culture is a fading one.  Due to being raped by three different countries, the Philippines were forced to learn how to adapt to the sovreign nations.
But we live in the 21st century.  The Filipino are their own people.  But where is the thrive for Filipino culture?

Last year, songwriter and musician Freddie Aguilar was reamed by the media due to his criticisms on certain Filipino singers Charice and Arnel Pineda.  Aguilar felt that the two singers were merely imitating the Western music and were hardly sharing to the world what Filipino music is about.  Yet the media reamed on Aguilar, saying he was wrong or too harsh.

I feel that Aguilar was more than right.  Filipino culture is very weak right now.  They bear the tendency to copy shows from the west.  If I say Britain, you may think Beatles or Pink Floyd.  If I say America, you might think Scott Joplin or The Fray.  If I say the Philippines… I don’t know.  Just imitations, in all honesty.  Granted, music influences other styles of music, but theres a distinct difference between blend and copy.  I remember when my friend told me that The Filipino Channel (TFC) advertised a new show: (Filipino) Glee.

It isn’t that the Filipinos lack creativity.  Hardly.  Filipinos are very creative and smart.  But there’s something about the desire to adapt.  We don’t need to adapt to survive anymore. 

What Vaughn Williams said for his own people is applicable for me to say to mine:  “Is the Filipino for this reason of no value to the community?  Is it not possible that he has something to say to his own countrymen that no one of any other age and any other country can say?  When Filipinos realize this—that the composer is their own voice speaking through his art those things which they can only dimly grope for—then indeed the Filipino composer will be wanted, if only he is ready.”

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