Kundiman

Kundiman (originally spelled "Cundiman") is a genre of traditional Filipino love songs. The lyrics of the Kundiman are written in Tagalog. The melody is characterized by a smooth, flowing and gentle rhythm with dramatic intervals. Kundiman was the traditional means of serenade in the Philippines.

The Kundiman came to the fore as an art song at the end of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth, when Filipino composers such as Francisco Santiago and Nicanor Abelardo (born February 7, 1893, death March 21, 1934 ), formalized the musical structure and sought poetry for their lyrics, blending verse and music in equal parts.

Scholars and historians believed that the Kundiman originated from the Tagalog town of Balayan, Batangas. [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;idno=aeg8734.0001.001;q1=kundiman;size=l;frm=frameset;seq=39;page=root;view=image] Dr. Francisco Santiago(1889-1947), the "Father of the Kundiman Art Song", briefly explains in his scholarly work "The Development of Music in the Philippines" the reason why this Tagalog song is called Kundiman is because the first stanza of this song begun thus:

::"Cundiman, cundiman
::Cundiman si jele"

::"Hele ng Cundiman
::Hele ng Cundangan"

In 1872, the illustrious Franciscan Tagalist and poet, Father Joaquin de Coria wrote the "Nueva Gramatica Tagalog Teorica-Practica" which, besides treating grammar, also enumerates the characteristics of Tagalog language, and discusses Tagalog poetry. [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;rgn=full%20text;idno=AEG8734.0001.001;didno=AEG8734.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000089] In this book Father Coria also gave us a list of the names of the most important songs of the Tagalogs. They are:
* Diona and Talingdao (songs in the homes and in ordinary work)
* Indolanin and Dolayin (songs in the streets)
* Soliranin (boat songs)
* Haloharin, Oyayi and Hele-hele (songs to make the baby sleep)
* Sambotani (song for festivals and social reunions)
* Tagumpay (song to commemorate victory in war)
* Hiliraw, Balicungcung (sweet songs)
* Dopayinin (almost same as Tagumpay, but more serious and more sincere)
* Kumintang (love song; also a pantominic "dance song" -Dr. F. Santiago)
* Cundiman (love song, used especially in serenading)

The Spanish scholar V.M. Avella described the Kundiman in his 1874 work "Manual de la Conversación Familiar Español-Tagalog" as the "cancion indigena" (native song) of the Tagalogs and characterized its melody as "something pathetic but not without some pleasant feeling." [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;rgn=full%20text;idno=ACK4656.0001.001;didno=ACK4656.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000128]

In his 1883 book "Cuentos Filipinos", Don José Montero y Vidal recorded in Spanish the sad lyrics of a "popular" Kundiman of the "Tagalas" or Tagalogs : [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;rgn=full%20text;idno=AGM3478.0001.001;didno=AGM3478.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000116]

::Cundiman, cundiman
::Cundiman si jele
::Mas que esta dormido
::Ta sona con ele.

::Desde que vos cara
::Yo ta mira
::Aquel morisqueta
::No puede traga.

::Cundiman, cundiman
::Cundiman, cundaman
::Mamatay, me muero
::Sacamay mo lamang.

The Spanish writer and historian Wenceslao E. Retana recorded in 1888 the lyrics of a popular Kundiman in Batangas. The melancholic lyrics in the Tagalog original as recorded in Retana's book "El Indio Batangueño" reads: [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;rgn=full%20text;idno=ABW7511.0001.001;didno=ABW7511.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000030] ::Aco man ay imbi, hamac isang ducha
::Nasinta sa iyo, naghahasic nga
::Di ba guin si David ng una ay aba
::Pastor ay nag harin ng datnan ng awa?

::Estrebillo:

::Hele ng Cundiman
::Hele ng Cundangan
::Mundo palibhasai, talinghaga lamang
::Ang mababa ngayon bucas ay marangal.

::Sa lahat ng hirap sintang dala-dala
::Salang cumilos isip coi icao na
::Acoi mananaog na hahanapin quita

::Estrebillo:

::Hele ng Cundiman
::Hele ng Cundangan
::Cundangan nga icao ang may casalanan
::Tataghoy-taghoy ni 'di mo pa paquingan.

In 1916, Dr. Juan V. Pagaspas, a doctor of philosophy from Indiana University and a much beloved educator in Tanauan, Batangas described the Kundiman as "a pure Tagalog song which is usually very sentimental, so sentimental that if one should listen to it carefully watching the tenor of words and the way the voice is conducted to express the real meaning of the verses, he cannot but be conquered by a feeling of pity even so far as to shed tears." [J.Pagaspas, "Native Amusements in the Province of Batangas"]

Dr. Francisco Santiago, the "Father of Filipino Musical Nationalism" declared in 1931 that the Kundiman "is the love song par excelence of the Filipinos, the plaintive song which goes deepest into their hearts, song which brings them untold emotions." [F. Santiago, "The Development of Music in the Philippines"]

The melody and sentiment of the Kundiman tends not only toward the melancholy but also the cheerful [http://www.univie.ac.at/Voelkerkunde/apsis/aufi/aurel/novara/nov1340.htm#condiman] , and the commitment of the heart to passion is celebrated in every piece. The singer of the kundiman expresses the pain and beauty of love felt by every listener, for the kundiman is not merely entertainment but an embodiment of collective emotion.

Endowed with such power, the Kundiman naturally came to serve as a vehicle for veiled patriotism in times of colonial oppression, in which the undying love for a woman symbolized the love of country and desire for freedom.

Dr. Jose P. Rizal (1861-1896), the Philippine national hero, has consecrated the Kundiman in his social novel “"Noli Me Tangere"”. Not only this but he himself wrote a Kundiman which is not of the elegiac type because its rhythm sounds the threat, the reproach and the revindication of the rights of the race.

::KUNDIMAN NI RIZAL [http://philmelody.googlepages.com/kundiman.htm]

::Tunay ngayong umid yaring diwa at puso
::Ang bayan palibhasa'y api, lupig at sumuko.
::Sa kapabayaan ng nagturong puno
::Paglaya'y nawala, ligaya'y naglaho!

::Datapuwa't muling sisikat ang maligayang araw
::Pilit na maliligtas ang inaping bayan
::Magbabalik man din at laging sisikat
::Ang ngalang Tagalog sa sandaigdigan!

::Ibubuhos namin ang dugo'y ibabaha
::Ng matubos lamang ang sa Amang Lupa!
::Hanggang 'di sumapit ang panahong tadhana
::Sinta ay tatahimik, tutuloy ang nasa!
::Sinta ay tatahimik at tutuloy ang nasa!
::O Bayan kong mahal
::Sintang Filipinas!

From 1896 to 1898 the most famous Kundiman, which fired the patriotic sentiments of the Tagalog revolutionaries in the struggle for liberation from Spanish colonial rule, was "Jocelynang Baliuag". Officially known as "Musica del Legitimo Kundiman Procedente del Campo Insurecto" (Music of the Legitimate Kundiman that Proceeds from the Insurgents), "Jocelynang Baliwag" was the favorite Kundiman among the revolutionaries of Bulacan during the Philippine Revolution of 1896 - earning it the title "Kundiman of the Revolution."

In the guise of a love and courtship song, it features lyrics dedicated to a young and beautiful Filipina idolized in the Bulacan town of Baliuag named Josefa 'Pepita' Tiongson y Lara who symbolizes the image of the beloved Motherland, the "Inang Bayang Katagalugan" or Filipinas.

::JOCELYNANG BALIWAG

::P- Pinopoong sinta, niring calolowa
::Nacacawangis mo'y mabangong sampaga
::Dalisay sa linis, dakila sa ganda
::Matimyas na bucal ng madlang ligaya.

::E- Edeng maligayang kinaloclocan
::Ng galak at tuwang catamis-tamisan
::Hada cang maningning na ang matunghaya'y
::Masamyong bulaclac agad sumisical.

::P- Pinananaligan niring aking dibdib
::Na sa paglalayag sa dagat ng sakit
::'Di mo babayaang malunod sa hapis
::Sa pagcabagabag co'y icaw ang sasagip.

::I- Icaw na nga ang lunas sa aking dalita
::Tanging magliligtas sa niluha-luha
::Bunying binibining sinucuang cusa
::Niring catawohang nangayupapa.

::T- Tanggapin ang aking wagas na pag-ibig
::Marubdob na ningas na taglay sa dibdib
::Sa buhay na ito'y walang nilalangit
::Cung hindi ikaw lamang, ilaw niring isip.

::A- At sa cawacasa'y ang kapamanhikan
::Tumbasan mo yaring pagsintang dalisay
::Alalahanin mong cung 'di cahabagan
::Iyong lalasunin ang aba cong buhay.

The Filipino composer, conductor and scholar Felipe M. De Leon Jr., wrote that the Kundiman is a "unique musical form expressing intense longing, caring, devotion and oneness with a beloved. Or with a child, spiritual figure, motherland, ideal or cause. According to its text, a kundiman can be romantic, patriotic, religious, mournful. Or a consolation, a lullaby. Or a protest and other types. But of whatever type, its music is soulful and lofty, conveying deep feelings of devotional love." [F.M. De Leon Jr., "But "What Really Is The Kundiman"?"]

External links

* [http://name.umdl.umich.edu/AEG8734.0001.001"Tagalog Literature; A Historico-Critical Study"] by Prof. Eufronio Melo Alip, Manila: U. S. T. Press, 1930. pp.17,65
* [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;idno=aqx2406.0001.009;q1=kundiman;size=l;frm=frameset;seq=16;page=root;view=image"The Music and Theater of the Filipino People"] by R.C. Banas, from El Filipino: Revista mensual Vol I No. 9 (1926)
* [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;idno=acd5869.0023.003;size=l;frm=frameset;seq=21"The Filipino Folk Song"] by Percy Hill from the Philippine magazine. [Vol. XXIII, no. 3, p.147] Philippine Education Co. Manila, 1926. p.147
* [http://name.umdl.umich.edu/abw7511.0001.001"El Indio Batangueno"] by Wenceslao E. Retana, Manila, Tipo-Litografia de Chofre y Cia, 1888. p.25
* [http://name.umdl.umich.edu/AGM3478.0001.001"Cuentos Filipinos"] by Don José Montero y Vidal, Madrid, Tip. del Asilo de Huérfanos del Sagrado Corazon de Jesús, 1883. p.106
* [http://www.univie.ac.at/Voelkerkunde/apsis/aufi/aurel/novara/nov1340.htm#condiman"Condiman: Tagalian Merriness"] by Karl Scherzer from "Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara in the Years 1857, 1858 & 1859."
* [http://name.umdl.umich.edu/ACK4656.0001.001"Manual de la conversación Familiar Español-Tagalog] by V.M. de Avella,Manila, C. Miralles, 1874. p. 116
* [http://www.filipinoheritage.com/history/signature_lovesong.htm "Our Signature Love Song"] by Della G. Besa, from Kasaysayan, The Story of the Filipino People Vol. 10: A Timeline of Philippine History
* [http://philmelody.googlepages.com/kundiman.htm "Music of Kundiman ni Rizal"] MIDI sequence by Ian-James R. Andres
* [http://www.bluerockhills.net/classicalph "Classical Philippines Radio"] Plays unique blend of classical guitar, kundiman and harana music.