Saturday, August 17, 2013

MUSIC OF THE EAST: Bicolandia


        Magayon Festival is an annual festival in May that relives the legend of Mayon Volcano. The festival derived its name from magayon, from a Bicolano term which means “beautiful.” This celebration is held in honor of Nuestra Señora de la Porteria, Daraga's patron saint. This legendary, historical and religious celebration aims to showcase the cultural life of the people of Daraga, Albay.

         This festival is one of the highlights of the Bicol region that makes it wonderful. Aside from this, Bicol is known for its rich culture, from food, to its people, tradition, music and a whole lot more. They are fond of love songs or what the people call ‘Kundiman’. Bicolano art is shown in their love songs such as Sarong Bangui, Burac na Magayon and others. Among the young songs about nature are popular. 

            The most popular would be the Sarung Bangui; it is Bicol’s signature love ballad, and arguably one of the country’s most popular and well-loved folk songs. Composed by Potenciano Gregorio of Libog town (now Sto. Domingo) in Albay, the song which literally means “one night” tells about an enchanted evening encounter between a love-struck man and a lovely rural lass. Composed on May 10, 1910, the song was arranged for band by Gregorio in 1918 and performed by Banda de Libog, the municipal brass band. Because of its growing popularity, the composer arranged it for symphony orchestra in 1930.


           No matter a song is in different dialect or language, as long as the people would appreciate it, at the end of the day, it will still be the finest. Most of all, the bottom line is that, before you listen and memorize any other song, learn to love the songs that you own. 

Sources: 
           
http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Magayon_Festival



Calajatan, Essan Marie O.
BCR 3-1

No comments:

Post a Comment