MARIPOSA, Michelle Mariel C. Prof. Ramon Acoymo, Ph.D.

2012-16203 MuPC 131

Analysis and Critique
1. Atin Cu Pung Singsing
Atin Cu Pung Singsing is a Filipino folk song from Central Luzon, written in Kapampangan.
While the origin of the song is unknown, its melody has similarities with Spanish and Mexican
folk songs from the 18th century. The text tells of a woman who lost a ring given to her by her
mother. In the end, she cries out she will offer her love to the man who can retrieve the lost ring
for her.
By nature, folk songs are meant to be sung by the layman or the amateur singer, and are
passed on orally. Freddie Aguilar’s take on Atin Cu Pung Singsing brings a folk-pop appeal to
the song, as he employs scoops in his singing more generously, and adds many appoggiaturas in
the melodic lines. He sings most of the songs softly, in the piano to mezzo piano levels, and does
not employ much vocal coloration in his interpretation of the piece. It is to note that this may
largely be due to the mellow arrangement of the piece. This lends much to be desired in terms of
the narrating nature of the text and the persona, where emotions such as sentimentality towards
the ring being described build up to desperation in the hopes of finally finding the ring.
Freddie Aguilar’s take on the folk song differs greatly from that of Dr. Ramon “Montet”
Acoymo’s. Dr. Acoymo’s arrangement of the piece takes on a livelier approach, highlighting the
restlessness in the persona as she scrambles to look for her lost ring. This is coupled by the
theatrics in Dr. Acoymo’s performance, where, during the jumpy introduction of the piano, he
appears to search for the ring around the stage. The singing itself has less scoops, slurs, and
additions to the main melody. Dr. Acoymo starts the piece relatively soft, and builds up to a
more pressing and more frantic climax, coupling the persona’s desperation in finding the lost
ring. Towards the end of the piece, Dr. Acoymo slows down the tempo of the piece, in order to
once again build up to a grand ending. The variances in dynamics and tempo allow the narrative
nature of the text to be more readily understood by the audience.
 2. Mutya ng Pasig
Mutya ng Pasig is a kumintang written by Nicanor Abelardo, with inspiration from a carnival
along the Pasig River. The text reminisces about a glorious past, with the persona lamenting her
lost love and her lost kingdom, symbolizing the loss of freedom experienced by the Philippines
with the American occupation. Musically, it has long melodic lines, accompanied by undulating
figures in the piano or orchestral part, such as arpeggios and other broken chords.
Conching Rosal’s version with orchestra highlights Abelardo’s text painting, as Rosal
uses dynamics and tempo changes to lend an air of mystery to the melodic line, and to highlight
the subsequent build-up, especially in the line “…na lugay ang buhok na animo’y agos…” which
concludes in a climax as she reveals, “ito ang Mutya ng Pasig…” In terms of vocal production,
Rosal sings with very open, Italianate vowels, allowing the text to shine and to be easily
understood. Her approach to the text and melody is especially highlighted in the contrast
between the more forceful “…sa kanyang pagsiklot sa maputing bula…” to the more reminiscing
and sentimental “Dati akong paraluman…” Such dynamic, tempo, and stylistic contrasts further
highlight the ending of Mutya ng Pasig, as the singer sings a final plea of “Pag-ibig ko’y muling
ibigay.” Conching Rosal’s overall approach to the piece, with very open vowels throughout her
range, allow for intelligibility of the text and more transparency in sound. However, Rosal’s use
of varying dynamics and textural approaches (e.g. sections in marcato and sections in molto
legato) are more apparent compared to her vocal colorations.
An equally powerful rendition exists by Katrina Saporsantos. Incredibly striking is the
groundedness with which Saporsantos approaches the piece and produces her sound, and how
deliberate she is with the tempo changes. (Although it may also be because she is accompanied
by a piano instead of an orchestra.) In contrast to Rosal, for example, she takes a lot more time
with “…kasabay ang awit, kasabay ang tula,” making for a satisfying and deliberate musical
release for the first half of the piece. In the recapitulation of the refrain, it is as if she takes a step
back and encloses her listeners in an air of intimacy as she delivers the text and the melody with
a much softer, but equally grounded tone. On a whole, however, Saporsantos’ vowels are darker
than that of Rosal’s, making for some difficulty in understanding the text in some parts. Along
with that, Saporsantos’ take is a more operatic one as well, with emphasis on true legato for
almost all the melodic lines. Both Rosal and Saporsantos, however, are able to highlight and
maintain the magic of Abelardo’s long-woven melodic lines in the piece.
 3. Ay, Kalisud
Ay, Kalisud is an Ilonggo folk song said to have originated from Capiz. The text is of a lover
who has been left by his or her beloved. It goes to the extremes of declaring that the persona
would rather die than live without the beloved. While it is a folk song, Jovita Fuentes’
arrangement, which has come to be part of the standard Filipino classical repertoire for voice
students and classical singers in the Philippines, requires singers to approach it with the proper
technique, as her arrangement requires sustaining long lines in a legato manner, and going across
the extremes of the singers’ vocal range.
Jovita Fuentes approaches the piece with much more rhythmic freedom as compared to
Sylvia la Torre, such as in “walay guid, walay guid,” where she takes significantly more time
stretching out the fermata. Along with that, Fuentes’ vocal colorations are apparent, as she uses
different modes of production to texture the singing, such as a sobbing effect on the repetition of
“Ay, kalisud,” to really communicate the weeping, desperate nature of the text. Along with her
vocal colorations, her use of dynamics and tempo are also effective in conveying the drama in
the text. Throughout the second part of the piece, there is a constant push and pull in the tempo,
where Fuentes rushes through the upward passages and does a deliberate slowing down in the
highest parts of the phrase, before descending slowly, as if communicating a dramatic sigh
throughout the piece. Fuentes’ overall approach with the text is straightforward—she employs
bright Italianate vowels, and allows for the drama and desperation in her voice through dynamics
and vocal colorations.
Such a means of production differs from Sylvia la Torre’s rendition of Ay, Kalisud.
While La Torre’s take is overall slower than that of Fuentes’, it is also more straightforward in
terms of tempo, in that there are less extreme tempo changes throughout the piece. La Torre’s
choice of tempo itself, though, lends greater weight and dramatic power to the piece, coupled
with her fuller and darker tone, compared to that of Fuentes’. Like Fuentes, La Torre also
employs bright, uncovered vowels, allowing for ease in understanding the text. Vocal coloration
is not employed as much as Fuentes, in that La Torre does not dramatize her sound as much with
extra-singing techniques. However, her tone and choice of tempo, as well as the ease with which
she phrases the music through dynamics allow her to capture the tragic nature of the folk song.
 4. Katakataka
Katakataka is a light classical piece composed by Santiago Suarez, with a folk song appeal
because of its memorable melody. The text is playful, depicting early stages of love, where the
persona finds it hard to believe how he or she could fall for his or her beloved.
Green Corduroy’s version does not adhere strictly to what is written by Santiago Suarez,
especially in terms of the melody, although it is given that they rearranged the piece to fit a duet
and bandurria. The female singer uses overly rounded [a] vowels, especially in the words
“Katakataka” and “Alaala,” however, this does not remove the intelligibility of the text,
considering that the female singer is non-Filipino. The male singer sings in a more “vernacular”
manner, without modifying much of the vowels, allowing for better intelligibility of the text. The
most modifications in the melody are heard in each repetition of the line “Dahil sa iyo, puso
kong ito’y binihag mo,” where the singers do away with Suarez’ writing of successive downward
thirds. There was not much variation in vocal coloration, dynamics, accents, and tempo. This
could be because they were using a minus one, and as such, they were following the minus one
rather than setting their own tempo and stylistic interpretations. They largely rely on differences
in assigning certain parts, such as having the female singer sing first, followed by the male
singer, then the female and male singer together. The singers rely on scoops to put in a swing
feel to the piece, and to portray the playfulness of its text and melody.
Sylvia la Torre’s take on Katakata stays close to Suarez’ writing of the melody. She
employs a mostly legato way of singing the melody, save for vocal colorations to add
playfulness, such as when she sings “Biru-biruan” and “Aayaw-ayaw.” To add even more to the
playfulness, she varies her dynamics and manner of phrasing across sections, although not
drastically. For example, she contrasts the more playful first section (“Katakatakang
mahibang…”) with the more melodic second section (“Alaala ka…”) by using a more mellow,
legato way of singing in the second section. Overall, however, like Green Corduroy, she
maintains a steady tempo throughout the piece. Her manner of articulation is also close to the
vernacular, save from some words and phrases where she employs a more horizontal way of
pronouncing the text in order to add playfulness and dramatic flair, such as in “Aayaw ayaw…”
and “…puso kong ito’y binihag mo.” Very apparent in La Torre’s rendition of Katakataka is how
she maintains the long melodic phrases to fit the text, in spite of the choppy nature of the
melody, especially in the first section. Legato is still very much a defining characteristic of her
take on Katakataka.