Francisco Santiago: Father of the Kundiman

Filipino Composers

• Felipe Padilla de Leon was a nationalist composer who expressed the Philippines' cultural identity through his compositions.
• He wrote various types of music, including piano compositions, hymns, marches, art songs, chamber music, symphonic poems, overtures, school songs, orchestral works, operas, kundiman, and zarzuelas.
• His two operas, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, are considered his masterpieces.

Francisco Santiago

• Francisco Santiago was born on January 29, 1889, in Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
• He is known as the "Father of the Kundiman" and belongs to the triumvirate of Filipino composers.
• His music was Romantic in style, incorporating Western forms and techniques with folk materials.
• Among his famous works are Pakiusap, Madaling Araw, Pilipinas kong Mahal, and Kundiman (Anak Dalita).
• He became the first Filipino Director of the Conservatory of Music, University of the Philippines.

Nicanor Abelardo

• Nicanor Abelardo was born on February 7, 1893, in San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan.
• He is one of the "Triumvirate of Filipino Composers".
• Although a 20th-century modern composer, he was also a composer in Romantic style.
• His best-known compositions include Mutya ng Pasig, Nasaan Ka Irog, Cavatina for Violoncello, and Magbalik Ka Hirang.
• The Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater) of the CCP and the Abelardo Hall of the UP College of Music are named after him.

Antonio J. Molina

• Antonio J. Molina was born on December 26, 1894, in Quiapo, Manila.
• He is the first National Artist for Music.
• He was a product of both the Romantic and Impressionist styles and came to be known as the "Father of Philippine Impressionist Music".
• He was fascinated by the dynamics and harmonies of Claude Debussy but retained much of the Romantic style in his melody.