Just got some good news from my friend, Joseph, letting me know that his new CD, “Songs from Home” is now available for purchase from iTunes, amazon.com and cdbaby.com. Good news indeed! I have arranged three tracks for this album: “Manang Biday”, “Si Nanay, Si Tatay, di co Pabayaan” and “Sitsiritsit”. I went ahead and purchased the cd from iTunes and will listen to it in a short while and write about it later. Exciting!
Anyway, Joseph sent me the links to his cd and something about the album:
Songs From Home: Art Songs and Folk Songs From the Philippines
A musical journey through his homeland, Joseph Legaspi sings his personal selection of art songs and folk song arrangements. Enter a sonic landscape that depicts the joys, sorrow, love and everyday life in the Philippines.
The Philippines is comprised of a tapestry of cultures, each with its own unique musical tradition. Though traditional Philippine music is a rich confluence of the country’s colonial and indigenous past, it remains distinct from its various influences. Abundant folksongs throughout the archipelago detail rural experiences that capture not only pastoral imagery but Filipino traits as well. Later on, Filipino musicians educated in the Western idiom have adapted the style and flavor of these folk songs to more formalized music examples called art songs that, while are up to par with their foreign counterparts, are still distinguishably Filipino.The CD features an array of some of the Philippines’ premiere composers and arrangers to tackle setting the folksongs and art songs for solo recital. These include Ed Nepomuceno, John August Pamintuan, Nilo Alcala, Joy T. Nilo, Priscilla Magdamo and Nhick Ramiro Pacis.