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| Julian Felipe, composer of the Philippine National Anthem |
Every Filipino knows Julian Felipe's National Anthem by heart and its Tagalog lyrics Lupang Hinirang. Some of us might also Jose Palma's original Spanish lyrics, or the English version. Since Felipe's original composition originally doesn't have lyrics, so authors attempted to make a set of lyrics for it.
However, there are still many versions and translations set to Felipe's Anthem that are obscurely-known today, such as the Tagalog translation used by the Japanese, and the Tagalog translation by Ildefonso Santos used until 1956. These were all officially adopted as the lyrics of the anthem at some point, but even more obscure and interesting are the unofficial lyrics used during the Revolution and the early part of the American Occupation.
These early unofficial lyrics tells us a lot of history. Two of these are even earlier than Jose Palma's work! It shows that even before Jose Palma's work became widespread, Filipinos made their own lyrics to express their own patriotic fervor to the music of Julian Felipe's anthem.
Unfortunately only a small fraction of these local lyrics were recorded and written down. For this post, I've searched five of them:
1898 Kapampangan Lyrics
This is one of the earliest (if not the earliest) set of lyrics made for the National Anthem. It was created by Mariano Proceso Pabalan on September 29, 1898 in the Kapampangan language. It is said that Jose Palma based his Spanish lyrics from this poem.
Labuad mapalad
Mutia ning lalu sampat
Ning dayat malat
A queca misapuac
Budning sultana
Ginu na ning Malasia
Pamalena'na
Ning tapang at sinta.
Caring batis, bunduc
Caquenan , uluit pulung dacal
Bitasang ma-calimbagan iyang
Quecang catimauan.
Quing bandera mung maningning
A tecutan da ring tacsil
Capilan man e culimlim
Ing aldo na at ding batuin.
Labuad ning aldo, sinta at tepangan
Mayumung diling queque ca mie
Iyang ligayang quequeng panyangian
Ing queca que ngan paimate.
1898 Pre-Palma Spanish Lyrics
This was reported by W.B. Wilcox and Leonard Sargent during their travels in Northern Luzon on October 8th-November 20th, 1898. Sometime within that time frame they heard this set of lyrics at Aparri, Cagayan. Only the 3rd part is given. We know this is Felipe's Anthem because they reported that this is the Filipinos' "new national hymn" with the music modeled after the French Anthem.
The lyrics given here are similar to the spanish lyrics of Alerta Katipunan, a similar patriotic song popular during the Revolution.
1910 Renacimiento Filipino Tagalog Lyrics
This Tagalog version was reported by Carlos V. Ronquillo in the August 28, 1910 issue of Renacimiento Filipino. While it was reported in 1910, it definitely dates back to the Revolutionary Period as Ronquillo's article reported other songs from that time in his article.
Marcha Nacional
1910s Recording - Tagalog Lyrics
Sometime in the 1910s, Columbia Records recorded several Filipino singers as part of their new series of recordings in Asia and the Far East. Among these is a recording of the Philippine National Anthem under the title of "Marcha Filipina." It was sung by a certain C. Gachalian accompanied by a guitar. This is the earliest surviving audio recording of the Philippine National Anthem so far. An earlier(?) recording made by Maria Carpena is yet to be discovered.
Marcha Filipina (as sung by C. Cachalian)
I.
Sibol ng sinta
Bayan ng katapangan,
Ang manlulupig,
Di ka tutuntungan!
II.
At sa 'yong langit, liwayway,
kabunduka't karagatan
ay sumisilay ang buhay ng
kalayaang walang hanggan!
III.
1920s Recording - Tagalog Lyrics
Another unknown Tagalog translation comes from a 78rpm recording made yet again by Columbia Records in c1927-1928. It was sung by the famous Filipino baritone Jose Mossesgeld-Santiago and soprano Isabel S. Llewellyn. Mossesgeld-Santiago was among the most popular opera singers in the American Period, and he recorded dozens of other Filipino songs under Columbia in the late 1920s.
Jose Mossesgeld-Santiago also recorded the "Land of the Morning" English version of the anthem earlier in 1926, also under Columbia, and this English recording became the de facto official recording of the Anthem in pre-war Philippines. According to Benito Legarda Jr., the English recording is the standard pre-war version "sung by the well-known baritone."
However, this Tagalog recording w/ Llewellyn made about 2 years later seemed to linger in obscurity (probably because of the preference towards the offical English version by the Insular and Commonwealth governments). No book seems to have recorded the lyrics either, so this is my transcription of the lyrics from the recording. This is interesting for me as this is the only historical lyrics that has the line "Lupang Hinirang" and other similar phrases, possibly suggesting that the evolution of our current Tagalog lyrics has a history earlier than the 1950s.
I.
Lupang Hinirang
Mutya ka ng Silangan
Maningning na Ilaw
Sayo'y naging alay.
Bayan ng Pag-ibig
At Kapayapaan
Ang manlulupig
Di ka maiaapi.
II.
Sa langit mong bughaw,
Kabundukan, at karagatan
Dinidinig, dinaramdam
Ang awit ng kalayaan.
III.
Lupang lugod, araw ng pag-ibig
Sa kandungan mo'y anong tamis.
1920s Benitez English Lyrics
Paz Marquez Benitez was one of the most prominent Filipino writers in the English language. Sometime around the 1920s, she made the first English translation of Jose Palma's lyrics. While she's the first to do so, it didn't caught on. A later translation made by Camilo Osias and Mary A. Lane (Land of the Morning) became widespread and eventually became the Official English lyrics.
While Benitez's translation doesn't date from around the revolution like the others from this list, I feel like including it to this list as an added bonus.
Philippine National Anthem
References:
- Araullo, Kirby (2020) Lupang Hinirang... Hindi Original at Hindi Tagalog!? YouTube video. Retrieved March 5, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aYr5vVPpWo
- Blount, James (1913). The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912. New York & London: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
- Felipe, Julian (1898). Marcha Filipina [Recorded by C. Gachalian]. Columbia Records (c. 1910s) Catalog no. M36, Matrix no.18062. Digitized by George Blood, L.P. Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://archive.org/details/78_marcha-filipina_c-gachalian_gbia0402453a
- Felipe, Julian. "Philippine National Anthem" Sheet music. Manila: National Library and Museum, 1935.
- Maja, E. (1928). Philippine National Flag and Anthem. Manila: Juan Fajardo Press.
- Ronquillo, Carlos (1910, August 18). Mga Kantahing Bayan. Renacimiento Filipino, 1(8).
- Sargent, L. R. (1899, September 14). In Aguinaldo's Realm. The Independent, 51(2650).
- Soto-Walton, J. (2000, April 24-29). Mariano Proceso Pabalan Byron Father of Modern Pampango Drama. The Voice.
- The Story of Lupang Hinirang - The Story of Us. Kapampangan Media. (2020, July 31). Retrieved March 5, 2022, from https://kapampangan.org/the-history-of-lupang-hinirang-the-story-of-us/
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