"Listen to the polytonalism of Abelardo in his Panoramas; to the orientalism of Hernandez in his Scherzo; to the alla bravura of Santiago in his Concierto; and to the alla Ravel of Molina in his Clouds, and you will conclude that they are but first-class products of a superb mind... These modernistic touches did not flow from their hearts, but were formulated from their heads. The real Abelardo, Hernandez, Santiago, and Molina are best portrayed by Nasaan ka Irog, Maria Clara, Madaling Araw, and Hating-gabi respectively."
These are the words of Filipino composer Hilarion Rubio regarding the "modern" compositions of his fellow colleagues. As you can see, he didn't particularly approve of the newer style of music his older colleagues were doing. He agreed that they are musical masterpieces, but they are only academic - devoid of the passion of their 'hearts' when compared to their older, traditionally written compositions.
This quotation show how progressive compositions in pre-war Philippines lacked appreciation. I guess it's no surprise that, out of all works Rubio has pointed out, only one (Abelardo's Panoramas) survives to this day. The rest were lost or destroyed during World War 2. All our basis for most of these lost works are the accounts of people who heard them, and that's what we're gonna discuss today.
For this, we will mainly look at two composers' writings: Felipe Padilla de Leon and Antonio Molina's writings. Felipe de Leon's column for The Tribune Musical Corner describes the Philippine musical scene at the time of its writing. Antonio Molina, on the other hand, provides us with detailed analyses of works as well as providing us with history and insight on these pieces. Equally important sources are surviving souvenir programs, reviews, advertisements, and other newspaper articles.
