Halo-halo folk songs by the Madz

When was the last time anybody out here made a recording of traditional Filipino folk songs? Please let me know of any that were released these past 10 years as those I found in use date back to the ’70s and ’80s periods. Not that the recording companies are to blame. They are, after all in the business of music and folk songs do not sell as much as Sarah Geronimo or other pop stars. Still, it is a fact that our folk songs should be preserved for future generations and I heartily welcome any effort to do so.

That is how I see Halo-halo Mga Awiting Bayan by the Philippine Madrigal Singers. Halo-halo literally means mix-mix. It is also the name of a popular Filipino dessert made up of assorted ingredients like bananas, sweet potatoes, jackfruit slices, red beans and others cooked in syrup and then mixed in with evaporated milk. For a special version, you can add in ice cream and leche flan. For a really complete package, you can also throw in sticky violet yams softened in milk. The result is the dieter’s most irresistible nightmare come true.

Halo-halo, the album is just as varied in content and just as uniquely Filipino. But thank heavens, it is not as loaded in calories. This is a collection of folk songs in various Filipino dialects from different parts of the country. I do not know how many dialects we still have existing nowadays, but this album presents a very good assortment. That means there is Tagalog alongside Tausug, Itneg, Maranao, Hiligaynon and others. And the great thing about all these songs is that they are performed and have all been arranged especially for the world-famed Madrigal Singers. The resulting collection is a mix of old and new arrangements but the music is timeless and the quality of the performance is excellent throughout.

Now led by artistic director and choirmaster Mark Anthony Carpio, the Philippine Madrigal Singers was founded in 1963 by the National Artist Professor Andrea Veneracion. Along with its triumphs in music competition and choral festivals abroad, the Madz has come to embody world-class Filipino choral artistry to the world. It is also extremely versatile and able to do justice to the old madrigals from the middle-ages down to classical, jazz, Broadway, pop and other types of music. Needless to say, among the numbers in its repertoire that have enthralled audiences everywhere are the Filipino folk songs.

Forgive me but I will now proceed to make mention of all the cuts included in Halo-halo and their arrangers. If there is any piece that deserves the laundry list part of music reviews, then this one is it. Not only because these are songs that every Filipino should know about but also because the arrangers are also famous names. Some of them are, in fact, already National Artists while others should be proclaimed National Artists soon. I really think everybody should be informed that we have folk songs like these and that a superb recording such as this one exists.

Halo-halo Mga Awiting Bayan, A Collection of Philippine Folk Songs by The Philippine Madrigal Singers contains Tuksuhan, Tagalog, arranged by Ramon Santos; Ite Ite Ganggarite/ Sassarabet/ Don Don Simon, Gaddang, arranged by Annie Nepomuceno; Linggisan, Tausug, arranged by Eudenice Palaruan; Laylay Agulaylay, Waray, arranged by Jerry Dadap; Malinac Lay Labi, Pangasinense, arranged by Joy Nilo; Salidummay, Kalinga, arranged by Ray Paguio; Pasigin, Hiligaynon, also arranged by Palaruan; Manang Biday, Ilocano, arranged by Eliseo Pajaro; Mamayog Akun, Maranao, arranged by Fabian Obispo

There are also Ang Aking Bituin, Tagalog, arranged by Lucio San Pedro; Osi-osi, Ilocano, arranged by Palaruan; Atin Cu Pung Singsing, Pampango, arranged by Lucresia Kasilag; Pokpok Alimpako, Maranao, arranged by Francisco Feliciano; Si Nanay Si Tatay Di Co Babayaan, Bicolano, arranged by Verne de la Peña; Chua-ay, Bontoc, also arranged by Obispo; Zamboanga Hermosa, Chabacano, also arranged by San Pedro with lyrics by Vicente Orendain; Iddem-dem Mallida, Itneg, arranged by Elmo Makil; and Ili- ili Tulog Anay, Hiligaynon, arranged by Priscilla Magdamo.