Why all of a sudden Ryan’s heart sings

Low expectations are not always a bad way to start the ball rolling. Take the case of Ryan Cayabyab and his latest CD, Great Filipino Love Songs.

Experience taught him to expect nothing from a CD of classics like this one under BMG Records.

"I thought it would end up in the dustbin. That’s why we didn’t release it commercially back then," admits Ryan. He was facing entertainment writers at a function room in San Miguel Corporation, whose Foundation for the Performing Arts he heads as executive and artistic director.

The discoverer of the likes of Geneva Cruz and Tenten Muñoz knew his CD didn’t have a chance against sure-fire chart toppers like pop songs, novelty numbers and even Sex Bomb recordings.

But sometimes, experience is not the best teacher. No one was more surprised than Ryan when the CD conquered and remained at number one in all major record store charts for more than a month now.

"Though we are very proud of our work, we never expected people to embrace it as they did," Ryan speaks in behalf of the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra, which, second to their maestro, is the star of the production.

"This feat marks a new era in the Philippine music scene by proving that the appeal of great OPM songs is timeless and that Filipino music lovers are discerning."

Or is it because the mere sight of Ryan’s name on the CD cover is enough to spell magic at the charts?

Ryan replies in characteristic modesty, "It’s not me, it’s the songs."

Timing is also important, he adds. The CD was released just in time for balikbayan season and these homesick Filipinos snapped up copies to give as pasalubong for friends abroad. The balikbayans bought in bulk, bringing a part of their past – their very selves to their adopted country.

It also helped that after Redentor Romero, who produced albums that brought classical violin music to the masses, no one has taken up the cudgels for classical Filipino music as persistently as Ryan, or Mr. C in music circles, has.

The public’s hunger for Dahil sa ‘Yo, Buhat, Ganyan Kita Kamahal and others was such that it created a surge in demand for those good old but reliable songs.

Imagine getting swept off your feet with the waltz-like beat of Minamahal Kita. Buhat has the hushed feel of a revered cathedral which you should enter ever-so-softly lest you destroy its solemn dignity.

You remember a period way, way back when courtship meant playing hide-and-seek among age-old trees (you’ve seen it in Rogelio de la Rosa-Carmen Rosales movies). Or – to fast forward a bit – when a suitor would visit his ladylove at home instead of the other way around.

Today’s generation calls it jurassic, corny, even, but what the heck. Romance, of whatever age or form, will never go out of style among starry-eyed Filipinos. That’s what the soaps, Spider-Man 2 and the rest are for.

It’s something we Filipinos must express our way, in a language only we can understand. That’s why even Usher, Josh Groban, Maroon 5, Beyonce and Evanescence kowtowed to Great Filipino Love Songs, after the Filipino album debuted at No. 2 and pummeled foreign competition.

You feel "the rush of the waves, the sweep of hanging amihan and the picture-perfect Philippine sunset," Ryan waxes poetic over his work.

The Maestro would have chosen to keep his feelings all to himself, until the opportunity to express them came out of the blue. It was the 170th anniversary of Ayala Corporation, and the captains of industry were there. The San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra has just played to appreciative applause, and Ryan went up the podium, a copy of Great Filipino Love Songs in hand.

After thanking the well-heeled audience, Ryan mustered the courage to make an impromptu pitch for the album, which his bosses at San Miguel, commissioned him to do as its way of promoting Filipino music.

"Those in the audience were the first to buy copies," Ryan recalls that turning point in his latest album. The rest, as they say, is history. Tower Records was swamped with orders. BMG Records, which did not hesitate to take up Ryan’s offer to distribute the CD, hit the jackpot.

This early, a follow-up album, to be called Great Original Pilipino Music, is scheduled for release in October, in time for the belated celebration of Ryan’s 50th birthday. The show, taped as live from the CCP (Cultural Center of the Philippines) for ABS-CBN, will have an all-Cayabyab repertoire. With a twist.

Imagine, for instance, Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka, played to the lush beats of the orchestra, or a solo violinist rendering a weepy version of the upbeat Limang-Dipang Tao.

Trust the music professor-composer-conductor to transform the mundane to the sublime.

Take the irreverent Bikining Itim, for instance. Ryan and his orchestra can give the otherwise musically lightweight piece that lofty, almost-venerable touch with some bars from the violin or a commanding blow from the French horn. Even the earthy Katawan assumed a more high-brow style when Ryan gave it the classical touch it never had up to this point.

No matter what Ryan says, it’s still the composer behind the musical arrangement, not the music, that ultimately clinches the act. And when it comes to the performance itself, it’s the way the conductor coaxes the violins to wail; the flute to sigh, or the harp to negotiate the highs and lows of emotion, that matters.

And if, as in Ryan Cayabyab’s case, all these work together for the good of Filipino music, so much the better. If it moves the MTV generation to sing or dream along with it, there’s cause for celebration.

"Hopefully, people will begin to appreciate that we have a musical heritage to speak of, one that is unique and universal as the best the West can offer. This," he crosses his fingers, "could be an opportunity for us to establish our identity, at last."

It’s a tall order. But hope springs eternal, even in a country where the success of an album on classical Filipino music is considered cause for surprise.

Great Filipino Love Songs has proven it can be done. And we’re crossing our fingers (and toes) that Ryan will prove that he does has reason to be optimistic once its sequel, Great Original Pilipino Music, is released.