Songs of the season
Some readers and a few friends took me to task last year for coming out with my list of Christmas albums late in the season. Those are the CDs I enjoy listening to year after year after year. Agahan mo naman para ma-enjoy namin nang matagal-tagal, they said. While I do think it is still a tad, too, early, the request is understandable.
Pinoys are addicted to Christmas. They want the celebration to last for months on end. That means putting out the trimmings in September and playing Christmas songs in October. It is now November and there are only 42 days to go till the big day. So I guess it is now okay to come out with the list of my favorite Christmas sounds.
Two of these are Pasko I and Pasko II produced, arranged and conducted by Ryan Cayabyab. One of the year’s biggest disappointments for music lovers was the death of the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra (SMPO) and of The San Miguel Master Chorale (SMMC). These did not just die. They were killed. Unceremoniously and mercilessly but also understandably. Because it is a fact that there are more people who do watch the fights of Manny Pacquiao than those who go to the concerts of Filipino music by the SMPO and the SMMC. Sad but true.
Thankfully we have Pasko I and Pasko II among their recordings to enjoy every Christmas. Pasko 1 is made up of lilting, uptempo melodies like the time-tested favorites Pasko Na Naman Ang Pasko ay Sumapit and Mano Po Ninong, Mano Po Ninang. Though loosely patterned after the Spanish villancico these songs are perfectly evocative of the Pinoy’s joyous attitude toward Christmas. Now Pasko II is for the sentimental sort. It is made up of old and new ballads like Pasko Na Sinta Ko and Anong Gagawin Mo Ngayong Pasko, all sad and sweet.
One of those new songs Isang Taong Lumipas, which was composed by Cayabyab and Joey Reyes, was beautifully covered by The CompanY in its own Christmas CD that was released a year ago. The group put a Yuletide swing to various types of music for the album, jazz, big band, Latin and others are all found in The CompanY Christmas Album. It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve, a solo by member Moy Ortiz is particularly affecting. Sweet Plantado is at her perkiest in Mamacita Donde Esta Santa Claus, while filled with the Yuletide spirit is The Christmas Medley of Christmas traditional carols.
Of course, a Filipino Christmas will not be complete without another spin of Jose Mari Chan’s Christmas in Our Hearts. I have had the CD for several years now and I have already worn out a few copies, but it still sounds good. The music literally sparkles and I like the inclusion of standards like Count Your Blessings and May You Always. There are also songs from one of my favorite musicals, Scrooge, like Sing a Christmas Carol. Besides can you think of any original Christmas composition by a Filipino artist that is as popular as Christmas in Our Hearts, Jose Mari’s duet with his daughter Lisa.
Most traditional in approach among these albums are Songs of the Season 1 and 2 by The U.P. Singing Ambassadors (UPSA). The only Asian choir to win the Grand Prix at the Guido d’Arezzo competitions in
Songs of the Season has a mix of old and new, foreign and Filipino carols. CD Season 1 has Angels We Have Heard on High, Noche Buena, Diwa ng Pasko, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, O Come all Ye Faithful, An Evening in December, Payapang Daigdig and Do You Hear What I Hear. Season 2 has Stile Nacht, Nacio Nacio Pastores, The Christmas Song, O Holy Night, The Very Best Time of Year, Joyful Joyful, the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah and even a Michel Legrand Medley.
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