THE AMERICAN COLONIAL AND CONTEMPORARY TRADITIONS ...

population. Except for the state-funded University of the Philippines (UP)
Conservatory of Music created in 1916, the majority of the music schools were
either part of sectarian colleges and universities or private academies.
At this time, music training was no longer the exclusive purview of priests and
nuns as it was during the Spanish period, but was handled by outstanding Filipino
musicians and professional European and American artists, not a few of whom
stayed in the Philippines for extended periods of time. Some of the foreign
pedagogues of the period were Wallace George, Guy Harrison, Robert Schofield,
Alexander Lippay, Vladimir Elin, Wilma Hillberg, and Vassily Prihodko.
Aside from instructions in vocal and instrumental performance, theory courses in
harmony, counterpoint and analysis were also emphasized in the curricula of the
professional music schools. At the UP Conservatory of Music, these subjects
were taught by both foreign and local personalities, e.g., Guy Harrison, Carlyle
Smith, Jeno von Takacs, Nicanor S. Abelardo, Francisco Santiago, Juan S.
Hernandez, and Antonino Buenaventura.
Due to this development, the Filipino-composed literature expanded from
religious music, short instrumental pieces, kundiman, preludes, arias, and
interludes for musical theaters, to such major forms as the opera, concerto,
symphony, and sonata. A number of composers were able to study abroad to
advance their creative skills: Francisco Santiago, Nicanor S. Abelardo, and Rodolfo
S. Cornejo.
Music Education in the Public Schools. A major effort to advance music
literacy among the Filipinos was made by the American colonial government by
including the teaching of music in the curriculum of the public school system. In
the educational setting, music was taught in relation to social values and the
development of artistic consciousness and basic musical skills. From the early
decades of the present century to the 1960s, music instruction was based mainly
on the syllabus of the Progressive Music Series with its special edition intended
for Philippine schools. The Philippine edition was compiled by Norberto
Romualdez and edited by Charles Griffith Jr. The syllabus is in anthology form
containing songs and choruses from the folk song literature of various countries,
classical works, and contributions by living American and Filipino composers.
The songs were annotated and prescribed according to the different grade levels.
The syllabus emphasized the development of skills in sight singing, solo and
choral singing, correlated with the growth of cognitive and affective faculties of the
students.
The American-initiated music education program encouraged the production of
additional instructional materials authored by local artist-educators. In 1952
Ramon Tapales, then director of the UP Conservatory of Music, published a
series entitled Singing and Growing for Primary Grades. The selections are