Jose Estella (1870 - 6 April 1943) was a Filipino composer and conductor. Besides composing waltzes, he also became one of the major contributors of Philippine zarzuelas from 1890s to 1900s. [1] He was sometimes referred to as the "Philippine Waltz King". [2]
Jose Estella was born in Escolta, Manila in 1870. After studying and graduating from the Madrid Conservatory, he returned to the Philippines and pursued a career in music. In Manila and Cebu, he conducted several orchestras. In Manila, he had a teaching career as a piano instructor. He spends his time studying history, visiting different Filipino provinces and exploring the local folk music. In Cebu, he was director of the Municipal Band where he started to gain recognition. [3] Estella also became a director of the Rizal Orchestra, founded in 1898. [4]
He was one of the Filipino composers inspired from the songs published by the Tin Pan Alley. During the American occupation, he made his ragtime and dance compositions such as the California March (1899), Germinales (1908), Manila Carnival Rag (1914), and the Visayan Moon (1922). [5]
Estella became involved with a plagiarism case in 1939 with Francisco Santiago over which he complains that Santiago copied his Campanadas de Gloria. In the end of the investigation, it was revealed that they both get inspiration from the same folk song named "Leron Leron Sinta". [6]
He died on April 6, 1943, and throughout his lifetime, he composed more than 100 waltzes hence he is given the title, "the Philippine Waltz King". [7] There are no information regarding his personal life except he has a son named Ramon Estella, a film director. [8]
Composed in 1905, it was a piece from Estella's zarzuela, "Filipinas para los Filipinos" with Severino Reyes as librettist. [1] The lyrics were also created by Reyes. [5] Estella's "Filipinas para los Filipinos" was a satire made by the composer as a reaction to an American Congress bill banning American women from marrying Filipino men. [9] Maria Carpena, one of the first recording artist in the Philippines, sung "Ang Maya" under the American label Victor Records issued around 1908 and 1909. [5]
Originally composed during the 1890s, the waltz is a collection of Filipino folk songs such as Balitaw, Hele hele, Kundiman, Kumintang, etc. It was dedicated to the Tobacco Company Germinal. One of its notable performance was on a concert night of November 1899. [10]
Jose Estella's Filipinas Symphony is the first Filipino Symphony by modern scholarly consensus. [1] [11] It was composed in 1928 prior to Francisco Santiago's Taga-ilog Symphony. [12] Although not much was known about the information of the piece, according to sources, a movement of the symphony was based on the Filipino folk song "Balitaw" meanwhile the Slow Movement (Adagio) was based on another folk song "Kumintang". [11] Some parts of the symphony were lost during World War II. [12] [11]
Source: [13]
The music of the Philippines includes the musical performance arts in the Philippines and the music of Filipinos composed in various local and international genres and styles. Philippine musical compositions are often a mixture of Indigenous styles, and various Asian styles, as well as Spanish/Latin American and (US) American influences through foreign rule from those countries.
Ilocano literature or Iloko literature pertains to the literary works of writers of Ilocano ancestry regardless of the language used - be it Ilocano, English, Spanish or other foreign and Philippine languages. For writers of the Ilocano language, the terms "Iloko" and "Ilocano" are different. Arbitrarily, "Iloko" is the language while "Ilocano" refers to the people or the ethnicity of the people who speak the Iloko language. This distinction of terms however is impractical since a lot of native Ilocanos interchange them practically.
Nicanor Santa Ana Abelardo was a Filipino composer known for kundiman songs he wrote before the Second World War.
Ramon A. Estella, son of Filipino composer Jose Estella, was a pre-war Philippines movie director and actor. At the age of 27 years old, he started directing his first film, "Bayan at Pagibig,” in 1938 and in 1941, he was proclaimed Director of the Year by Philippine Cinema and Radio because of the success of his assigned project, "Buenavista". During the 1950s, Estella started his career as a neo-realist painter which later in 1959, had his first solo exhibition at the Philippine Art Gallery. He spent his entire life in Florida with his Japanese wife and his last recorded visit to the country was during the Manila International Film Festival in 1981.
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Francisco Santiago Santiago was a Filipino musician, sometimes called The Father of Kundiman Art Song.
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The Philippines is home to several folk dances such as Tinikling, Pandanggo, Cariñosa, and Subli. Dance has integrated itself in Philippine society over the course of many years and is imbedded in Philippine culture.
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Mercedes Matias Santiago was a Filipino soprano and music educator.
Felipe Padilla de León was a Filipino Romantical music composer, conductor, and scholar. He was known for composing different sonatas, marches and concertos that reflect the Filipino identity.
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Marcelo Quiteria Adonay was a Filipino church composer, musician, organist, musical director, and music teacher. He is regarded as a major icon of Philippine golden age of church music for his extensive contribution to religious music in the Philippines throughout his career.
Maria Carpena was a Filipina stage actress and soprano singer. She was the first recording artist in the Philippine music industry. She was also dubbed as the country's “Nightingale of Zarzuela”.
Francisco Santiago's Piano Concerto in B-flat minor was written in 1924 as his doctoral dissertation while he was studying at Chicago. It was premiered at Chicago on June 15, 1924, as a part of Santiago's graduation recital. He was assisted by his teacher Heniot Levy, who played the accompaniment. The premiere in Chicago and subsequent performances in Manila in 1925 were positively received; Santiago's professors and critics locally and abroad hailed the work as the composer's masterpiece.
José Canseco y Rivera del Poso, more commonly known as José Canseco, Jr., was a Filipino composer and bandmaster. He was known to be a prominent native music composer during the Spanish colonial period of the late 19th century.
Capt. Pedro Navarro y Bravo, more commonly known as Pedro B. Navarro Jr., was a Filipino bandleader. He was known as the first Filipino who became the leader of the Philippine Constabulary Band.
