Learning about the world through song

by Trixie Lopez Abrera

Growing up with the UPCS was a wonderful way of encountering a wide range of music styles, not just from the Philippines, but from different cultures and traditions around the world. The songs in different languages like Latin, German, Italian, French, Swahili, Bicolano, Ilokano, and Cebuano, apart from English and Filipino, that most alumni from my generation still remember by heart, attest to the diverse repertoire that we were exposed to as children. 

Learning new songs was both fun and instructive. Each piece of music had to be understood in order to be performed in an appropriate manner and in an appropriate context. Before studying a new piece, Tita Len usually explained what the song was about and provided a context for us to make sense of the music. This was effective especially when a piece was particularly difficult to sing, was from another time and place, or described experiences beyond our own. Often, metaphors were used to help the children and young adults grasp the music and its words and to comprehend why the piece had to be performed in a certain way. 

It was through the singing of a wide array of compositions, including challenging works, that many of us in the UPCS gained a deeper appreciation of the meaning-conveying potential of words and music. Songs as expressive forms were windows into the varied facets of human experience, allowing children to see things from the perspective of different personas and for a brief period, speak in their voices. Today, as I reflect on the songs I remember, I realize how rich a repository of memories I hold. There are songs for every type of occasion, songs that talk about different types of love, communicate with the divine in various languages, and several that tell stories about people, places, and creatures in the world. These songs are like old friends that one can visit anytime, and many of them convey messages that still ring true today. 

Perhaps the most cherished lesson is that it is during the most trying times that songs can be the most meaningful and potent. These days, with all the fear caused by the pandemic, singing together through virtual means has become one of the “new normal” ways of sending comfort, hope, and healing.  But then again, this was something we were already singing about years ago. These lines from a UPCS staple, “One by One” by Chris Dedrick, resonate in this period and help uplift our spirits- “The world in pain is more than I can deal with but people one by one is a different thing. Songs are all I have to try to heal with. Thoughts of peace and love I’ll truly sing. One by one, people come, sing together!”*

_______

*Many thanks to Louay Fabros for reminding me of this song!