Learning & Performing Nicanor Abelardo's "Nasaan Ka Irog?"

A Piano Student's Journey: Learning "Nasaan Ka Irog?" (Where Are You, My Love?) - A Filipino Kundiman by Nicanor Abelardo

This piece was one of the assignments in our Filipino Music- Piano Literature class under Prof. E. Laureola at the College of Music, University of the Philippines.  Although it's meant to be sung and accompanied on the piano, the piece can also be played as a piano solo. 

The discussions we had made in class at the beginning of the semester had been very helpful when I started learning this piece on the piano. Our teacher made us read the lyrics first, and presented a picture of what this whole kundiman is actually about. Of course, he also asked us for our ideas. We sang the song in class, and related the melodic contour of the notes to the song lyrics. In this way,  I was able to gather lots of ideas to help me with the technical and interpretative aspects of the piece. 

The very first difficulty I encountered were all the notes in full chords. These were consecutive chords which were meant to be played like whispers. Needless to say, it was such a challenge to gain full control over them. Then there were full octave chords marked pp. The other problem was playing them in such a way that the song melody must come out. (Pieces were to be played as solos in this piano literature class.)

Instead of studying the piece all at once, I divided it into its natural phrases. I practised each phrase until I could play it fluently, after which I started to imagine the interpretation for each particular phrase. It was helpful that i took down notes during our class discussions. During the discussion where we analysed the piece, there were specific parts that seemed to be the opening of the curtain on stage, the main character's introduction of his story and the part where he revives himself after his heart was broken. There were also parts where one can imagine teardrops falling. Images like these really helped me in interpreting the piece effectively. 

Typical of Filipino kundimans, this piece has a lot of ritardandos, rubatos and dynamic gradations, which were of course, another challenge. Singing while playing the piece also helped me with the interpretation, because the music followed the natural flow of the Filipino language (such is Nicanor Abelardo's composition talent).

One good thing about this piece is that the words provide actual information about the song. The words help to form concrete images, concrete situations. I think it would have been more difficult to interpret this piece had there been no lyrics. As I practised, I found that frequently playing the piece sparked up more ideas for interpretation - I began to imagine more differences in the tones and I tried doing what I imagined. Sometimes I got what I wanted, but at other times, I couldn't. But it was always a wonderful feeling after playing the piece full of heart and imagination. 

Performance day arrived, and I was nervous as I was about to play it for my teacher and classmates. I hoped that I would be able to make the story I had in my mind come alive. With such a beautiful piece (song), I found my nervousness drifting away as I began, and instead there was the sudden feeling that I wanted to share what I could see in the music. As i was getting carried away by the music, Prof. Laureola corrected me for playing so loudly at the last system of the first page, where the phrase begins with Subalit nasaan... (But where....) Although it was marked ff, he said that I could play it softly, because the character could also be asking the question in a soft voice. I realised that we don't always have to follow exactly everything that's written, as long as it's in the right context. The piece is full of drama especially towards the end starting from the accelerando and crescendo, leading to the phrase with the loudest dynamic marking, sffz, in the whole piece. This part fit so much with what the character is saying as he concludes his song with "Ang lahat sa buhay ko, ay hindi maglalaho't magsisilbing bakas ng nagdaan tang pagsuyo. (literally: Everything in my life, will not vanish but will serve as traces of our past love.)" The piece finally ends with the words, "Nasaan ka irog? Nasaan ka....irog?" 

I learnt so much from this piece - from the technical to the interpretative aspects. I have come to fully appreciate the beauty of the Filipino kundiman. It has a unique and distinct quality of its own - a great contribution to the musical gems of the world. 

                                                                                                           

Click below to view or download Nicanor Abelardo's "Nasaan Ka Irog?" piano/vocal score:

Nasaan Ka Irog

I found a rough English translation here:

English Translation of Nasaan Ka Irog?