Learning Mutya Ng Pasig by Nicanor Abelardo - with some tips/guide on interpretation

MUTYA NG PASIG (The Muse of Pasig)

by Nicanor Abelardo
(You may download the free sheet music here. You can find the English translation here.)

I heard Mutya ng Pasig for the first time when a friend sang it to me many years ago. She actually made me sightread the piece on the piano - six flats and all. I remember, it was difficult. 

It wasn't until I heard it in my Art of Accompaniment class under the late Ma'am Nita Quinto (a couple of years since I first tried sight-reading it), that I realised how exceptionally beautiful this piece really is. 

The first technical difficulty I encountered upon studying the piece was the progression of arpeggiated chords in the introduction. Because of the flats, it was difficult at first to read them all. However, after analysing the chord structures and repeating the passage several times, I got it! 

Another hard part I found consisted of sixteenth-note passages on the 2nd page - first by the right hand, then by the left.  The changes in the dynamics further added to the difficulty. The first passage is supposed to be played f, the second passage ff (with the RH playing the melody in octaves), and finally the third passage to be played p. Again, it was the repetitive playing of these difficult passages that helped me play it right eventually.

The main problem I had on the 3rd page was how to make the piano sing the melodic phrases - to make them sound alive and breathing.... I recalled the wonderful feeling I had when I last heard this beautiful music (in my accompaniment class), and doing that actually inspired me to be very patient until I got the sound that I wanted. 

Personally, the most interesting part in studying Mutya ng Pasig was on the aspect of musical interpretation. The more I read and studied the piece, the deeper the meaning became to me.

I found out that the term "Kumintang" actually posed some kind of problem to students of Philippine music. In 1846, a French writer, in his book entitled, "Les Philippines", stated that the "kumintang" was very popular and was considered to be the national song or "national chant" of our country. According to another 19th century writer, Manuel Sastron, the "kumintang" is a dance origination from the province of Batangas and was often performed in the 17th and 18th centuries. But by 1895, it was no longer to be found in the area. I also learnt that from the last decades of the 19th century onwards, Filipino scholars have been concerned with the study and preservation of traditional Filipino culture towards the creation of a national identity. Thus, one of these cases is Abelardo's "Mutya Ng Pasig", which he calls a "kumintang".

After much analysis of the song text and the music, I came up with the following interpretation of the piece:

It all begins with the gentle sound of murmuring water... sparkling... gently flowing under the moonlit night...

In the mystery of the night, the peaceful flow of waters is gently agitated with the vision of a beautiful lady, all in glorious white ... her long hair flowing in the wind...like the gentle waters from which she slowly and gracefully emerges...

The waters become turbulent for a moment as she ascends... and then gradually settles back as she glides over,... and then,..... she sings her beautiful song...

Her song is of the past... of a kingdom once known, a kingdom of love where love for the country, love for the people, love for nature prevailed... there was love for peace, love for every one of God's creation, love for beauty... love for justice. She was a Muse from this Kingdom of Love.  

However, as many years went by, people began to think more and more about only themselves... they no longer cared for others, for the environment... and love for the country was lost... When love for others died, this kingdom vanished. And so did the Muse... 

She vanished and her strength shattered... scattered... leaving a piece of her strength in the heart of each one of us. The Muse has a message - we can build her kingdom of love again by putting together the pieces of strength she left in our hearts.  

Therefore, let us think of each other's welfare again, let us love our country, love Mother Nature and stop abusing her to satisfy our personal interests... Together, with one common goal - let us rebuild our Muse's Kingdom of Love.

Take note that I literally envisioned the above scene in my performance. I believe it worked as my teacher, Sir Laureola, expressed his approval and pleasure in listening. :)

The following texts (within quotation marks) are excerpts from a library book that I used as my guide to interpret this piece. Unfortunately, I had forgotten its title. If anyone knows where this is from, kindly leave your comments so I can give proper credits. Thanks! 

"The text of the song gives important clues into what the composer is trying to do. The songtext, by Deogracias Rosario paints us a picture of an apparition that comes to him one dark night. It is the spirit of the Mutya ng Pasig, as described earlier. The Mutya ng Pasig is a pre-colonial riverine goddess whose story Jose Rizal collected in the closing of the 19th century. The mutya tells the poet the story of her death and the disappearance of her kingdom from the earth. This image is a recurrent one in Philippine literature, quite like the Mariang Makiling or Inang Bayan, where people have turned away from the old ways and have adopted a new culture. The gods and goddesses have been neglected, and thus, they have withdrawn from human society. In the process, something valuable has been lost. The kingdom, the mutya says, can only be re-established if the people strive to rebuild it with the fragments of love hidden within each of them. Thus, we see the longing to recover an ancient heritage lost due to neglect and rejection. 

In this work, Abelardo seeks to integrate his training in Western music with his experience of his own native traditions. The whole song is in a harmonic progression acceptable to European compositional style. The song is divided into three sections, each separated by a short instrumental passage. In the opening section, the text sets the stage for the appearance of the mutya, and ends with the poet's recognition of the ghostly figure. The section ends with a dramatic cry, "Ito and Mutya ng Pasig" (This is the Muse of Pasig) and is in the key of Eb minor. It is then followed by a short section in which the mutya prepares to speak. This musically functions as a bridge between the first part, in the minor key and the last part which is in the key of Eb major. As the key changes, the mutya begins to weave her melodious and lyrical tale. The melody and intensity rise, and in this way bring her back to life. The singer ends with a triumphant coda. The work follows a conventional Western song form, skillfully changing from chord to chord, modulating from one key to another, and showing the composer's ability to put together a well-built art song. But Abelardo does more than this. He also tries to retrieve the fragments of an ancient tradition and weave it into his song and possibly recreate the spirit of the kumintang, the lost national song of his people. In the spot reserved for tempo markings, Abelardo puts the term, "Tempo de Kumintang". This seems to be a description of the rhythmic motive that dominates the piano, or instrumental line. 

He also places the term, "tagulaylay" above the vocal line, probably to describe the vocal style used. Tagulaylay is said to be a very ancient style of singing, and is said to be used in the "pasyon" and related song types. In this piece, Abelardo crystallizes the "pag-ibig" (love) that he returns to our ancient heritage."

Mutya Ng Pasig Piano/Voice Sheet Music 

Mutya Ng Pasig English translation