Old Philippines 1898-1930 Second Edition sa pagawit ni Conching Rosal

Slide Show of Old Philippines.

Si Conching Rosal ay ipinanganak sa San Jose, Batangas noong 1926. Nagpasimula siyang umawit ng solo noong siya'y anim na taong gulang pa lamang sa kanilang parokyang simbahan ng San Jose. Nag-aral siya ng pag-awit sa UST Conservatory of Music at doon niya naging kamag-aral at kaibigan si Sylvia La Torre.

Ipinagpatuloy niya sa Amerika ang pag-aaral sa pag-awit sa ilalim ni Dean Varchines, tanyag na tagapagturo sa mga mang-aawit ng Metropolitan Opera at New York Opera. Noong 1952 ay tinanggap niya ang karangalan at gantimpala buhat sa Elizalde Hour Talent Search. Nagsimula ang kanyang katanyagan bilang coloratura soprano sa pag-awit niya sa Operang 'Carmen'.

Si Conching Rosal ay isa sa mga dakilang soprano ng bansang Pilipinas na namayagpag sa loob ng tatlumpong taon. Ilan sa di malilimutang pag-ganap niya sa Teatro sa Pilipinas ay ang Operang 'Madame Butterly', 1967, ang 'Aida' at ang pag ganap niya bilang pangunahing aktres sa Zarzwela na 'Ang Kiri'. Pumanaw siya noong 1985 sa sakit na Cancer.

Maalala si Conching Rosal sa kanyang makabagbag damdaming pag-awit ng mga Kundiman tulad ng Huling Awit, Kundiman ng Luha, Ibong Sawi, Pakiusap, Alin Mang Lahi, Sa Iyo Inay, Hatinggabi, Mutya ng Pasig at marami pang iba na isinaplaka ng Villar Records . Ang kanyang boses soprano ay ginamit rin bilang Ibong Adarna na umaawit para makatulog ang sinumang makarinig noong 1972 para sa pelikulang Ang Hiwaga ng Ibong Adarna sa ilalim ng Roda Film Productions.

The first song (Kundiman ng Magandang Diwata)is originally entitled "Jocelyn ng Baliwag".
From 1896 to 1898 the most famous Kundiman, which fired the patriotic sentiments of the Tagalog revolutionaries in the struggle for liberation from Spanish colonial rule, was Jocelyn ng Baliuag. Officially known as Musica del Legitimo Kundiman Procedente del Campo Insurecto (Music of the Legitimate Kundiman that Proceeds from the Insurgents), Jocelyn ng Baliwag was the favorite Kundiman among the revolutionaries of Bulacan during the Philippine Revolution of 1896 - earning it the title "Kundiman of the Revolution."

In the guise of a love and courtship song, it features lyrics dedicated to a young and beautiful Filipina idolized in the Bulacan town of Baliuag named Josefa 'Pepita' Tiongson y Lara who symbolizes the image of the beloved Motherland, the Inang Bayan ng Katagalugan or Filipinas.

The kundiman is a love song and/or a patriotic song that generally expresses lamentation, a longing, a plea, or sorrow. Influenced by the culture of the times and the temper of the Filipino, the kundiman's purpose was never trivial and ordinary.

During the Spanish colonial regime, the kundiman, "Jocelyn ng Baliwag" was disguised as an expression of love for a lady from Bulacan; it was actually an expression of love for the motherland and the hope of setting her free from the Spanish conquistadores.

The kundiman's beat is triple time, in minor key, and its lyrics are poetic, swaying smoothly with either a silent note or a mezzo forte. It is usually sung by a highly trained and skilled vocalist, accompanied by an equally trained and skilled string orchestra, or a pianist, a violinist, and/or a guitarist.

No ordinary vocalists and musicians cannot perform the kundiman. It requires more than just a singing voice and the ability to pluck some strings. If other nations have their opera, the Philippines has its kundiman, uniquely its own.