Department of Interdisciplinary Studies holds lecture-recital on Philippine Commonwealth composer Rodolfo Cornejo

On 21 March 2024, the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies presented a lecture-recital on the life and works of Philippine Commonwealth composer Rodolfo Cornejo. The event was in partnership with the School of Humanities Sanggunian, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and Fulbright Philippines, and made possible with support from the Kwan Laurel Donation to the School of Humanities.

Dr Karen Fatima Francisco, a lecturer at the IS Department and a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of Michigan, delivered the lecture and performed a piece by Cornejo with Dr Peter Porticos, a soloist and chamber musician who teaches at the UST Conservatory of Music.

The lecture-recital focused on Cornejo’s musical output of works written and performed under the auspices of the Commonwealth government-in-exile during World War II. Through musical analysis, Dr Francisco elucidated Cornejo’s use of Philippine folk songs as thematic material in his piano compositions. She also provided insight into his life and the historical contexts surrounding his works, illuminating his unique expression of musical nationalism.

After the lecture, Dr Francisco and Dr Porticos took to the stage to perform Cornejo’s Philippine Rhapsody No. 1 in G minor, written in the style of a rhapsody and based on two Philippine folk songs, “namely ‘Alaala Kita sa Aking Pagtulog,’ a dreamy love song, and ‘Lulay,’ a waltz tempo melody similar to the Fandango style.”

Dr Francisco ended her lecture with a quote from political scientist and public administration scholar José Abueva, dedicating it to her students: 

“Filipino nationalism is ‘love of our country... It is also love of country and God.... It is cherishing what is Filipino, what makes us a nation distinct from other nations... It extends to our love of freedom, liberty, and democracy as Filipino values and ideals.’ Freedom. What is freedom? Sometimes, I wonder what this means to us, but we know it has such a high price to pay. Let us remember that freedom is not the absence of restriction but the capacity to find and fulfill one’s purpose as a human being. May God help you find your purpose, dear students, and may He grant us all the healing of our memories,” she said. 

Listen to the recording: