Chants from Sagada Mountain Province, Philippines

Abstract

M usical life in the Mountain Province,2 Philippines, is spread Sthroughout the year and is practiced in connection with rituals, ceremonies, work, and social functions (Beyer, 1913;Manuel, 1955;Vanoverbergh,3 1954). There are many kinds of chants for varying occasions, each of which is identified by a different melody-type. The functions of a song may consist of prayers for the dead, words of advice for the newly-wed, songs while building a new rice-field, flute music to serenade a girl friend, gong music for dances, and many other forms that change with the type of ceremony. The length of these chants varies in extremes, and thus while epics among the Ifugao last several nights there are also short tunes sung by boys when playing games or challenging each other to a fight. The song-debate is a popular form in which opponents exchange arguments in chants that may last several nights. The subject may be political in nature, or an enlivened discourse between elderly people or between members of opposite sexes about inheritance to be given by relatives to a newly-married couple. While the practice of music varies from region to region in this part of Luzon (Brooks, 1953; Gale, 1922; Moss and Kroeber, 1919; Schneider, 1951), there are musical traits held in common. Group responsorial singing is found throughout the Province, and is especially remarkable in Bontoc where massive singing by men and women in pulsating rhythm creates special effects that generate enthusiasm among the participants as well as among its hearers. In mono-linear singing the effects of force and power are attained by the volume of large numbers, intensity of singing, rhythm, and some peculiarities of language. Vocal ornaments--the use of slides, mordents, repeated pulsations of vowels, and a trembling voice--are also common to the whole Province, although one trait may be more prevalent in one town than in another. Pentatonic constructions with