Talk:Philippine music
I agree that "The 1800s to the 1950s is the Kundiman era" and that "The Spaniards introduced this kind of musical genre to the Philippine islands." I would say that the Kundiman is comparable to the boleros of the Latinos in America. Just like the Kundiman, it is "melodramatic and sentimental songs which are fit for serenades. The tune is slow and its instruments include a guitar. The voice is mellow and the lyrics are dramatic and romantic." But... one element which most Filipinos were not aware is that the Kundiman were compositions written by Filipinos, the plot were about the love for the beloved, but hidden in the unconscious is that the Kundiman was addressed to the motherland (a female figure). That is why only Filipinos attributed female persona to their country (Americans call their country, their fatherland.) So, Kundiman is a love song, but hidden in the unconscious is a love song for the motherland.
About the Rock and Roll era... where will the Mambo and Cha-cha-cha fit in? In the 1940's, rumba and boleros started to be heard in Manila, and likewise after the war, especially in the 50's, Mambo make waves not only in the airwaves but also in movies... sooner it was superceded by cha-cha-cha. I think that these music are the precursors of the rock and roll era.
During the so-called Kundiman era, there are also other music... dance music.... habanera, carinosa, and other folk music... how would we classify these? How can we see the connection between these music genre in a spectrum of time...?