The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1903-11-07
MusIc Al - pHnIPPMRs
Pppu1ar Passion 81 the nit1e People.
"a Dlaplagea - 3 Remark
able Manner.

able Manner.
The Bilipinos are an Intensely musi+
cal people. This taste Is displayed ia
all sorts Of ways, but mostly ii their
funerals and home entertainments and
amusements, which are continuous per.
formances, in which ali sorts OF instru-
ments are drawn upon; and in their
theaters, which are v more numer-
than their cockpits, says a writer
in the Chicago Chronicle.
The music in the homes and theaters
Of the Filipino people is n at the
most hopeful elements ia their char
aeter, as well as the most refining
and elevating, and this statement ap-
plies with equal force to our Afro4
American people. No people can be
entirely depraved in whom a love Of
music is q passion. In the homes OF
the natives in Manila and in the Prov
inees Of Luzon-and I visited most Of
those provinces the number of or
gans. pianos, guitars and zithers was
a matter of constant surprise and
pleasure. Most of the young women
are educated in the Catholic converts
Of Manila, and their love of music was
gratifed, Of course, during their stay
in such institutions.
He must be a very poor Filipino in-
deed who cannot have a brass band
follow his remains to their last resting
place. There are few hours of the
day In Manila when a funeral process
sion is not passing through some Of itsl
thoroughfares, with a brass band al
the head. Sometimes there are only
three or four carriages following the
hearse, but the band keeps UP as much
noise as if there were a hundred. But
I could never discover any great evil
dences of sorrow in these funeral pros
cessions.
The brazen instruments in the thea
tiers very frequently jar on the nerves
Of the Americans, for perfect harmony
does not always accompany much Fil-
ipino sound Of whatever sort Few
Americans, however, attend the native
theators Of the native churches, where
the music is the best. When they do
so it is a matter of curiosity. The
language in the theateTs is almost in
variably Tagalog, and few Americans
understand it. But they are, over and
above this fact, not much interested in
the amusements Of the Filipinos ard
do not seem to understand that thea
ters, churches and funerals are the
best possible places in which to study
the true character of any PEOPLE.
The Americans in Manila have no
more contact with Filipinos than
necessity demands. They do not try to
conceal their contempt and dislike of
the natives. The latter feel this
keenly, however tightly they keep
their mouths shut. But the voice of
complaint among the Filipino people
is often lifted up in song and story
despite the rigors of the law and the
vigilance of the officers who haunt the
native theaters, where the Filipino
hope and aspiration respond instantly
and vo~Ciferously to the slightest ap-
peal Of the actors on the stage. / have
seen a little Filipino cantatrice by an
impassioned recital of an incident in
the tragic history of her race create a
storm of applause which rose and fell
like the lashed a Of ocean. yield
ing its violence to calm gradually and
reluctantly. And the censorship of the
civil authorities. viailantly exercised
over the productions OF all of the ma.
tive theaters, abates but little the 10y.
atty of the Filipino author, actor and
audience to the ideals OF independence
after which they have S long striven
in vain.
The Filipino voice, like the Filipino
people, is very small and thin. What
it lacks in force, however. It makes
mp in shrillness and can easily be
heard in tho vast fat bamboo theater
the roof of which Is seldom more than
ten feet high in the center. And the
little actors are as lively as crickets
often awkward to the point Of ludi,
c~rousness, which the indulgent audi.
ence blindly ignores while responding
generously to all that pleases it. The
critical sense seems completely sub.
ordinated to the Astounding desire tc
be instructed and amused.
TEOrOtte Criminals.