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Storytelling Heritage
Storytelling Heritage
My identity as a Filipina American is contributed to the heritage my family has passed down to me. Especially the stories told from my Lola (grandmother in Tagalog) when I was younger. It connects my Filipino roots and past generations from the islands to California.
The story that I will always remember from my Lola, was her experience with a now-dying custom of courting, Harana. She grew up in a rural area in the Philippines in the 1950s where she told me a story of one of her first relationships when she was younger. Imagine a romantic atmosphere in the warm, tropical evening, with the moon shining down on the man professing his love to you through songs outside of your window. When she described her first love, it felt like a romance movie I fell in love with it because of how different courting it was then to now.
Photo by my mom, Jocelyn Vertudez
Photo by Deborah Francisco Douglas
Serenading Magic
Serenading Magic
You may have never heard of Harana; it is a romantic courting tradition that is dying in the Philippines. It mainly took place in the mid-1940s when the man was serenaded by singing music outside of the girl’s window. The songs profess his love to the woman and also announce that to the family. In which the girl likes the music and the man, she can accept and continue the courtship.
This magical event takes place in the evening and night due to the heat from the boiling sun and humid atmosphere in the Philippines. It is an intimate event known to her family. The man serenading is not to be only for the girl, but to be announced to her entire family in the house to listen. The family-oriented event can allow the girl to continue or even reject the boy by simply closing their windows!
Photo by ABC Radio National
Video by Florante Aguilar , A common song used for Harana in the beginning stages
History Behind Harana
History Behind Harana
The Philippines has a long history with past big influences of western countries, especially Spain during the Spanish Colonial Era. Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer, marked the Philippines to be Spanish territory among the many indigenous people living there. For over 300 years, Spanish colonization in the islands influenced the culture of cuisine, clothing, religion, language, and music.
Harana means a Filipino serenade and is derived from Spanish serenata, a serenade. The serenade songs also contain minor keys in the music like the danza, a Spanish habanero, and tango. There are two ways to express love that are considered interchangeable; Kundiman and Harana. The kundiman is another way to express love through song and is considered different because it also includes Spanish words. While the harana just uses Tagalog or other Philippine dialects.
Both Kundiman and Harana are still considered filipino folk and art songs that Haranista singers use to this day. Learning the difference between these two love songs is important because they intertwine greatly with the Filipino identity. According to Christi-Anne Castro, a Filipina ethnomusicologist, author, and Associate Professor of Musicology at the University of Michigan, “Filipinization — the process of making culture more Filipino in order to counter the effects of colonialism and/or further a stronger sense of localized identity”.
Providencial Versions
Providencial Versions
Harana has various versions depending on where you live in the Philippines. On the southern shores of Manila, a small province called Cavite (KA-VEE-TEY) has multiple steps on how they did harana. Every step of Harana contains lyrical songs specific for each moment. In total there are four steps:
Panawagan is the first stage which announces the beginning of the courting process. It is when the man sings a set of specific songs, that makes the woman want to open her window and listen.
Pagtatapat is the second stage, if they can. It is when the woman lets the man come in so he can profess his love and her beauty. They talk and sing more songs under the watch of her family.
Panagutan, the third stage. It is when the woman responds back if she likes him. They later sing duets together.
Pamamaalam, the last stage. It is a farewell after a late night. They sing songs with a faster tempo and more upbeat.
Photo by Jun Martinez
Photo by Lawrence Garcia
From Then to Now
From Then to Now
Unfortunately, serenades have not been an often a way to woo a lady now. The dying tradition of the serenade was more popular before the internet. Mainly dating using electronics has become more practiced. Personally, it would still be lovely to have a future interest serenade a romantic song. Not only are future courting relationships are in effect by the declining use of harana, but haranistas are as well.
If it wasn’t the future lover serenading, haranistas would perform and do the job. Haranistas are people (mostly men) who can sing or compose any love song if the man cannot. Since Harana has been a declining heritage since the early 2000s, most Haranistas are much older and retired almost 30 years ago.
Felipe Alonzo, retired Haranista, says that in more rural areas it was easier to have jobs because it was more popular, such as province cities: Cavite or Isabela. However, even in rural areas today don't often perform Harana. The haranistas composed beautiful messages in songs that involved older Philippine words that aren’t utilized today. The old, composed love songs that bring history and old traditions, should be remembered as a part of Philippine culture.
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