Filipino Kundiman is a genre of romantic folk songs that emerged in the late 1800s, toward the end of the Philippines‘ Spanish colonial-era.
A typical Filipino kundiman has a “triple meter rhythm” (1-2-3, 1-2-3), starts in a minor key at the beginning and shifts to a major key. A song we sing in class, “Jocelynang Baliwag” (“Sweetest Darling”), may well be the most famous kundiman. This song is from the late 19th century and was popular during the era of the Philippine independence movement. On the surface it’s a love song dedicated to Josefa “Pepita” Tiiongson y Lara, a lovely woman from Baliwag, but in reality everyone understood the object of the songwriter’s longing to be the nation of the Philippines.
