CULTURE
A Round with Rondalla

Fancy hearing familiar tunes such as 'Baby Elephant Walk', 'La Cucaracha', 'Arabian Nights' and the popular ballad 'I don't really know how to love him' on Spanish instruments, played and arranged by one of our very own campus music groups?

The NUS Rondalla group plays a wide repertoire of lively folk tunes, classical music, and beautiful ballads. Rondalla (pronounced ron-dah-lia) is a Spanish word referring to a group that plays acoustic plucked stringed-instruments. These groups are indigenous only to Spain and the Philippines. The Spanish had brought along their rondalla instruments; and over time, the Filipinos evolved their own style of playing over time, adding instruments to give rondalla music a much richer texture.

Commenting on the history of the group, the conductress, Ms Low Mei Ling says, "The group was started in 1981 by Joe Peters who was a Centre of Musical Activities Staff. While doing his Masters in Music in the Philippines, he came across a rondalla group playing. Fascinated by how unique and versatile rondalla was, he started a group in campus."

The group has three sections: a rhythm section with a double-bass and a rhythm guitar, a percussion section; and a melody section. The melody section comprises key rondalla instruments, such as the mandolin; the 14-stringed mellow-toned mandola; the octavina; the laud; and the bandurria, which is one octave higher than the laud.

Why does the group play non-Filipino and non-Spanish music on Spanish instruments? Chong Chun Kwok, a third year Science student who plays the laud and arranges some of the group's music, explaines, "It is not easy to come across Spanish or Filipino music here. Thus, we have to experiment with different genres of music. I have to visualize how a particular piece will sound on rondalla instruments as I listen to various CDs before I decide whether it is suitable for arrangement or not.

Agreeing, Ms Low, the main arranger for the group says, "Not only does the playing of such diverse genres of music show the versatility of rondalla instruments, we play an eclectic range of music because it is only through trial and error that we can experiment and find out what suits us best. So far, folk tunes work best, so do baroque pieces and slow ballads, Latin American music, with its lively beat and rhythm, works very well too."

So far, the group has grown from its initial strength of 20 members to its present size of 35 members, including 10 graduates who remained in the group out of love for rondalla's unique music. In addition, to their annual concert 'Fiesta Rondalla', their other performances to date include: Environment Week (1993); the United Nations Day Dinner (1992); and a concert last year at the Jubilee Hall. For this year's concert, they will play, among other works, excerpts from Handel's 'Water Music'; 'In a Persian Market'; a popular Peruvian folk tune 'Carnavalito', and the ballad 'I Know Him So Well' from the musical 'Chess'.

The views and opinions expressed on this web site are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of The Centre for the Arts. This webpage is last updated on the 12 July 2002. Content by NUS Rondalla.