I can vaguely remember my Lola Nena, herself an opera singer in her heyday, relay to me the story about the root of my family’s love for music – Lola Dominga Carillo, a simple “labandera”, who worked for Don Inocencio Mella, one of the first administrators of the municipality of Magallanes, Sorsogon. She recounted how this erudite gentleman’s heart was enraptured by Dominga’s sublime voice as she hummed during her labors, and the two, despite the gap that separated their castes, fell in love and married, becoming her grandparents.
Great art often springs forth from humble beginnings. It is not created from money, conservatories, or top-down decrees. It originates from the soul, when it has been sufficiently affected and knows how to respond eloquently in kind. If allowed to prosper, it can spread forth its seed as a great tree does and multiply its fruit. One such product of this love for music was Maestro Lutgardo Antiado Sr., whose familiarity with the score offered us today a glimpse of that golden epoch of folk music. This ability to write down music helped dissuade the possibility of his works being forgotten through time.
Maestro Lutgardo, Lola Dominga’s nephew and my great great grand-uncle, acquired his training at the University of the Philippines Conservatory (now College) of Music. He served as the bandleader of Barrio Siuton in Magallanes, playing music during village festivities. He was most famous for composing the popular Bicol song “Cadena de Amor”, named after the titular plant which grew plentifully in the barrio. Like Potenciano Gregorio Sr., composer of “Sarung Banggi”, his name fell into relative obscurity behind the lasting memory of his works. This is the fate that awaited most folk composers – if he had been better-known, I had no need to write this article at all. But the simplicity of rural living, exchanged fame, glory, and money for the distinctive charm of the folk song – its inescapable ties of its community of origin.

Original manuscript of “Kadena de Amor” (courtesy of Ms. Polly Hilotin of Siuton, Magallanes, Sorsogon)
Folk music is the term often used by musicologists to describe music of a particular region which is intimately familiar to the locals of that place, and whose creator is often forgotten or unknown. The absence of commercialization and technology which makes popular (and art music) possible forces the people of a particular community to take art into their own hands, using whatever means necessary to entertain themselves. For much of human history, this is how music was made – transmitted through ear (not through recordings or sheet music) and reflecting the sentiments specific to the cultural group it comes from. This situation allowed, for example, songs to be created with words native to their place of origin, which is rarely the case today – how many Bicolanos today (especially the younger ones) listen to, or play music that are in the Bicol language?
This charm unique to folk music drew the obsession of composers in the Romantic era of Western art music. The likes of Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Liszt, and Dvorak utilized the century’s heightened technological advancements and developed musical forms to elevate the status of whatever folk tunes they could find from their own nations. It was one of the fastest ways they could draw on the sentiments of the masses and heighten national pride. As one who had been exposed to this side of Western classical music through my studies in the UP College of Music, I discovered that this was one useful and productive way I could use my training to contribute to the interests of the nation. But I also knew that acquainting myself with our own native music could not happen in the metropolis, or in the conservatory, but in the shadowy realms of the province.
Click image to view Manay Polly Orteza-Hilotin sing Cadena de Amor (YouTube video: Daisy Ragragio Valenciano)
This is what piqued my interest in Bicol folk songs. I was enamored to find out that in some way, my inclinations to music were passed down from the creators of one of the most popular Bicol folk songs – and of course, that I am a descendant of his by blood. The simplicity of his works makes them easily transmissible and allow others to interpret and modify them as they wish without having to bother much about the faithfulness to the score required by classical music and the adherence to a particular artist’s style so prevalent in popular music. A quick search in YouTube shows a variety of interpretations, all differing in style from each other, of “Cadena de Amor”.
The most well-known version of this song seems to be a recording made by Jeresa Grutas of Alpha Records. This interpretation has a modified B section relative to the original score, with the opening line spanning a minor 7th (as opposed to the Major 9th in the original composition). I managed to obtain a video of a performance of Manay Polly Orteza-Hilotin, who is now in her 80’s and Mr. Antiado’s niece, in her home in Siuton. Since most are not aware of this version, this is the first I will be featuring in this article.
Relative to the other versions found on YouTube, this one is closer to the original, noticeably using the Major 9th in the B section. I also feel that it is probably the way the song was originally sung in the early days, and can be considered a baseline example of Philippine folk music performance.
Of the other videos on YouTube, I took a particular liking to the jazz swing cover of the Joy Esquivias & Friends quintet, with Joy as vocalist, flutist Hermiene Gaile, bassist & keyboardist Jan Lacsina, and drummer Billy Villamor, all Bikolanos. This version employs a radically different style from the original, which I would describe as a type of light jazz swing. The song is repeated twice, with a solo section by Hermiene before the repeat, and which modulates up a whole tone before the B section. An intro and outro were added, and lyrics were placed in the video for viewers. Much effort and creativity were obviously put into rehearsing for this performance. The traditional love for one’s roots, combined with creative re-imagining, as well as the amount of skill, equipment, and dedication required to put out good music, resulted in this spectacle of cultural and artistic fallout.
I am happy that Maestro Antiado’s legacy is still present to some degree, and that the spirit of Philippine folk music is still somewhat alive today, but commercialization and increasing adherence to Western globalist mass consumption is causing decline. The quick and simple means of transferring of music (through recording) as opposed to, for instance, cuisine (which cannot be downloaded or accessed online or from the radio) means it is easier now more than ever to find quality material, but also directs the masses away from their realities and into the one proliferated by Western media and culture. We should, in my opinion, rescue this sacred tradition by using modern technology to preserve and build upon, instead of replacing, our own native art forms.
Contemporary versions of Cadena de Amor:
Video production courtesy of Turaok 2020 – Featuring: Christine Daniella C. Esperanza, artist; Kenneth Balbin, videographer; Ojie B. Nacman, director; Alfred H. Dedase, Chairman, Turaok 2020; YouTube channel, Just Alphredite!, November 22, 2020
Performed by Veron and Lek of Electrocoustic; arrangement inspired by Himig Kapitolyo of Sorsogon, headed by Sergio Hantid. Featured on Facebook Watch by Matugtog Kita: an episode of Isuriyaw Ta, Palayaon an musikang Bikolnon, July 1, 2020.
Jazz swing cover by Joy & Friends quartet – Joy Esquivias, vocalist; Hermiene Gaile, flutist; Jan Steve Lacsina, bass and keyboard; Billy Joey Villamor, drums. Featured with lyrics on YouTube channel, Bidyo Bicol, June 15, 2021.
About the author:

JOSE JUAN FRANCISCO MARCO RAGRAGIO VALENCIANO is a pianist and graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Music, where he finished with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance, Magna cum Laude. He credits his parents for nurturing his love for music which began from childhood. – his mother Daisy and late father Joey, both musicians and professors at the UP College of Music. His father, a sitarist and jazz drummer, introduced him to Indian classical music and jazz, while his mother, a former Madrigal singer and professor of Music Education, cultivated in him the love for European classical music. He was mentored by UP Professors Ces Pitogo, Nita Quinto, and Pia Balasico, molding him into the pianist he is today. Marco believes in following the path of the European composers of the Romantic period, who incorporated the folk music and native traditions of their countries to spearhead the burgeoning nationalism at the time, by applying what they did to a Philippine context. He feels that his interest in the Bikol music scene is one significant step to fulfilling this paradigm. He hopes that this passion may inspire others, especially his fellow countrymen, to do the same to improve mankind’s well-being.
*** This article is a repost from www.dateline-ibalon.com (https://dateline-ibalon.com/2023/06/cadena-de-amor-the-life-and-works-of-maestro-lutgardo-antiado-sr-and-the-forgotten-legacy-of-bicol-folk-music-jose-juan-f-marco-r-valenciano)