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THE Ayala Museum, with the Filipinas Heritage Library (FHL), hosted the second session of the Roderick Hall Memorial Lectures on Friday, featuring the theme “Philippine Music During the Japanese Occupation: A Disruptive Evolution of a New Artistic Language and National Identity,” in celebration of National Heritage Month and the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Held at the Ayala Museum, the lecture was graced by National Artist for Music Ramon Santos, who explained how Filipino musicians navigated the cultural complexities of wartime occupation and emerging nationalism.
The Roderick Hall Memorial Lectures is an annual event honoring the legacy of Roderick Hall, a passionate historian who donated over 5,000 World War II-related materials to FHL, forming one of the region’s largest WWII archives. “Through this series, we remember Mr. Hall’s advocacy — to preserve war memory and inspire ongoing scholarship on one of the most defining periods in our nation’s cultural history,” said FHL Librarian Raven Esperanza.
This year’s program centered on how Filipino musicians, caught between colonial pasts and imperial present, used art to assert identity.
Santos traced the evolution of music from the Spanish colonial zarzuela and seditious compositions, through the American era of entertainment and institutionalization, to the ideological tensions during the Japanese occupation.
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“By the 1940s, Filipino musicians had become skilled composers, performers and conductors, trained in both Western and native traditions,” said Santos. “But the Japanese regime brought a new layer — censorship, propaganda and the politicization of art under the banner of Pan-Asianism.” Music, he emphasized, became both a tool for compliance and a quiet act of resistance.
He detailed how compositions like “Awit sa Paglikha ng Bagong Pilipinas” replaced the national anthem in official functions, and how Japanese songs were mandated in schools. Yet Filipino composers continued to create, infusing works with subtle expressions of nationalism, often under close surveillance.
Joining the event virtually was Consuelo Hall-McHugh, sister of Roderick Hall, who shared a heartfelt message. “Rod and I were children during the war. We lost our mother, grandmother, aunt and uncle in the Battle for Manila,” she said. “This collection is our way of preserving those memories — and sharing the untold stories of courage, tragedy and resilience.”
The lecture was made possible with support from the Hall family, Pure Foods Deli, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts through the Order of National Artists Program.
Guests in attendance received complimentary one-day access to the FHL until June 17, allowing deeper engagement with the Roderick Hall Collection.
Through initiatives like this, the Ayala Museum and the FHL continues to serve as a beacon for historical reflection and cultural preservation. As Santos concluded, “Music is more than art — it is testimony. It tells us not only who we are but also how we survived, resisted and reimagined ourselves as a nation.”
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