The Love Songs of Lourdes Reynes Quisumbing

How can one person achieve so much? Having been the country’s Education Secretary, President of Miriam College, a consummate educator, staunch advocate of values education, mother to 10 children and grandmother to dozens of grandchildren and great grandchildren, author of four books, and composer of four albums—Dr. Lourdes Reynes Quisumbing, or LRQ to those people who love her, has been there and done that. Or has done all these things, most of the time simultaneously. This is the question that was dancing in my mind while listening to a mini-concert during the launching of LRQ’s latest book at the Miriam College Music Center last month. The book is Destiny Your Number is 4 and has an accompanying music book and album of 20 love songs called Destiny Sweet Mystery, produced by Saranggola Publications, Inc. The book also features the beautiful watercolor paintings of the author’s daughter, Maria Agnes R. Quisumbing-Villaseñor. And the answer to my question is, no matter how corny it sounds, LOVE. But wait, if the book is about love, why is the number 4 in the title? Number 4 means death in Chinese and therefore brings bad luck, which is why many buildings owned by Chinese tycoons do not have fourth floors. The first chapter of the book is dedicated to explaining the symbolism of 4. In nature, there are four elements: fire, water, earth, and air. There also four directions: north, south, east, and west. There are four dimensions in modern science: length, breadth, width, and time. And of course, there are four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Another very obvious reason is that Destiny Your Number is 4 is the fourth in a series that includes Life, The River Flows On, and The Bluebird Sings! There are other wonderful explanations but you have to buy and read the book to know them all. LRQ is already 90 years old but she still writes books and composes music. This is a humbling experience for me, a young writer who thinks of himself as “prolific." The book is a personal narrative that serves as context to the love songs – not just in its romantic sense but also love between parents and children, love in the family, love shared by friends, love for the environment, love for the country, and yes, love for God. The song that made me cry during the launching is “When Gold Turns to Silver." LRQ relates how the melody and lyrics of this song came to her during her 88th birthday: “My birthday started with mass at our parish church. Reflecting on the liturgy, ‘The deaf shall hear, the mute shall speak,’ I prayed that my ears and my mind would continue to be open to the Word of God and the needs of others, and my tongue able to proclaim His wisdom, goodness, and love… I missed Pop [her late husband] and our life together with the children, the many happy moments, as well as trials we shared as one family. These lyrics and melody came to my lips all of a sudden, as if they were sounds I had heard in the mass." “When gold turns to silver / My heart will still remember / When we promised each other / When love would be forever!" says the first stanza. And the last stanza states, “When gold turns to silver / With life’s dying embers / Our love will light the darkness / Until the break of dawn!" The words and the melody are so simple yet the message is true and great! This is what I like about LRQ’s compositions—they are never pretentious. The sincerity of her songs is moving. Another song I like is the happy and lilting piece called “This Funny Thing Called Love." It is dedicated to her daughter Maria Lourdes Quisumbing-Baybay, also an educator. It was sung by a quartet composed of excellent artists from the Miriam College Music Center—Cynthia Guico, Loida Campos, Lionel Guico and musical arranger, Oliver Neil Rodriguez. “It makes you laugh / It makes you cry / For whatever reason / You don’t know why / It’s this funny thing called Love!" says the first stanza. And who can argue with that? The last song in the collection is called “It’s a Wonderful World." Some people might raise their eyebrows at the very romantic title, but let us remember that the composer here, and the persona speaking in the song, is a great and wise woman. The first stanza goes this way, “It’s a wonderful world / It’s a beautiful world / When we learn to know and understand each other / To live together as one family / No matter what our creed, / Country or color." Indeed we can only have our “beautiful world" when we learn to be united, and with a common purpose. The third stanza says, “It’s a wonderful world / It’s a beautiful world / When children have homes / And people to love them / Where they can eat and sleep / In peaceful slumber / To awake to a new dawn / And a brighter tomorrow." This song is far from being romantic. In fact, it is very realistic for it acknowledges the great task for us human beings, especially for us Filipinos, to make this world, this benighted country of ours, a beautiful place for us all. As long as there’s race and gender discrimination, as long as the so-called leaders who are greedy continue to make the majority of the population slaves of poverty, as long as children are not free to play and enjoy their young lives, there is no peace. And the foundation of peace is justice. “Oh! What a wonderful world / What a beautiful world / It will be!" says the last two lines. LRQ is challenging us all to do our part in making this world, to use the cliché, a better world for us and future generations. This, in spite of our human weaknesses. The love songs of Lourdes Reynes Quisumbing is a gift of hope and light during these dark times. To use the metaphor of number 4, we are given two choices here: to embrace the negative symbolism of this number, or to embrace and celebrate the positive and beautiful symbolism of number 4, i.e. non-violence, truth, purity, and self-control in Hinduism; and prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude in Christianity. The choice is ours. – YA, GMA News J.I.E. TEODORO is an assistant professor of Filipino at Miriam College. He has won several Palanca awards for his works and a National Book Award for creative nonfiction from the Manila Critics Circle and the National Book Development Board. He holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from De La Salle University-Manila.