For the past few years, pianist Dingdong Fiel has worked tirelessly as a collaborating artist. This year, he takes to the spotlight in not one, but twelve recitals—a year-long affair hosted by Manila Pianos Artist Series. So why has he been so prolific as a collaborator, and why the new emphasis on solo performance? Speaking with DZFE’s Daniel, Fiel answers these questions and more on MAESTRO FILIPINO.

MAESTRO FILIPINO is DZFE's program on the Philippine classical music scene.

All music on the program features with permission from the artist.

MAESTRO FILIPINO 23 0304 | Dingdong Fiel Takes the Solo

Software designer by profession, composer by passion, Rick Drehmer nestles in happy retirement in Tacloban—not unlike the hymn melodies nestled and tucked away in many of his works. Drehmer joins DZFE’s Daniel to share his music, and his experiences as a composer, on MAESTRO FILIPINO.

All music on the program features with permission from the artist.

MAESTRO FILIPINO 23 0415 | Rick Drehmer

This piece embeds the melody of Jesus Loves Me into a contrapuntal fabric that hides it for most of the piece.  At first it is presented at 1/8 tempo, then 1/4, then 1/2, then in multivoice canon with 3 different tempi.  Eventually the melody is clearly presented with accompanying chords and is no longer polyphonic but homophonic.  It can be sung, but I used Finale's MIDI instruments.

Jesus Loves Me

This is movement 6 from my piano sonata ευαγγελίου (pronounced Euangelion -- meaning Evangelism).  It is the only one that doesn't use the numbers 1, 3, 7, and 10.  The other 6 movements use these numbers for meter, rhythms, intervals, and form.  In this piece you will immediately hear the tune Amazing Grace, but with the metric accents shifted.

Amazing Grace

This is a passacaglia for vibraphone and 4 MIDI pad 2 (warm) instruments.

Angels

This is the 3rd in my series of Chorale Etudes.  I wrote these for my family members, beginning with my father and mother and including all my siblings, even the one who died at childbirth.  This one is for Tim.  Each of them is based on their favorite Christian hymn tune.  Though this piece has some extreme sounds, bits of the tune are there occasionally.  Sometimes the opening fabric is chromatically inverted, giving it a very different sound.  Eventually the full tune is heard, accompanied with some really wild sounds, even random notes.

By "Chorale Etudes" I'm referring to the concept of taking a hymn tune and surrounding it with an elaborate fabric of music.  J.S. Bach wrote hundreds of Chorales.  These 7 of mine are studies on how to embed the tune so it is virtually hidden.

I Love To Tell The Story

I'm an Art Music composer.  I compose music that is usually outside the box.  I try to communicate truths of God through absolute music (a very subjective concept).  I have many more of my works, in awesome videos (much better), on YouTube since it is a free platform.  See my channel "Pseudotonal".