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In our Filipiniana library is a treasure trove of images of Philippine life, history and culture from the 15th century to the early seventies. The 4" x 5" black and white photos include reproductions of engravings, lithographs, drawings, and other modes of visual representation, as well as original photos gathered and annotated by the Ayala Museum research department over several years.

We have over 35,000 photos at the moment and are expanding the collection.

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[ Monthly Feature ]

The Hegelong

The photo, taken in 1985 in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, shows a young man playing the hegelung (also known as hagalong or hegalong), a two-stringed lute of the T’boli of Mindanao.

The hegelung can be played solo or with other instruments like the s’ludoy (zither). It is used to accompany chants and in courtship. Both the hegelung and the s’ludoy are considered by the T’boli to be lemnoy (feminine) instruments, but they may be played by males, in the same way that females may also play lembang (masculine) instruments like gongs.

In Manolete Mora’s study of T’boli music and worldview, instruments like the hegelung place “high demands on the performer’s level of awareness and artistic focus,” especially in the technical skill of controlling sound quality, dynamics, tempo, and ornamentation, including physical gesture and dance.

Singer and songwriter Joey Ayala, who combines the sound of Filipino ethnic instruments with modern pop music, is widely known to have popularized the hegelung in the Filipino consciousness. The album covers of both Mga Awit ng Tanod-Lupa and Lumad sa Syudad show illustrations of a native Filipino holding the hegelung. He has used the hegelung in classic songs such as “Magkaugnay,” and the western guitar to imitate the sound of the hegelung to create what he calls “altered-native” music.

References:
Mora, Manolete. 2005. Myth, Mimesis and Magic in the Music of the T’boli, Philippines. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.

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