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An uncle who realised that he had already gone past the regular school
age was responsible for his eventual enrolment in school. It was during
this time that his talent in painting and drawing was discovered. His
uncle, peers and other students admired Felipe's sketches. People even
paid him for illustrations they asked him to make. When he was studying
at the Nueva Ecija High School, he went on trips with his hometown
band and wrote short pieces for them. In 1927, he took up Fine Arts at
the University of the Philippines, but he had to stop schooling in order to
make a living. He played the trombone in dance orchestras which
performed in cabarets, circuses and bodabil (vaudeville). Then, he
worked as an assistant conductor of the Nueva Ecija High School
Orchestra where he started doing musical arrangements. Later on, he
wrote music for the sarswela. He decided to study formally and enrolled
at the University of the Philippines Conservatory of Music, where he
studied under Col. Antonio Buenaventura and Antonio Molina. He
contributed articles to the school paper and vernacular magazines.
Later, he wrote music columns for the Manila Times (then known as
Manila Tribune) and Taliba. In 1939, he graduated with a music
teacher's diploma, major in conducting. Much later, he took advanced
studies in composition under Vittorio Giannini of the Julliard School of
Music in New York. De Leon received many awards. Among them are
Composer of the Year (1949), Manila Music Lovers Society, Musician Of
the Year (1958), UP Conservatory of Music, and others. He was
conferred an honorary degree, doctor of philosophy in the humanities, by
the University of the Philippines in 1991.
He was known for Filipinizing western music forms. He was a prodigious
composer: for orchestra, Mariang Makiling Overture (1939), Roca
Encantada (1950), Maynila Overture (1976), Orchesterstuk (1981); for
choral music, Ako'y Pilipino, Lupang Tinubuan, and Ama Namin. De
Leon wrote his famous piece "Payapang Daigdig" the morning after he
woke up to the destruction of the city of Manila during World War II.He
also wrote the classic songs Bulaklak, Alitaptap, Mutya ng Lahi and the
kundiman Sarong Banggi. He also composed the first full-length Filipino
opera, Noli Me Tangere, and subsequently El Filibusterismo. Many
Martial Law babies recall singing his patriotic song " Bagong Lipunan"
immediately after the national anthem.
De Leon not only took Filipino music seriously. He made every effort to
keep music traditions alive, even in small towns. Hagonoy.com reported:
"Sometime in the 1950's, a stranger named Prof. Felipe Padilla de Leon
walked in this barrio and formed the Hagonoy Banda Malaya brass
band. 'I am walking the history or re-enacting it,' Padilla claimed. 'Next
time around, my eyes are on the brass band.'" Hagonoy.com Thus
began his fruitful and happy relationship with the historic town.
De Leon also wrote and lectured extensively on Philippine music and
culture. He wrote as a columnist of the Manila Times, Taliba, and others.
He toured Himig ng Lahi, which he founded as a performing group with a
lecture-concert format throughout the US and the Philippines. He
established the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers,
Inc. (FILSCAP) and united all the bands of the Philippines
with Pambansang Samahan ng mga Bandas sa Pilipinas (PASAMBAP).