levi & leaf

by walter villa

Out of a single unremarkable leaf came beautiful music.  I remember seeing him on TV back when I was still a kid. Days after that we were trying to do the same thing with Stork candy wrappers. All I was able to play was one single note. It's a lot like whistling but it's hard to get a melody going. Besides it's really embarrassing to have other kids watch you spit all over yourself.

We did try using leaves but they tend to fall apart and we always end up having these bugs in our mouth.  (Amateurs! There goes our chance for the Guinness Book of World Records.)

He composed the lyrics of one of the beautiful, saddest songs I heard.  "Sa Ugoy ng Duyan" is a song of someone longing for his childhood, back when his mother would sing lullabies while gently swaying him to sleep.  I don't know why but I always associate this song to the story of Sisa in Rizal's Noli Me Tangere, a caring mother who lost her mind when her two sons were accused of stealing and were captured by the authorities.

In this age of remakes and rock bands, Levi Celerio's original compositions are diamonds, classics that I hope will never get lost in time.

Levi Celerio
(April 30, 1910 - April 2, 2002)