March on Bahama Land

-
"March On, Bahamaland!" was selected as the winning entry in a national competition, and was adopted as anthem and official emblem on independence July 10, 1973. The winner of the competition was Timothy Gibson. As a former British colony and current Commonwealth realm, The Bahamas retains God Save the Queen as its "royal anthem" .

Timothy Gibson composer, lyricist and educator was born in Savannah Sound, Eleuthera on April 12, 1903. He received his early education in Savannah Sound, worked as a monitor from the age of 11. At the same age he went to Arthur's Town, Cat Island, to join his brother, C. I. Gibson who was a head teacher and was given a job as monitor. He kept this post until he was 17.

When his brother was transferred to Buckley's, Long Island he went with him and again worked as a monitor for one year. The following year he received a job as head teacher in Scrubb Hill, Long Island. He later came to Nassau as a student-in training at the Boys Central School which was then located in Nassau Court.

He was later transferred to the Sandilands School as acting head teacher for eight months and then to the school in George Town, Exuma, where he stayed for seven years, returning to Nassau for a refresher course at the Eastern Senior School.

Following this, he was transferred to Tarpum Bay, Eleuthera, as head teacher and remained there for seven years before coming to Nassau where he took up the post as teacher at the Western Junior School, then located on Hospital Lane.

When the new school was built on Market Street, he moved there. He left the classroom when he was given a job as supervisor of music for Government Schools. His time then was divided between the junior and senior schools where he taught music theory and singing.

In 1961 he was made Assistant Inspector of Schools for music. He worked with the Family Island Schools and also the Bahamas Teacher's College as well as with schools in New Providence.

For many years he did the adjudication for the Family Island Schools during the Annual Music Festival. Many of the songs he wrote were used in these festivals.

Mr. Gibson received most of his music training from his brother C. I. Gibson who taught him how to read music and play the organ. Apart from his brother's training, he studied music theory at Trinity College London, and attended Seminars in Delaware. He was a choral conductor accredited by the University Conservatory of Chicago through a Correspondence Course.

His song-writing career began with "Nassau Calling" in 1938. He wrote other songs such as "Sailor Prince", for the visit of Prince Philip, "Your Majesty", for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II, and "Hail Princess Britannia", for the visit of Princess Margaret. This title has since been changed to "Beautiful Bahamaland". He also wrote the National Anthem of the Bahamas "March On Bahama Land".

Lift up your head to the rising sun, Bahamaland;
March on to glory, your bright banners waving high.
See how the world marks the manner of your bearing!
Pledge to excel through love and unity.
Pressing onward, march together to a common loftier goal;
Steady sunward, though the weather hide the wide and treacherous shoal.
Lift up your head to the rising sun, Bahamaland;
Till the road you've trod Lead unto your God, March on, Bahamaland!

The Government of The Bahamas honoured this veteran educator by naming a school after him. Mr. Gibson was married to the former Miss Rosena Hilton. He died in 1979 at the age of 76.

Above, stamp of the composer, Timothy Gibson. Below, flag raising ceremony with the band playing the national anthem issued in 1983, the 10th Anniversary of Independence.

Popular posts from this blog

Rodolfo S. Cornejo on Stamp

-
Image
Rodolfo S. Cornejo is the first Filipino composer who received an honory degree from a government recognized music school in the United States . He is also remarkable for his pianistic and compositional know-how by improvising a piano composition at the spur of the moment.   He was born on 15 May 1909 in Singalong , Manila . At the age of six, he had his formal piano lessons. After 2 years, he played fourteen pieces and six encores for his recital. In that same year, he became the organist of the Pasay Catholic Church when they moved in. When he was ten, he composed a piano piece entitled, " Glissando Waltz ". He became so keen and inspired about music by his mother's genuine support.    At 13, he composed the "Salute", a military march that was also published. He also composed the Philippine Suite: Paalam sa Pagakadalaga , Okaka Variations , Paalam na Sinta , Oriental Fantasy , Nocturne in G, Piano Concerto no. 1 , and the Moro Wedding Dance . At 14, tw...
Read more

Kulintang- Philippine Bossed Gong and Subing- Philippine Jaw Harp

-
Image
Instruments that produce sound from the substance of the instrument itself (wood or metal) are classified as idiophones . They are further divided into those that are struck, scraped, plucked, shaken, or rubbed. In the Philippines, there are metal and wooden (principally bamboo) idiophones. Metal idiophones are of two categories: flat gongs and bossed gongs,. Flat gongs made of bronze, brass, or iron are found principally in the north among the Isneg , Tingguian , Kalinga , Bontok , Ibaloi , Gaddang , Ifugao , and Ilonggot . They are commonly referred to as gangsa . The gongs vary in size, the average are struck with wooden sticks, padded wooden sticks, or slapped with the palm of the hand. Gong playing among the Cordillera highlanders is an integral part of peace pact gatherings, marriages, prestige ceremonies, feasts or rituals. In Southern Philippines, gongs have a central profusion or knot, hence the term bossed gongs . They are of three types: 1) sets of graduated gongs ...
Read more

The Great Filipino Series- Antonio J. Molina on Stamp

-
Image
Antonio J. Molina was called the "Dean of Filipino Composers". He was a prominent violoncellist, conductor and teacher. He wrote 500 compositions in his lifetime.   He was the last of the musical triumvirate, two of whom were Nicanor Abelardo and Francisco Santiago , who elevated music beyond the realm of folk music. At an early age, he took to playing the violoncello and played it so well it did not take long before he was playing as orchestra soloist for the Manila Grand Opera House . Molina is credited for introducing such innovations as the whole tone scale, pentatonic scale, exuberance of dominant ninths and eleventh cords, and linear counterpoints. As a member of the faculty of the UP Conservatory, he had taught many of the country's leading musical personalities and educators like Lucresia Kasilag and Felipe de Leon .   Born into a musically inclined family, he raised his own family as music lovers as well, as three of his children pursued careers in music, ...
Read more

The Kudyapi- The Philippine Two-Stringed Lute

-
Image
The kutiyapi or kudyapi, is a Philippine two-stringed, fretted boat-lute. It is the only stringed instrument among the Maguindanao people, and one of several among other groups such as the Maranao and Manobo . It is four to six feet long with nine frets made of hardened beeswax . The instrument is carved out of solid soft wood such as from the jackfruit tree.   Common to all kutiyapi instruments, a constant drone is played with one string while the other, an octave above the drone, plays the melody with a kebit or rattan pluck (commonly made from plastic nowadays). This feature, which is also common to other related Southeast Asian "boat lutes", which were influenced by varying degrees by Indian concepts of melody and scale via the Malay archipelago .   Among the T'Boli , Manobo and other Lumad groups, the instrument (known as Hegelung, Kudyapi or Fedlung) is tuned to a major pentatonic scale . Among groups like the Bagobo , the Kutiyapi (Kudlung) is also used as...
Read more

Vicente Fabella on Stamps

-
Image
Vicente F. Fabell a (1891-1959). Educator, economist, civic leader and the first Filipino certified public accountant . He was the founder of Jose Rizal College .  He was born on May 7, 1891 in Pagsanjan , Laguna , the third of six children of Juan Fabella, who served as mayor of Pagsanjan during the Spanish and American regimes, and Damiana Fernandez.    He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Philippines in 1912 and then continued his studies in the United States, obtaining concurrent degrees of bachelor of philosophy from the University of Chicago and diploma in commerce from Northwestern University in 1915. That same year, he became a certified public accountant in the state of Wisconsin .   In 1916, upon his return to the Philippines, he became a professional lecturer in accounting and auditing at the University of the Philippines . At the same time, he opened the accounting firm, Vicente Fabella and Company.   He was inst...
Read more

Kulintang on Stamps

-
Image
Kulintang is a modern term for an ancient instrumental form of music composed on a row of small, horizontally-laid gongs that function melodically, accompanied by larger, suspended gongs and drums. As part of the larger gong-chime culture of Southeast Asia , kulintang music ensembles have been playing for many centuries in regions of the Eastern Malay Archipelago — the Southern Philippines, Eastern Indonesia, Eastern Malaysia, Brunei and Timor, although this article has a focus on the Philippine Kulintang traditions of the Maranao and Maguindanao peoples in particular. Kulintang evolved from a simple native signaling tradition, and developed into its present form with the incorporation of knobbed gongs from Sunda . Its importance stems from its association with the indigenous cultures that inhabited these islands prior to the influences of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity or the West, making Kulintang the most developed tradition of Southeast Asian archaic gong-chime ensemble...
Read more

Atuang Kultura- The First Exhibit of ArtPortalCebu Midtown

-
Image
ArtPortalCebu Consolacion will open a new branch at Atuà Midtown on December 8, 2024,  ArtPortalCebu Atuà Midtown branch will have its initial exhibit entitled: ATUANG KULTURA The exhibit is a manifestation of the richness of our arts and culture as Filipinos in general, and as Cebuanos in particular. ArtPortal Cebu Atuà Midtown branch hopes to contribute in bringing art more closer to people of Cebu, and provide our homegrown artists  an exhibition platform that can possibly help them showcase their creative talents. Participants Jonathan ABELLANA Lida Maria AGUILAR Brylle ARANCO Tam AUSTRIA Leodito BONGO-III Romeo CORTEZ, JR. Joel CRISTOBAL Adeste DEGUILMO Jess DINGLASA John DINGLASA Reynan DINGAL Michael DONDOYANO Jun IMPAS Zapphire JAYME Joseph ONG Renulo PAUTAN Celso PEPITO Fe PEPITO Ruel ROSELLO Lucilo SAGAYNO Lydia VELASCO Antonio VIDAL Jik VILLANUEVA Marlowe VILLAGONZALO Marlone YLANAN Sonia YRASTORZA. ArtPortalCebu, Sincerely thank Sir Allen Tan for allowing us to put...
Read more