MISTERYO angDaygonsa Cebuano: An Ethnography

This study is focused on the preservation of cultural heritage of Tudela in a form of carolling. The carolling, which is called �Misteryo�, happens from the month of December until the month of February where the predicament of Joseph and Mary is narrated until the birth of Jesus. It also depicts the history and the experiences of the carollers as they do their carolling from one house to another. To address the problems of this paper, Operational Conservation Theory, a theory which tells that all objects or artefacts which surround us contain information of various kinds, is used. The researchers interviewed the respondents in Barangay General where the old folks who knew the carols and the lyrics live. They were asked to sing both the minor and major keys of the carol. A music expert, Professor Darlane Yap, made the notations of the minor and major keys. The lyrics of each �misteryo� is long that is why carolling takes more minutes to finish making the household listeners give more money to the carollers. During the carolling, the carollers choose a song from among the 15 songs that will fit the occasion choosing also the right tune using the guitar and other instruments. Right now, only four old folks are knowledgeable of the lyrics of the �misteryo�. This implies that sooner, this carolling will fade and will come to an end. This makes the old folks sad because the young generation are not familiar with the �misteryo� anymore. A copy of the lyrics of all the 15 songs are put into writing and made into a booklet which will be given to the office of Barangay General and the Cebu Normal Library.