VICOR Music Corporation has come out with a compilation of Cecile Azarcon's greatest hits in video CD, prompting the popular composer to pay a visit to her home country, after 15 years in Seattle, Washington.

Cecile's songs have become timeless. Top singers like Basil Valdez, Kuh Ledesma and Martin Nievera have interpreted her compositions.

When Basil's first all-English album (''Corner of the Sky'') was released in 1980, it was Cecile's ''Lift Up Your Hands'' that radio disc jockeys frequently played. The next thing Cecile knew, the song has become popular and was often sung in church, at weddings, graduations, retreats and even funerals.

Next came ''Sana Ikaw Na Nga'' which was included in Basil's Tagalog album in 1981. Five years later, Kuh waxed her own version in an-all Azarcon Tagalog album, ''Lihim.''

Kuh has become Cecile's friend. The compilation album has four cuts popularized by Kuh: ''I Think I'm In Love,'' ''One More Try,'' ''Hello,'' and ''Help me Forget.''

A brief backgrounder: Azarcon felt inspired when one of her students shared with her the feeling of falling in love for the first time, and the result was ''I Think I'm In Love.''

''One More Try'' came about when one of her sisters was having a rough period in her life. A friend who bumped into a former love was the inspiration for ''Hello'' and ''Help Me Forget.''

And how did ''Ikaw ang Lahat sa Akin'' come to be? Cecile vividly recalls: ''It was 1986 and I was residing in Berkeley, California when I got a phone call from Martin Nievera asking me to write him a song. He was going back to the Philippines the following day and was hoping he could take the composition home with him. He was already on the plane but I was still writing the song 'Ikaw Ang Lahat…' A family friend left for Manila that same week and agreed to hand-carry the demo tape of the song to Martin. He recorded it, and to my great delight it became a big hit.''

Completing the compilation line-up are: ''Special Memory'' (sung by Iwi Laurel), ''Even If'' (Jam Morales), ''Reachin' Out'' (Gary Valenciano), ''Sana Ikaw Na Nga'' (Basil Valdez) ''So It's You'' (Raymond Lauchengco) and ''How Did You Know?'' (Chiqui Pineda).

Call it an album of revivals and Cecile won't mind. She observes, ''I think of song revivals as a parallel to clothing styles in the fashion business. It is yesterday with a touch of today. It may be necessary in order to bridge some of the gaps between generations.''

The release of the album coincided with Cecile's birthday. She is also celebrating her 20th year as songwriter.