Hanoi has long been an endless source of inspiration for literature and art, including music. A large number of famous songs about Hanoi were set to poems. Many songs by musician Phu Quang include: Hanoi on the return day (poem by Thanh Tung), Em oi Ha Noi pho (poem by Phan Vu), Im lang dem Ha Noi (poem by Pham Thi Ngoc Lien), Chieu phu Tay Ho (poem by Thai Thang Long), Mo ve noi xa lat (poem by Thai Thang Long), Ha Noi khi thu maim dong sang (poem by Chu Hoach), Lang dang chieu dong Ha Noi (poem by Ta Quoc Chuong). And other songs that are widely known to the public nationwide include: Ha Noi mua vong nhung conu mua (poem by Truong Quy Hai from Bui Thanh Tuan), Co phai em mua thu Ha Noi (poem by Tran Quang Loc from To Nhu Chau).
It is easy to see that in most of the songs mentioned above, the composer and the lyricist are friends who know each other, even very close. Only by playing together and loving each other can they easily have the same rhythm, sympathy, and can they put each other's poems to make the memories of friendship thicker. However, today, I would like to tell the readers about a very special case of putting poems together, when the composer did not know anything about the author of the poem, of course, had never met them. Yet a very good song about Hanoi was born. That is the song "Writing for Winter" by composer Nhi Do, set to poetry by Tran Thi Bich Thuy.
The Hanoi Moi Weekend newspaper in the 90s of the last century always had a poetry page. And in the issue published on March 14, 1998, there was a poem titled Writing for Winter by author Tran Thi Bich Thuy. The original text of the poem is as follows:
Only when far away do I love you more
The sweet cold of Hanoi winter
The old crocodile tree by the road is bewildered.
Let the leaves fall in the afternoon
Which winter is the winter away from you?
Far from every familiar street corner
Far from Nguyen Du coffee shop, the scent of milk flowers
Who will I sit there with?
When the city comes to night
Sadness without you
The sound of the piano echoes through every window.
The last note rings in the wind
A little chill is enough to make me cry
I remember a winter
Late blooming milk flower on the street corner
The wind still stretches along the small path
Hanoi in me has turned into monsoon season.
Coincidentally, the newspaper page with the poem reached musician Nhi Do, who was then a student at the Faculty of Journalism, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. The song was quickly composed, keeping the poem's lyrics almost intact. The smooth, sweet melody of E minor leads listeners into an emotional love story of a couple separated. Many of Nhi Do's classmates loved the song. Writing for winter continued to spread more widely, reaching students from other faculties in the university and then became known to many young people. In 2000, on the 10th anniversary of the Faculty of Journalism, Nhi Do took the guitar on stage to accompany his classmate Nguyen Truong Giang in singing the song Writing for winter to the enthusiastic applause of friends, teachers and then the emotional feelings of the listeners. After graduating from the Faculty of Journalism, in 2004, Nhi Do worked at the Music Department, Voice of Vietnam Radio. The song "Writing for Winter" was approved by musician Do Hong Quan, then Head of the Music Department, to be put into production. Musician Doan Nguyen was responsible for arranging the song. Calling me from the US, musician Doan Nguyen recalled: "At that time, I was really surprised because I didn't think Nhi Do was that young. Many musicians, when writing arrangements, would only care about the music and not pay much attention to the lyrics. But in this case, I read the lyrics very carefully because this was a piece of music set to poetry. Nhi Do touched the soul of the poem to write a truly pure, soft melody, truly the emotion of someone who is just starting to love. I deliberately used a lot of strings in the arrangement to increase the soaring, soulful quality. This was a successful song of Nhi Do right from the beginning of composing music."
After the song was arranged, it was performed by Meritorious Artist Duc Long and the orchestra. The recording by Meritorious Artist Duc Long at Studio M - the best studio of Voice of Vietnam at that time, quickly spread on social networks, re-posted by many music websites, along with other platforms such as Youtube, Facebook... What made Nhi Do worried and worried was that he still did not know who Tran Thi Bich Thuy was. When he heard someone say that this was a writer living in Da Lat, Nhi Do flew to Da Lat several times to look for information but still had no news.
Many years have passed, Nhi Do's friends and brothers still sing the song "Writing for Winter" loudly at every reunion, every time they have a cup of tea or drink. Although Nhi Do later wrote hundreds of other songs, he never forgot the special mark of "Writing for Winter". After Nguyen Truong Giang, another friend who performed this song very well was poet - journalist Khanh Van Tran Nhat Minh, a former student of K44 Journalism at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Coincidentally, Nhat Minh's situation after graduating was exactly like the lyrical character in the song. Graduating from the Faculty of Journalism, Nhat Minh went to Ho Chi Minh City to work at the Popular Science newspaper. His girlfriend, at that time, was still studying in her final year at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. So many times the song rang out over the phone when Nhat Minh sang to his lover in Hanoi. How many tears of longing fell because of the distance.
The song with its sweet and profound melody and beautiful lyrics has permeated the hearts of Nhi Do's friends and brothers. Everyone silently thanked the author of the poem without knowing where she was. Not only Nhat Minh but many other friends and brothers of Nhi Do such as poet and journalist Nguyen Quang Hung, poet Truong Xuan Thien, musician Duong Hong Kong, and I have all tried to find information about Tran Thi Bich Thuy over the years. Then, luckily, in the middle of September, I accidentally found out that the person in charge of the poetry page of the Hanoi Moi Weekend newspaper that day was the poet and journalist Vuong Tam. I texted him to ask about the poetry page and the poem of Tran Thi Bich Thuy, and he quickly sent me the author's Facebook page. Texting and chatting with Bich Thuy, I was surprised to learn that Thuy was also a former student of the Faculty of Journalism, class 37, Hanoi National University. And Thuy had never known that her poem was set to music, even though she was in charge of content censorship and copyright for Vinaphone's mobile service, which included music data of tens of thousands of songs. After listening to the recording by Meritorious Artist Duc Long and the clip performed by poet and journalist Khanh Van Tran Nhat Minh, Thuy was extremely moved and hoped to meet musician Nhi Do one day.
I had scheduled this warm and touching meeting, right on a day when Hanoi was experiencing monsoon season. Today, Writing for Winter was performed many times in the presence of friends and relatives. We sang for two friends who have passed away, Nguyen Truong Giang and Tran Nhat Minh, two friends who had also wished to meet the author of the poem but never did.
So after 26 years, for the first time, the composer and the poet met in a surge of emotion for both sides. I believe this meeting will create great motivation for Nhi Do to soon publish his CD. Meanwhile, Bich Thuy will find the old poetry book with many unpublished poems as well as write new poems. And as Thuy said, the handwritten copy of the poem Writing for Winter is still intact...
Source: https://daidoanket.vn/26-nam-cho-mot-lan-hoi-ngo-10292586.html
Comment (0)