Musician Hoang Van's collection officially recognized by UNESCO as World Documentary Heritage - Lang Son Newspaper and Radio and Television

The UNESCO Executive Board unanimously agreed to inscribe the Collection of Vietnamese Musician Hoang Van into the Memory of the World Catalogue, April 10 - Photo: BNG

At 11:00 p.m. on April 10 in Paris, the UNESCO Executive Board unanimously agreed to inscribe the "Collection of Musician Hoang Van" of Vietnam into the Memory of the World Register. This is the first time a collection of Vietnamese music has been recognized as a World Documentary Heritage.

Assessing the results, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ngo Le Van, Head of the Vietnamese delegation, emphasized: "The fact that the Collection of Musician Hoang Van was recognized by UNESCO is not only a great honor for the musician and his family, but also an affirmation of the position of Vietnamese music in the flow of human intellectual heritage. This is a vivid testament to the enduring vitality of Vietnamese music, a vivid memory of a historical period, reflecting the soul, identity and aspirations of an entire nation through each melody."

Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van highlighted the important role of the Memory of the World Program in protecting and promoting global cultural and historical values, and highly appreciated the effective coordination between domestic and international authorities and experts, especially the dedicated contributions from Musician Hoang Van's family in preserving and promoting this valuable collection.

Ambassador, Head of the Vietnamese Delegation to UNESCO Nguyen Thi Van Anh shared: The collection is one of 74 dossiers recommended by UNESCO for inclusion out of a total of 121 nomination dossiers considered at this session. The dossier was approved smoothly and exceeded expectations, with close coordination between many stakeholders, especially the timely advisory role of Dr. Vu Thi Minh Huong, Member of the International Advisory Committee of the UNESCO Memory of the World Program for the 2024-2028 term, which contributed significantly to the dossier being approved with an absolute rate (100%).

Musician Hoang Van's collection was officially recognized by UNESCO as a World Documentary Heritage - Photo: BNG

Ms. Le Thi Hong Van, Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Cultural Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Secretary General of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, affirmed: The registration of the dossier 'The Collection of Musician Hoang Van' is a success beyond expectations, the result of the close and harmonious coordination between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO and a team of domestic and international experts.

Ms. Le Thi Hong Van said that the collection is the fourth world documentary heritage out of 570 world documentary heritages that have been recognized by UNESCO so far. This is also the first documentary heritage about Vietnamese music to be recognized, contributing to enriching the national cultural treasure and human civilization. The recognition is even more meaningful when the revised Law on Cultural Heritage was passed by the National Assembly in 2024 and took effect from July 1, 2025, which for the first time dedicated a chapter to documentary heritage, demonstrating the increasingly deep interest of the State, management agencies and the whole society in this field.

Musician Hoang Van's collection includes more than 700 musical works composed from 1951 to 2010, deeply reflecting the changes of the country and the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people through many periods. With a harmonious combination of European classical music and folk music, his works not only have artistic value but are also valuable documents for research on Vietnamese culture, society and music history.

According to information from the Department of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), with about 1,000 items, the Collection of documents includes music scores, audio recordings, handwritten or printed manuscripts, videos, articles, film music, interviews, books and music publications. Formed and developed over six decades, this Collection is not only valuable works bearing the mark of Musician Hoang Van, but also reflects one of the historical turning points of Vietnamese music, the changes of the country and the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people through many periods. With a harmonious combination of European classical music and folk music, his works not only have artistic value but are also valuable documents serving the research of Vietnamese culture, society and music history.

The collection also plays an important role in the study of music history and culture. It is a valuable source of scientific material, providing valuable information about a key period in the formation and development of contemporary Vietnamese music, as well as Vietnamese society in general. Moreover, this collection is also a useful reference tool for researchers on the history of music in Vietnam, countries in the region and international researchers. It helps to clarify the development and variations of Western classical music outside of Europe, especially in Vietnam and the Asian region in the post-colonial context.

In addition to its values ​​in Vietnam, the Document Collection also has influence in the international arena. With the language of academic music, artists around the world can easily access and perform the works of Musician Hoang Van, helping international classical music lovers discover a music rich in Vietnamese cultural identity and high artistic value, contributing to enriching the world's classical music treasure.

The collection of documents is complete, rich in content value and diverse in materials, creating favorable conditions for access, search and research. It is a typical example of preserving and promoting the value of the documentary heritage of an artist family, specifically: The manuscripts and scores are mostly preserved in good condition.

In addition, the Document Collection owns about 200 audio recordings (more than 20 hours of recording), including many original recordings when the work was released, performed through the voices of generations of famous Vietnamese singers of that period.

With rich materials such as handwritten scores, prints, recordings and many documentary videos, the Document Collection meets the needs of many music communities. Conductors can refer to recordings to serve the orchestration work; pedagogues can use music scores as a tool for music analysis and teaching; researchers can learn about the history and life of music through valuable materials such as "Orchestra Schedule" and notes of conductors when conducting works in handwritten scores.

Collecting documents not only has profound spiritual value for society and the community but also plays an important role in connecting academic art and the public. While many scientific or academic art documents are often specialized and difficult to access for the majority of music lovers, the works of Musician Hoang Van have a special vitality. Not only are they highly appreciated by experts, his compositions have also become teaching materials at professional music training institutions, music schools and conservatories, and at the same time, they always appear close to the public in professional music competitions at national and international levels, as well as amateur music movements.

According to the assessment of the International Advisory Council of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, Vietnam's dossier fully meets international criteria with outstanding values. The collection is well preserved, highly accessible through a multilingual digital platform, contributing to spreading Vietnamese cultural values ​​to the international community.

UNESCO's recognition of the Collection of Musician Hoang Van is not only the pride of musician Hoang Van's family, but also the common pride of the country and people of Vietnam. This documentary heritage will contribute to raising public awareness of documentary heritage, spreading the cultural-historical-humanistic values ​​of Vietnam to the world, thereby enhancing the image and position of the country and people of Vietnam in the international community.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/bo-suu-tap-cua-nhac-si-hoang-van-chinh-thuc-duoc-unesco-ghi-danh-di-san-tu-lieu-the-gioi-5043759.html