The leading bird of the time "Singing for my people to hear"

SGGP 07/28/2023 07:51

In 1968, as Head of the Saigon Student Art Troupe and President of the Student Composition Association (Saigon Student General Association), musician Ton That Lap was considered the leader in the movement "Singing for my compatriots" of Saigon - Gia Dinh students and the movement spread to the southern cities at that time.

Musician Ton That Lap

The passionate artist

In 1973, having been assigned to work in the overseas intellectual community, musician Ton That Lap went to France to participate in the student movement there. Once, he said, on April 30, while admiring flowers in his garden, he saw the cereus buds blooming when he received a phone call from Sister Francoise Vandermeerch informing him that Vietnam had been unified. He immediately went to her house in Paris 7, and as soon as he got off the metro, many people came to congratulate him.

According to him, it was the most beautiful and unforgettable memory of his life. That very night, the Vietnamese Association in France and international friends held a gala to celebrate the victory, and the song "Towards the Independent Homeland" that he had just composed with musician Nguyen Thien Dao was sung that very night. The song has an emotional melody: "We turn towards our beloved Fatherland/And this morning we feel our hearts flutter/A moment of excitement when the Fatherland is completely independent/For so many years, so many heroes have fallen/Remembering the gratitude to you since the birth... Oh South, oh South/Now the mountains and rivers sing a song of unity/We erase hatred...".

Returning to the country after the liberation day, musician Ton That Lap took on the role of Director of the House of Mass Arts under the Department of Culture and Information of Ho Chi Minh City. It was here that he continued to be involved in the city's art movement, especially the student composition movement. He joined the Youth Composition Club of the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union, meeting weekly with young musicians of the movement at the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Cultural House to pass on his experiences in the process of creating musical works. The stories of his life and career that he shared were valuable knowledge that helped young musicians become more confident on the path of music composition.

A lifetime of writing for the homeland

Besides the songs written during the struggle of Saigon - Gia Dinh students in the movement "Sing for my compatriots" such as "Sing for my people", "Romeo fields", "Pink nights", "Rice fields spread across the plains", "Students call", "Going down the street", "Singing in prison"... musician Ton That Lap also had many love songs written in the 1960s that were loved by many music lovers, such as the songs in the collection "Pho ca": "Singing late at night", "Small roads"...

After the South was completely liberated and the country was unified, musician Ton That Lap continued to compose many songs related to the situation of the country such as Love song of youth, which he wrote in 1979 during the Northern border war with the gentle opening lyrics that reached the youth: "The first love song born on the border... ", or when he wrote the song Tri An, which resonated with spring with a vibrant pop rock rhythm urging the youth to participate in the construction of the Tri An Hydroelectric Project in 1982. He also composed many love songs that were loved by music lovers such as: Love song of spring, Whispering rain, Forever love, Rock paper scissors ...

In the early 90s, musician Ton That Lap, musicians Trinh Cong Son and Tu Huy founded a group of musicians called The Friends, including musicians: Trinh Cong Son, Ton That Lap, Tu Huy, Tran Long An, Thanh Tung, Nguyen Ngoc Thien and Nguyen Van Hien. After the debut on the morning of March 8, 1992, the group continued to organize a music stage at the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Cultural House under the name of the Musicians Club, which later became familiar to music lovers with the affectionate name of the Musicians' Bar. It was here that hundreds of works by the group The Friends were widely introduced to the music-loving public.

Musician Ton That Lap is a very “careful” person in creating music. His songs are born from a process of careful contemplation. He carefully considers each note and lyric, letting his heart overflow with emotions and then choosing lyrics that are in harmony with the melody. He is very careful when popularizing a work: who sings and how they sing, whether it matches the author’s mood conveyed through the lyrics or not. He is willing to give suggestions to singers on how to express it best. Because the success of the singer is also the best effect of the work that the musician has worked hard to create.

Now he is gone! The musician - the leading bird who once sang for my people is no more!

The rainy season is coming. The rain still whispers to the hearts of his admirers - a talented musician who always has a heavy heart for his country and homeland.

Please light an incense stick and wish you peace in eternity.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/canh-chim-dau-dan-cua-mot-thoi-hat-cho-dong-bao-toi-nghe-post699320.html