Waiting for me at a table by the window filled with autumn sunlight was a small man with a quick manner and bright eyes. He was Associate Professor, Doctor, paleoanthropologist, and musician Nguyen Lan Cuong.
“I don't want to write a motivational song"
Answering the question “How did the musician come up with the idea to write the song Lagerstroemia in the Storm ?”, he immediately said: “On the night of September 7th and early morning of September 8th, my neighborhood (Nguyen Huy Tuong Street, Hanoi - PV) witnessed a terrible scene: trees fell down, pressing heavily on the power lines, causing the entire neighborhood to lose power.
Witnessing the devastation caused by Typhoon Yagi, I was determined to write a song about the strongest typhoon in 30 years that swept through Hanoi. I lit a candle, sat quietly at the piano, and my emotions were overflowing. I did not intend to write a song to encourage and call for help, but I wanted to compose a song that touched the hearts of listeners. That was not easy.”
In the song, the image of the Lagerstroemia tree appears throughout as a symbol of beauty, faith and hope. This is also a familiar tree to the people of Hanoi, the purple color evokes romance in love: “First love under the shade of the Lagerstroemia tree…”. He revised the song over and over again to make it perfect with the idea that although the musician cannot directly go to the “front line”, he can use music to encourage everyone.
Musician Lan Cuong expressed: “After sending the song to dozens of musicians and friends, I received many positive responses. Professor, Doctor, Hero of Labor Nguyen Anh Tri commented: 'The song is about storms and floods but is not sad but awakening enough, touching compassion for the loss caused by natural disasters and especially reinforcing the belief that everything will pass, to live optimistically with life. The lyrical music is reasonable, not over-the-top but still awakens human emotions'".
Sharing with VietNamNet, musician Lan Cuong said that he trusted his close friend, People's Artist Pham Ngoc Khoi, so he invited him to accompany the song "Cay bang lang trong bao" . People's Artist Pham Ngoc Khoi was the first person to hear the song and gave many valuable comments to the author.
Singer Le Anh Dung was also the name that the musician aimed for from the beginning because he has an emotional voice, does not show off technique but easily finds sympathy from listeners. The recording process took place in just 2 days because both of them "absorbed" the song very quickly.
Loves music, good at acting, good at drawing but spends his whole life with skeletons
When the reporter asked: "Is there any contradiction between the work of a researcher or archaeologist requiring precision and detail and the soaring soul of an artist?", Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong smiled and recounted his chance encounter with art.
“At the age of 10, I went to China to study music, learning from Mr. Pham Tuyen and Mr. Nguyen Huu Hieu - the first choir conductors in Vietnam and Mr. Tuc (Chinese). When I returned to Vietnam, I was in charge of a 100-person choir and a 20-person orchestra at Ly Thuong Kiet School (now Viet Duc School) in Hanoi. My friend Phu Quang played the horn in the band and later became a famous musician. In 1960, when I was only 19 years old, I composed my first song, Tieng hat ban Muong and then the choir Tieng ca tren ra go , both of which won prizes in competitions for students in Hanoi.
Because my family did not encourage me to pursue art, I chose to study Biology at the University. However, in early 1961, I secretly took the exam and was accepted into a drama team of 15 people (including my friend Trong Khoi, who later became the People's Artist and Director of the Vietnam Drama Theater) selected from several hundred candidates, belonging to the Art Troupe of the Ministry of Culture sent to the Soviet Union to study for 5 years. However, due to the international situation at that time, the drama team had to stay, so I was content to continue studying."
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Later, when working in science, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong was still passionate about composing. Therefore, over the past 60 years, along with important research projects on paleoanthropology, he also has about 80 musical works. Many of his compositions originated from hot diary entries about current events such as the victory of the Vietnam Football Team, the fight against Covid... so they created closeness with listeners as well as strong influence. The Geological Song consisting of 3 chapters and winning an award from the Vietnam Musicians Association was inspired by Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong from arduous archaeological work trips.
Besides the touching works such as: The general of the people's hearts, Come back, My dear, Maybe it's like that, Song about the island soldiers, After the oath, The feeling of the Imperial City... musician Nguyen Lan Cuong also has many children's songs such as: My doll, Red light, stop at green light, What job do you like to do?, We celebrate Dien Bien's 60th flower season...
“Once while riding a motorbike, I saw a father and son. The father sped off when the light had not turned green yet, and the child grumbled: 'In class, my teacher taught me that when the light is red, stop, when the light is yellow, prepare, and when the light is green, go'. The idea came to me, I parked my motorbike right next to the sidewalk and wrote the song right on the food ticket, the only piece of paper I had with me at that time. Later, the song won the highest prize in a traffic safety contest with a prize of 25 million VND. I used that money to buy a piano, which made composing easier than the old organ,” the musician recalled.
Musician Lan Cuong tells an interesting story about writing music for children:
He added: “Writing children’s music is both difficult and inexpensive, but I still like it because I love children, love their honesty and innocence. The difficulty lies in the fact that the musician cannot use the thoughts and perspectives of adults to write for children. The pitch must also be moderate, not too high or too low, or the children will have difficulty singing. Children are very innocent, so they will be the most impartial judges. If they don’t love it, they won’t sing it.”
In particular, the book Diary on the Sol Clef by musician Nguyen Lan Cuong contains works, memories, and feelings of friends towards the multi-talented scientist.
In addition to archaeological research and music composition, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong is also talented in painting. He has been painting oil paintings since 1962. One of his proudest works is the book What Skeletons Tell You , which includes 320 illustrations of human skeletons drawn by the Associate Professor himself. “There are drawings that take about 4 hours to complete, I draw each detail very meticulously. Unlike drawing internal organs, drawing bones or teeth does not require color to distinguish, so I only use tiny black dots, which makes the work much more interesting,” the Associate Professor said.
"My wife always supports me wholeheartedly"
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong got married and had children quite late. He got married at the age of 41. His wife was his strong support, single-handedly taking care of the house and raising the children because he was constantly away on archaeological trips everywhere.
The first daughter was born on September 2, 1982, and was given a unique name by the couple, Hoa Cuong. She is currently living with her parents. The son, Nguyen Lan Chuong, majored in English, then continued his studies at RMIT, majoring in banking and finance, and studied abroad in Japan. He currently teaches and works as a programmer at a Japanese language center in Hanoi.
“The interesting thing is that in Nguyen Lan’s extended family, all the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren… if they are male, have the word Lan after their last name. When all are gathered together, my extended family has about 80 people, forming a very special community,” he said.
At the age of 83, the leading paleoanthropologist, awarded the title "The person who has researched the most ancient Vietnamese remains: 1,093 individuals" by the Vietnam Record Organization, still drives his motorbike at a speed of 50-55km to archaeological excavation sites around Hanoi.
"I ride a motorbike regularly, but to ride fast I have to train my eyes to be good and especially have steady, flexible hands to handle situations on the road," he excitedly boasted.
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Discussing his future plans, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong said: “In the near future, I will release the book Following the Traces of Ancient Tombs , but it will not only focus on professional factors but will tell the story in a vivid way. In it, I will share the journey to find the tomb of Princess Ly Kieu Oanh with the famous psychic Hoang Thi Thiem, or the compound tomb in Dao Garden or two very majestic tombs of the Luc Trieu period in the Ciputra urban area (Hanoi).
"I still jokingly tell my students that in the other world, I will still make music, teach, and do archaeology," before saying goodbye to VietNamNet reporter, Associate Professor, Doctor, musician Nguyen Lan Cuong did not forget to tell them.
Photo, clip: Linh Dan
Associate Professor, Doctor, Musician Nguyen Lan Cuong was born in 1941, he is the fourth son of the late People's Teacher Nguyen Lan. Associate Professor, Doctor, Musician Nguyen Lan Cuong is famous as a leading expert in paleoanthropology as well as the head of national projects on research, restoration, and repair of four Vietnamese bodies in pagodas: Dau, Tieu Son and Phat Tich..... He was formerly the Permanent Vice President of the Hanoi Music Association, now the Head of the Inspection and External Relations Committee of the Hanoi Music Association, General Secretary of the Vietnam Archaeological Association and conductor of the Hanoi Harmony Choir.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/pgs-ts-nguyen-lan-cuong-tuoi-83-hanh-phuc-ben-vo-con-van-hang-say-lam-viec-2326886.html
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