Young voices bring Xam mat from the market to live concert

Ha Thi Cau's Xam mat - Photo: VT

Little girls, some of them only 7 years old, play the erhu, clap the clappers, and sing ancient Xam songs...

Xam singing today is no longer a profession to earn a living on a mat spread at the market entrance, singing the sad feelings of the poor, nor has it faded away with time and the development of modern art.

Xam has appeared on big stages, the brown dress and the crow's beak scarf have had many opportunities to sparkle in the colored lights...

Ha Thi Cau's blindfold

In the old house of the late artist, "human treasure" Ha Thi Cau in Yen Phong commune, Yen Mo district (Ninh Binh province), for many years, the guest room has been used as a practice place for Xam enthusiasts.

Four mats were spread out, more than ten people, the oldest 74 years old, the youngest only 7 years old, some playing the guitar, some beating the clappers, enthusiastically practicing singing.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Man (64 years old), the youngest daughter of the late artist Ha Thi Cau, is the head of the Xam singing club. People in the profession often call it Xam mat.

In this Xam mat, the first comer teaches the next, the one who knows teaches the one who doesn't. Mrs. Man takes care of the food and money for the Xam mat and teaches singing to the members.

Dinh Thi Thuy Linh, 14 years old, has been learning to sing Xam since 5th grade because she finds Xam beautiful from the melody to the lyrics. "I'm still young, sometimes I don't understand the lyrics, but when I understand, I know that they are teachings for people, so I like them even more," Linh said.

Xam Ha Thi Cau in the opening performance of singer Ha Anh Tuan's live concert "Ranging Horizon" - Photo: NAM TRAN

After a year of practicing under the guidance of folk artist Dao Bach Linh (a student of Mr. Cau), now that she has mastered the instrument, Linh teaches those who do not know how to play it. Some of her students are only 5 or 6 years old and their parents send them to the Xam mat, but there are also grandparents, over 70 years old, who also come to study with "Ms. Linh".

Teaching Xam, Linh wrote the notes on the board, the younger students followed along with their eyes wide open and mouths wide open. Then the older sister picked up the erhu and played each note, looking around, whoever played "off" had to play it again, until the note and rhythm were correct.

Yet, dozens of children were all fascinated. Pham Thi My Le, only 9 years old, could sing by herself, play the guitar, and beat the drums. Before learning to sing, Le often turned on the TV to listen to Mrs. Cau sing Xam. She listened to the songs so much that she knew all the lyrics, and then asked her parents to let her go to the Xam show.

When she first started learning, the first grader at that time found it… so difficult. The first few days of pressing the strings, Le’s fingers were red and swollen from pain.

Yet after only two years, Le was already fluent. She was so fascinated that she actively performed everywhere to earn enough money to buy herself an erhu. "I really cherish this instrument, and I am happy every time I get to play it," Le boasted.

Pham Thi My Le and the guitar she bought with her singing money - Photo: VT

When asked to perform a piece for us, the skinny third grade girl hugged her first guitar in her "career" and, in a skirt and scarf, enthusiastically sang "Father's merit, mother's birth...".

With this same song, Le, Thuy Linh and 6 other children performed the opening act at the live concert "Ranging Horizon" by singer Ha Anh Tuan in Ninh Binh in February. On stage, 8 children (the youngest was only 7 years old) appeared with the erhu singing the Thap An tune with ancient lyrics.

The space quiets down, sinking into memories in the sound of the fiddle, the rustic song "Don't forget, mother's love, father's work...".

Ha Anh Tuan opened the live concert impressively with the combination of Xam Thap An and the symphony orchestra, making everyone burst with emotion.

Mrs. Man was still surprised, remembering the day Ha Anh Tuan came to her house, burned incense for Mrs. Ha Thi Cau and then suggested that the children sing Xam in his show.

"I was very surprised and bewildered because these young children only sing Xam, how could they sing pop music together? But he said he wanted to bring the Ha Thi Cau Xam club to the stage to shine by harmoniously combining Xam and pop music," said Ms. Man.

Bui Cong Son is a rare person who makes a living by singing Xam - Photo: VT

Singing at the market, you have to sing while observing the attitude of the people around you, sing in a way that makes people willing to take money out of their pockets to give you. Xam singing is an artistic work, you have to always cultivate and practice to receive the money you deserve...

Bui Cong Son

Ancient Xam returns to present day

"My mother told me to keep the lyrics for her. I may not sing well or play the instrument well, but I have to keep the lyrics to pass on to the next generation because they might be lost in the future," said Ms. Man.

In the past, only poor people and blind people practiced Xam singing in market corners or village shadows. Only rarely were Xam singers allowed to sing in mandarins' houses.

Nowadays, in modern life, Xam shows in the market are gradually disappearing, and people only hear Xam at art festivals, on the radio, or in some clips posted on social networks.

In 2016, three years after Mr. Cau passed away, Mrs. Man received a phone call from a young man asking to come to her house to learn to play and sing. That was Bui Cong Son. Son was only 17 years old at that time, but he was fascinated by Ms. Ha Thi Cau's singing style and was determined to learn it.

Son's house is in An Cau commune, Quynh Phu district (Thai Binh province), more than a hundred kilometers from Mr. Cau's hometown. In 8th grade, he heard Mr. Cau sing the song "Ten graces" on his grandfather's old radio.

Having been familiar with the Cheo performances in the village communal house, Son suddenly wondered: "I have never heard this type of music before. The singing is like reading, the reading is like singing, but the more I listen, the more I love it," Son recalled.

Ms. Ha Thi Cau in her last performance in Hanoi in 2011 - Photo: HOANG DIEP

Back then, when it was time for computer science class, he would go into the school’s computer room and put on his headphones to listen to Mr. Cau singing Xam through videos recorded and posted online. Occasionally, he would go to the internet cafe near the commune committee to follow the Xam tune.

After 9th grade, Son dropped out of school and went to Nam Dinh to learn carving. While studying and working, he saved some money and found a teacher to learn how to play musical instruments and sing Xam. In just a few years, the young man at that time became a student of famous artists such as musician Thao Giang, People's Artist Xuan Hoach, Ngo Van Dan, Van Ti...

Having met many teachers, Son still loved and practiced singing according to Ms. Cau's style. He had never met or been taught a single sentence or word by Ms. Cau, but Son's singing voice, accent, and pronunciation were exactly like hers. Every time Son sang, everyone who heard him said, "This boy must be Ms. Cau's student." Many people even mistook him for her descendant.

During the days he lived at Mr. Cau's house, in addition to mobilizing donations to build a tomb for him, Son also taught music and Xam singing to children who wanted to learn. Many Xam verses used ancient words that were difficult for the children to understand, so Son "remade" them with modern, familiar words to both explain the meaning to the students and help them absorb it more easily.

Son shared: "I long to spread and develop the profession of Xam singing to the younger generation, not wanting this spiritual heritage to disappear in the future. During the process of both studying and teaching, I always hope to find people with talent, passion and determination to pursue Xam like me."

Those who know teach those who don't know is the way to preserve Xam in Yen Mo - Photo: V.TUAN

Artistic labor on the market

Son "xam" chose to sing at the market and travel everywhere like the old folk artists as a way to practice to understand the special space of the Xam singing profession, to accumulate life experience and capital. Practicing like his predecessors, he brought his two-stringed erhu to all the markets in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Thai Binh... to spread out the mat to sing Xam.

Every weekend, Son went to the Hanoi walking street, spread out his mat and played the erhu. Many times, while singing and playing the erhu, his money bag was stolen. Another time, he came home late after performing, the boarding house locked the door, so Son and his friend went under Long Bien bridge to have a good night's sleep.

A few years later, Son and another person founded a Xam singing show at Long market, Yen Mo, Ninh Binh. They sang at the market and taught students how to sing Xam at the very market of Mr. Cau's hometown.

Now, the young man considered the successor of Ha Thi Cau's Xam singing, performs 15 shows a month in all the northern provinces. Son said that actively performing shows helps him earn tens of millions of dong a month, which can support his family.

Besides, the 23-year-old man still takes the time to sing at the market. "By singing at the market, I can feel how the seniors in the past practiced their profession, earn a living like they did in the past, and spread the beauty of Xam to today's life."

Son confided, then sang and played a piece of Xam as a gift for guests from far away...

Yen Mo Xam Mat rejuvenates

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Binh - Deputy Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Yen Mo District (Ninh Binh Province) - said that the district currently has 26 Cheo and Xam singing clubs. The number of people learning Xam singing is increasing, many of whom are aged between 5 and 15.

There are children who are only 7 years old but can already memorize and sing 12 Xam melodies, and 10-year-old children who are proficient in playing and singing instruments, and cannot count them all. There are families of 4 or 5 people, from grandparents to a 6-year-old grandchild, who also want to join Xam clubs to practice playing instruments and singing Xam.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/giong-tre-dua-chieu-xam-tu-cho-den-live-concert-20240123155002735.htm