In the struggle for national independence and freedom, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the team of artists and writers has continuously grown and matured, gradually emerging with talents that can be said to be outstanding, forever leaving their names in the glorious pages of revolutionary history.
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| Musician and poet Nguyen Dinh Thi and his work "Hanoi People". |
Among those outstanding literary and artistic talents, we cannot fail to mention a great and multi-talented person: poet, writer, playwright, literary critic, musician Nguyen Dinh Thi, who was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Arts by the State in the first batch in 1996. He left this world to return to the human world in 2003, at the age of 79, leaving behind precious artistic legacies created by his wonderful soul and pen for future generations and for the country.
Among the peaks created by musicians during the turning point of the country's history, we cannot fail to mention two immortal songs by musician Nguyen Dinh Thi. Those are the two songs "Die fascist" born in 1945 and "Nguoi Ha Noi" born in 1947. More specifically, when he wrote "Die fascist", the author had just turned 21 years old, and "Nguoi Ha Noi" was written when he was just 23 years old. That youthful enthusiasm and vitality were conveyed in the melody and lyrics, so that sometimes they were heroic and fierce, sometimes lyrical and deep, sometimes filled with suppressed resentment, sometimes soaring and proud. According to the memories of his son - writer Nguyen Dinh Chinh, even when he composed "Nguoi Ha Noi", he was not yet proficient in writing music but only improvised when emotions welled up in his heart, and then his brother-in-law, who was very good at playing the piano, recorded it into music.
As the ancients taught, “What comes from the heart will go to the heart.” The two songs that come from the heart of musician Nguyen Dinh Thi have not only “gone to” but also “remained” in the hearts of millions of generations of Vietnamese people. At the same time, they have become monuments and milestones in the extremely glorious revolutionary history of our country. In our opinion, the two songs “Destroy the Fascists” and “Nguoi Ha Noi” besides their high artistic value, also have unparalleled values in terms of revolutionary history, fighting spirit and belief in victory; prophetic value predicting the future and uniqueness that few other songs can reach.
History also records that in 1940, Japanese fascists invaded Vietnam and the Indochina Peninsula. The people suffered extreme hardship and misery, leading to the terrible famine in 1945 that took the lives of two million compatriots. On March 9, 1945, Japan staged a coup to oust France and monopolize Indochina. Immediately afterwards, on March 12, 1945, the Central Party Standing Committee held an expanded meeting and issued the Directive "Japan and France fight each other and our actions", opening the climax of the people's struggle, seizing the opportunity to move towards the August General Uprising, regaining power from the Japanese fascists, and establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. In that historical context, the song "Destroy Fascism" was born. The song is associated with the turning point of the Vietnamese revolution under the leadership of President Ho Chi Minh and the Communist Party of Vietnam; at the same time, it is also associated with the defeat of fascism worldwide. Therefore, it has no less important historical value.
After the German-Italian-Japanese fascist axis collapsed, the French colonialists, hiding under the shadow of the Allied forces, returned to invade our country once again. Determined not to lose the country, not willing to be slaves, on December 19, 1946, President Ho Chi Minh issued a "Call for National Resistance". The army and people of the capital Hanoi fired the first shot. "The streets were lined with barricades, the roads crossed trenches" (To Huu). Witnessing those heroic and tragic scenes of blood oaths, in the role of a reporter for the "Cuu Quoc" newspaper of the Hanoi front, with a surge of emotions, Nguyen Dinh Thi composed the song "Nguoi Hanoi". Based on the rhythm and melody, it can be said that this is the first epic of a revolutionary song, and among hundreds of songs about the capital up to now, perhaps this is also the only epic about Dong Do - Thang Long - Hanoi. Thus, the song - that epic poem - links Hanoi with the milestone of the national resistance war, an extremely glorious period of the Vietnamese revolution. Therefore, it has a historical significance that not every song has.
The fighting spirit is expressed right in the title of the song “Die fascist”. In this song, with its majestic melody, the rhythm of a marching band like a group of soldiers marching, the lyrics are a call for all people to rise up and make a revolution. And that call also clearly shows how to gather forces, how to equip weapons to attack the enemy: “Hurry, hurry, shoulder to shoulder/ no distinction between old and young, male or female/ Carrying guns and swords, we go forward, we go forward to destroy the enemy”. Today, the country is peaceful, the people are happy and peaceful. But singing or listening to the song “Die fascist”, we still imagine the rumbling of troops carrying swords and guns, groups of protesters carrying sticks, hammers and sickles, not only in Hanoi but spreading throughout the country, rushing up to drive out the Japanese fascists and their lackeys, the August Revolution general uprising was victorious.
With the epic poem “Hanoi People”, after the opening part with a gentle and bright melody that paints a picture of Hanoi with a thousand years of charming culture, the next part bursts into the image of the capital filled with smoke and fire. And the majestic and fierce battle scene of the revolutionary army: “The dust on the street is swirling / The enemy’s corpses fall under the heels / The sound of gunfire is so joyful”, and then the emotion soars, which is also the ending line of the song: “The laughter of the day of return / Victory!”.
Not only historical, fighting with the belief in victory, the two songs of musician Nguyen Dinh Thi also have the meaning of predicting the future, predicting the important things that are about to happen to the nation. The song "Destroy Fascism" was written in early 1945, in the context of the country being lost, the Japanese fascists, the French colonialists competing to crazily suppress "Regardless of age, gender or age" the uprising "Reclaiming freedom and food", to "Advance to the Democratic Republic", "Long live Vietnam!". And indeed, after seizing power from the Japanese fascists, in the middle of historic Ba Dinh, President Ho Chi Minh read the "Declaration of Independence" giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Here we see something that seems to coincide between the great event of September 2, 1945 and the lyrics that the author wrote as quoted above. In the song "Hanoi People" written in 1947, we come across the lyrics: "Tomorrow, generations of people will shout loudly to the sky: Triumph."
Yes. We have mentioned the historical, combative and predictive nature of Nguyen Dinh Thi's music. However, studying and comparing more closely, we realize that his music is also unique, meaning that it is the only work, the "only child" in the theme it reflects. "Die fascist" is the only song associated with the anti-Japanese fascist movement in 1945, that is no longer debatable. As for "Nguoi Ha Noi", one of hundreds of songs by authors about the capital of a thousand years of culture, there are many very good songs, but Nguyen Dinh Thi's work is a long poem with great artistic and other aspects, it is also the first long poem of revolutionary music, the only long poem about Dong Do - Thang Long - Ha Noi, so of course it is also unique. Unique and still shining brightly after nearly eight decades, these are precious gems in the river of Vietnamese revolutionary music, a proud legacy that musician Nguyen Dinh Thi left for us, for today's and tomorrow's society, and at the same time a wonderful example for those of us in the music profession to learn and follow for life.
When talking about the musical legacy of Nguyen Dinh Thi, specifically the two immortal songs “Die fascist” and “Nguoi Ha Noi”, it would be a big mistake not to mention the pinnacle of artistry of those two pieces of music. However, as the introduction of this article has mentioned, there have been many articles written about it by music theorists, journalists, and musicians. And without even needing the praise of those articles, the melody of the song “Die fascist” still resounds every day, being the theme song of the Voice of Vietnam for nearly eighty years. The long song “Nguoi Ha Noi” is not only regularly performed by many theaters and singers, but is also one of the important pieces in the vocal curriculum at music conservatories, and in competitions of the best voices and best singers in Vietnam. Those things are enough to speak of the artistic value of these two pieces of music. Therefore, in this article, we mainly only point out the hidden values that many other articles have not mentioned. Those are the revolutionary historical value, the fighting spirit with the belief in victory, the future prediction and the rare uniqueness, which are also important values besides the artistic value of Nguyen Dinh Thi's music, through two musical works that have become monuments marking the most brilliant milestones in the history of the Vietnamese revolution.
Musician, Meritorious Artist. Kieu Khac Du
(Chairman of Nam Dinh Province Literature and Arts Association)
Source: https://baonamdinh.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/202502/kham-pha-nhung-gia-tri-an-khuat-trong-am-nhac-nguyen-dinh-thi-f9b7d51/
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