World memories from family heritage

Father's legacy becomes world memory

Dr. Le Y Linh, daughter of musician Hoang Van, has read countless pages of faded documents, made countless phone calls, and sent many messages to agencies and individuals. She asked for everything from the musician's autobiography, to interviews with reporters and stories from colleagues and friends..., collected books, newspapers, tapes, and audio recordings... "There are collectors who gave me the only printed copy he had, some people gave us music, manuscripts, books... that they still kept after more than half a century, or sent us audio files that we thought we would never find again...", Ms. Linh said.

Musician Hoang Van conducting the orchestra at VOV Recording Studio (early 1960s)

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY FAMILY

Ms. Linh's younger brother, conductor Le Phi Phi, also participated in the process of forming the music collection of musician Hoang Van - a documentary heritage recognized by UNESCO as a world memory on April 10. "My younger brother, conductor Le Phi Phi, is responsible for editing, comparing manuscripts, digitizing, and even restoring the works by recording through audio recordings," Ms. Linh said.

Professor Matthew Gelbart (Fordham University, USA) assessed that the collection of musician Hoang Van "sends a strong signal from the Vietnamese school to the international community about the spread of European classical music. Thanks to that, this heritage will have a positive effect on international scholars in and outside the field of music". Meanwhile, Dr. François Picard (Sorbonne University, France) affirmed: "This is an archive for the future, because they highlight the importance of musical composition in building a modern culture in a post-colonial context"...

Musician Hoang Van can be said to be lucky that both of his children are active in the music field. Dr. Le Y Linh as well as conductor Le Phi Phi both have very specific professional tasks in the process of preparing the heritage dossier. They also connect with international scholars to have necessary assessments about him and the collection. Accordingly, musician Hoang Van is recognized as one of the most important Vietnamese composers of the late 20th century. His compositions set new standards for concert music in Vietnam, comparable to neighboring countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia.

The Department of Cultural Heritage assessed that the collection of documents of musician Hoang Van becoming a world memory, a world documentary heritage recognized by UNESCO is an important milestone in the work of protecting documentary heritage (in the field of music) owned by families and individuals. It can also pave the way for other world memories to emerge from the heritage of families...

Multidisciplinary world memory

One of the values ​​of Hoang Van's music collection is that through it, we can study and find the musical value of the era in which he lived and composed. We can see the value of indigenous music, and we can also see how the European orchestra in Vietnam has changed in terms of level. The collection also shows how musician Hoang Van developed musical activities at the Children's Palace, or research the development of Vietnamese music at that time.

Manuscript of the Homeland's Bronze Citadel by musician Hoang Van

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY FAMILY

From here, we can ask whether Vietnam can have more world memories from family documents, community documents or not? In fact, the UNESCO World Memory List has recorded about 500 heritages. Among them, there are heritages in literature, fine arts or interdisciplinary literature - fine arts, music... One of these is 16 handwritten manuscripts and notes of Russian writer Dostoevsky, revealing the formation process of the novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot ...

On the other hand, the process of making the world memory dossier of musician Hoang Van's family shows difficulties when documents and artifacts are scattered and at risk of disappearing. Dr. Linh also mentioned the risk of losing the composer's scores and documents. "In just one more generation, if nothing is done, these documents will be lost and scattered and by then it will be too late to reconstruct a period in Vietnamese music history in a way that "speaks (with recordings) has books (scores, manuscripts), tells with evidence", Dr. Linh assessed.

Looking at fine arts, we can see the endangered legacy of painter Nam Son - who is considered to be the first student of Mr. Victor Tardieu, who also made Mr. Tardieu decide to open the Indochina Fine Arts School in Vietnam. According to information from Mr. Ngo Kim Khoi, the grandson of painter Nam Son, the work " Nhan Nho Xu Bac" (The Confucian Scholar of the North ) was decided not to be sold by the family to be kept as the Nam Son Museum, but somehow still appeared in the auction of Christie's. If possible, a collection about Mr. Nam Son could also become a world documentary heritage.

Another author who can also expect to have a collection that will become a world memory is the late writer Nguyen Huy Thiep. Up to this point, he is one of the Vietnamese writers whose works have been translated into foreign languages ​​the most. Research on his works continues to be conducted, showing his position in the literature of the Renovation period. His family also keeps documents about him.

Dostoevsky's manuscripts and notes become world memory

PHOTO: SCREENSHOT

In particular, Nguyen Huy Thiep's manuscripts can still be traced. I remember when artist Le Thiet Cuong organized the Manuscript exhibition in 2006, writer Nguyen Huy Thiep shared: "Up to now, many of my manuscripts have been scattered everywhere, scattered in personal collections. For example, Mr. Pham Van Bong is the person who kept the manuscripts of about 20 of my short stories from 1986 - 2000. A few years ago, a Japanese journalist contacted Mr. Bong to buy the manuscript of the book Retired General for 1,500 USD".

Dr. Le Y Linh said that although it is a private collection, from the beginning of the collection to the review of the dossier, she received support in both content and technique from the UNESCO National Commission, from the Vietnamese Ambassador to UNESCO in France, Ms. Le Thi Hong Van and Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Anh. Dr. Vu Thi Minh Huong, an expert from the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World Program, also supported this dossier.

However, the effort to search and build from the family side is still the most important factor. Therefore, to have a next world memory of Vietnam from family collections, perhaps the state management agencies of heritage also need to have professional support for this subject.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ky-uc-the-gioi-tu-di-san-gia-dinh-185250413202503458.htm