A study of the history and musical system

The book launch was organized by Omega Plus in collaboration with the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts to introduce to readers a precious thousand-year-old artistic heritage in the national traditional music treasure: hat a dao (ca tru).

Ả đào: Một khảo cứu về lịch sử và hệ âm luật - Ảnh 1. — Author (middle) and researcher Dang Hoanh Loan at the seminar and book launch

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thu Phuong - Director of the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts shared: In order for the book to spread the traditional intangible cultural values of Vietnam while still being attractive and appealing, we have carefully selected the design, cover, paper quality, images... The book has truly become a cultural industrial product, meeting the needs of readers.

For a long time, when talking about Ca Tru, people often thought of "the theater of geisha". In the second half of the 20th century, Ca Tru gradually faded away. Only after being recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage, Ca Tru became more widely known, and Ca Tru activities across the country gradually became more vibrant.

However, according to researchers, the ca tru documentation system does not have a common standard, making it difficult for those who love and want to learn and study to know what is right or wrong, good or bad, so there needs to be authentic research on this art form.

The book "A dao" has been nurtured and researched by author Bui Trong Hien for 9 years. The author researches and delves into the historical aspects, cultural space and musical system of the genre. At the same time, the book also recognizes the talents and contributions of women artists in the history of national culture.

If there have been many documents and books written about A Dao (or Ca Tru) from the perspective of history, literature or research on Han Nom documents, then in A Dao: A study on history and musical system, the author - music researcher Bui Trong Hien chose a different approach. That is to delve into the historical aspects, cultural space and musical system of this traditional art form.

Through 7 parts of content, readers will gradually enter the artistic world, imbued with the Vietnamese cultural spirit of A Dao singing, and understand why this type of music is recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of the world.

Ả đào: Một khảo cứu về lịch sử và hệ âm luật - Ảnh 2. — The Book of the Peach Blossoms: A Study of History and Musical System

Researcher Dang Hoanh Loan, who contributed to the revival and helped Ca Tru become an intangible cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO, commented on the book: “In addition to historical research, this book has an important fundamental research, which is the research on music.

Before that, there was no research work that thoroughly studied the music of A Dao - the most unique, creative and also the most complex musical form. Therefore, this research lays the foundation for further studies. The book should be included in the training and teaching programs of Ca Tru art at cultural and artistic schools.

We are trying to build a cultural industry. So let's go back in history to see how our ancestors knew how to commercialize a pinnacle of musical art through the book "Ao Dao: A Study of History and Music System".

Hopefully, the new generation of actors and actresses will recognize the golden standards of their ancestors, and correct their lyrics, clappers, and musical instruments to the correct standards of classical A Dao. And thus, the priceless thousand-year-old heritage will be preserved intact and in the true sense./.

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