In the days leading up to the New Year of the Snake 2025, researcher Nguyen Quang Long will introduce to the public 10 Ca Tru Hat Noi songs by the famous person Nguyen Cong Tru.
NNC Nguyen Quang Long.
PV: Not expecting to have the same benefits as other music artists pursuing other genres of music that are more suitable for the market, why did you choose traditional music to stick with?
Researcher Nguyen Quang Long: It must have been fate, but when I started my professional music career, like many other young people, I dreamed of becoming a famous singer, standing on large and small stages to sing and contribute to life. That dream has always followed me since I was young. I enthusiastically participated in local children's and youth singing activities and won the A prize in the amateur music competition of Ha Bac province (now Bac Giang and Bac Ninh). After that, I passed the entrance exam to the Hanoi Conservatory of Music (now the Vietnam National Academy of Music) with a major in vocal music. For me, the dream of becoming a singer has always been beautiful, but fate brought me to the field of music theory and later became involved in traditional folk music, especially Hat Xam.
Saying that does not mean that I only loved traditional folk music at that time. Actually, since I was young, I had been in contact with famous music researchers and quan ho singers in Ha Bac before, such as researcher Hong Thao, researcher - Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Trong Anh, musician Nguyen Trong Tinh, quan ho singers Xuan Truong, Thanh Hieu and many other famous quan ho artists such as Quy Trang, Khanh Ha, Tu Lam, Minh Phuc... my uncles and aunts were all my father's friends.
With 30 years of dedication to traditional music, can you share about this long journey and memorable milestones?
- First of all, I have to mention the meeting with Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Trong Anh in 1994, and then 5 years later I officially studied Music Theory as he suggested. He was a friend of my father, I met him in Bac Giang since I was young, but later he transferred to work at the Hanoi Conservatory of Music, so it was not until I was 18 years old, finished high school and went to the Conservatory of Music, that I went to Mr. Tran Hieu and Mr. Trong Anh to study for the entrance exam to Vocal Music. At that time, Mr. Anh taught me music notation and solfege, he told my father that I was very suitable for Music Theory. My father told me again, but it was only after nearly 4 years of studying Vocal Music that I realized that it was the most suitable for me and decided on my musical path.
Next, was the meeting 10 years later, when I had graduated from Music Theory and was accepted directly to work at the Music Publishing House, in the position of Deputy Editor, coincidentally met musician Thao Giang who came to work at Dihavina studio. After that was my journey accompanying the teachers in their efforts to restore Hat Xam, first in Hanoi's Xam genre, then in the whole North.
Artists Pham Dung - Nguyen Quang Long - Mai Tuyet Hoa - Tran Hau perform Vietnamese Tet Xam.
It was a difficult journey and what obstacles did you encounter?
- I don't want to talk too much about difficulties because everything can be overcome if we always have a strong belief along with the companionship and sharing of everyone.
What has nurtured the flame of love for traditional music and kept that belief strong in you?
- Faith and love for traditional national music. Without these two things, there will be no determination, no creativity. Without these two things, there will be no willpower to go a long way. In general, I and traditional national music are like a young man who is passionately in love with a girl, unable to let go. The fire of love keeps multiplying every day. Otherwise, you will see me continuously working on traditional national music projects, sometimes releasing Xam songs, sometimes songs in the style of Quan Ho folk songs, sometimes Xoan singing projects, sometimes Central Highlands Gongs, Southern Amateur Music, Binh Dinh Bai Choi...
As you delve deeper into the work of researching, preserving, maintaining, and developing traditional music, what do you realize?
- The more I see that my knowledge is too thin, my understanding is too limited compared to the treasure trove of knowledge and cultural, artistic and musical values that our ancestors created and passed down to us.
How have you tried to bring the beauty of traditional musical culture to the general public?
- I just do it from my heart, I will do it according to my thoughts. I am a creative person, so I always hope that even though it is traditional, the values I bring to the public must be practical, more or less suitable and have similarities with today's life and aesthetics. Only then can traditional folk music continue to live. Like when I tried to revive Hat Xam, I focused on the lyrical Xam verses that contained a certain witty charm in Xam Tau Dien, focusing on exploiting the optimistic spirit and humor of Xam. Or when introducing traditional folk music, I provide listeners with other perspectives hidden behind each folk song, such as Trong Com, which is so happy but turns out to be the sad and expectant mood of a girl on a spring festival day when she cannot see the figure of the poor boy she loves...
When performing and integrating with international culture, do you realize how our country's traditional music has its own unique vitality and special appeal?
- I also had the chance to introduce traditional national music to many international friends. I still remember the image when we performed Hat Xam at a theater in Paris - France in early 2015, the audience at that time was mainly Europeans, they sat still and enjoyed it very respectfully. There was another thing that made me feel different, that is the performance had a sound system, I believe the quality was very good, but it was completely just to support our music enough for the entire audience to hear, but the artist when performing in that context could not rely on the support of the features of the sound system, this is very different from performing in Vietnam, even in traditional music we tend to overuse sound effects.
When we introduced and performed folk music in Muchen - Germany, it was another, smaller space, in the private home of Professor Thai Kim Lan, the audience was her fellow professors, scholars and a few overseas Vietnamese. We performed completely acoustically, without a sound system, but such performances gave the most authentic feeling, closest to the traditions of our ancestors.
Tet is coming, what are your plans for traditional music in the new year?
- I plan to introduce 10 Ca Tru Hat Noi songs of the famous Nguyen Cong Tru in the new spring days. This is a project that I have cherished and implemented for the past 3 years with the support of the Thai Ha Ca Tru Guild and especially the guild's director - Meritorious Artist Nguyen Van Khue. The point worth mentioning in this project is to affirm the important role of being the pioneer as well as shaping the Hat Noi style in Ca Tru, at the same time, out of the 10 Ca Tru Hat Noi songs, more than 50% are songs that are being played in public for the first time. I should have introduced this project earlier, but I wanted to be more careful so I can only announce it now.
Thank you and good luck with all your projects in the new year!
2024 is not a year of my key activities, but what I experienced in 2024 also brought me a lot of joy. In early 2024, I introduced to the public the project "Introducing the Xoan Music Heritage" on the YouTube channel Folk songs & Traditional Music. Accordingly, I chose the Xoan Thet troupe, one of the four original Xoan troupes of the Phu Tho Xoan Heritage to fully introduce the 13 qua cach, which is the main singing stage of Xoan singing, and in the worship singing and festival singing stages. I also chose to introduce 10 research articles, thematic articles on some of the Ca Tru singing songs and the role of Nguyen Cong Tru. With these 10 articles, I won the B prize of the 2024 Vietnam Music Award from the Vietnam Musicians Association.
Music researcher Nguyen Quang Long
Source: https://daidoanket.vn/nha-nghien-cuu-am-nhac-nguyen-quang-long-niem-tin-va-tinh-yeu-10298819.html
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