The year 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of Hue Royal Court Music being recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Throughout that journey, the government of Thua Thien - Hue province and those working in the cultural sector, especially artisans, artists, and musicians of Hue Royal Court Music, have tirelessly preserved and promoted the value of the heritage.
Unlike Ca Tru, which originated from the folk and then entered the royal court, Nha Nhac had a process of formation and spread in the opposite direction and was evaluated by UNESCO as the only music genre that reached national stature among traditional music genres.
Royal court music appeared in the early years of the Ly Dynasty (1010 - 1225). However, it was not until the Nguyen Dynasty (1802 - 1945) that this type of music really developed brilliantly. The music of Royal Court Music is elegant and sacred, often performed in solemn ceremonies of the court, worshiping gods and was indispensable under that dynasty. From here, Royal Court Music was closely associated with the Hue Royal Court and developed according to a standard, methodical model with hundreds of musical chapters. After the Nguyen Dynasty ended in 1945, Hue Royal Court Music was at risk of fading away and being lost.
Hue Royal Court Music Performance.
Since 1992, the work of preserving Hue Royal Court Music has been carried out and gradually become known to the world. In 1994, UNESCO organized an international conference of experts on intangible cultural heritage in Thua Thien - Hue. Here, a national program to restore and research Hue Royal Court Music was submitted to UNESCO. On that basis, the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) and Thua Thien - Hue province assigned the Hue Monuments Conservation Center to prepare a national candidacy dossier for Hue Royal Court Music - Vietnamese Royal Court Music to submit to UNESCO for recognition as a Masterpiece of the World's Intangible and Oral Heritage.
Professor Tran Van Khe is the one who made many contributions in submitting Hue Royal Court Music (Vietnamese Royal Court Music) to UNESCO for recognition as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Not only did he contribute to completing the submission dossier, during his lifetime, the professor also made his mark by directly introducing and playing traditional musical instruments to international friends.
On November 7, 2003, Nha Nhac - Vietnamese court music was recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity (since 2008, it has been called Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity) and is the first intangible heritage of Vietnam to be recognized by the world. From here, Vietnam has a national action program to preserve, restore and promote the value of this type of music.
Over hundreds of years, Royal Court Music has been passed down and preserved in many forms such as orchestras, songs, pieces, dances, etc. "Today, Royal Court Music has the conditions and is performed quite richly. The unique artistic values of this intangible heritage are constantly being preserved, passed down and promoted by generations of artisans and artists," said Meritorious Artisan Hoang Trong Cuong, Deputy Director of the Hue Traditional Royal Art Theater.
Having been involved with Nha Nhac since the age of 17, Artist Hoang Tuan (45 years old) has now become one of the best musicians of the Hue Traditional Royal Arts Theater, being able to play most of the Nha Nhac instruments. He is proud to be the "bridge" to preserve the cultural beauty of the Nha Nhac heritage. He was fortunate to receive guidance and direct instruction from the late Nha Nhac Royal Artisans Tran Kich and Nguyen Ke.
Artists of the Hue Royal Traditional Arts Theater bring royal court music closer to the public.
The proudest thing for Hue Royal Court Music artists and artisans like Artist Hoang Tuan is not to shine under the bright lights or in beautiful ancient costumes, but to create the echoes of traditional Royal Music to the audience. "I always feel a great responsibility and pride when I perform every day, introduce the pieces, repertoire... to everyone, tourists. In particular, I have a private music class to teach young students about traditional music to pass on the "fire" of passion, bringing young people and students who are pursuing art closer to Royal Music", Artist Hoang Tuan confided.
The restoration and strong development of Hue Royal Court Music over the past long period of time cannot be ignored without the contributions of "living human treasures" such as the late artist La Chau (the last royal dancer and opera artist of the Nguyen Dynasty) or the royal musicians Tran Kich, and the brothers Lu Huu Thi and Lu Huu Cu. Although these artists have passed away, many generations of their children and grandchildren continue to follow in their footsteps, extending the legacy of Hue Royal Court Music.
In the Hue Royal Court Music system, there is also a repertoire of stringed instruments combined with percussion.
The late artisan Lu Huu Thi (born in 1910) was a musician in the Royal Court Music Troupe of the Nguyen Dynasty. He was talented in playing the Royal Court Music, skillfully playing the three-stringed zither, two-stringed zither, pipa, moon lute, drums, trumpets, etc. He was also a member of the Chanh Dai Noi band under King Khai Dinh when he was only 16 years old. When the Nguyen Dynasty ended in 1945, Mr. Thi returned to normal life but still devoted himself to teaching the art of Royal Court Music to his descendants. His son, Artisan Lu Huu Minh, was honored to be awarded the title of Meritorious Artisan by the State. The 3rd and 4th generations of Mr. Thi's family are still actively working in the Hue Royal Traditional Arts Theater.
Mr. Lu Huu Quang, grandson of Artisan Lu Huu Thi, said that in addition to the documents and antiques that Mr. Thi contributed to the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, his family is still preserving the relics that he used during the Nguyen Dynasty. That is the Nha Nhac musical instrument set including drums, trumpets, strings, percussion instruments... During his lifetime, he often told his children and grandchildren about his memories of being in the Nguyen Dynasty's Nha Nhac Royal Music Team and whenever there were distinguished guests coming to visit, he would entertain them with the soulful music of the two-stringed fiddle and the trumpet. Thus, the family always maintained a lifestyle closely associated with Nha Nhac Royal Music.
Royal court music no longer has the space to be performed on a grand scale like it was under the Nguyen kings; artists such as Lu Huu Thi, Tran Kich, La Chau, etc. are no longer around. However, the young artists and artisans of the Hue Royal Traditional Arts Theatre still strive every day to preserve the position of this musical form in local cultural and religious festivals, and at the same time, bring traditional music far and wide on international tours.
Over the past two decades, researchers at the Hue Royal Traditional Arts Theatre and the Hue Monuments Conservation Center have tried to gradually find musical documents related to royal music from within and outside the country; met with elderly artisans who had participated in royal dance and singing activities to ask for records, compare, and find the accuracy before restoring a complete dance...
"Six Palaces Flower Lanterns" dance serves tourists in Duyet Thi Duong.
According to People's Artist Phan Bach Hac, Director of Hue Royal Traditional Arts Theatre, the unit is storing many records, collecting and restoring ancient dances, royal music and excerpts of ancient plays; many of which are elaborately staged. As the next generation, the artists of the theatre always strive to study and accumulate skills for themselves to continue to pass on their skills to the next generation. The unit is also provided with training funds and creates the best conditions for students studying royal music to work and live after training.
In particular, in addition to the three performing arts units, the Hue Royal Traditional Arts Theatre has its own performance research room, including a research department and an application department to outline dances and musical notation from musical letters to musical notes for young artists to learn. Based on the research, artisans and artists provide services and performances at performance venues.
Hue royal court music is still the top choice for tourists when coming to Hue.
Since 2004, the Duyet Thi Duong Theatre (nearly 200 years old) has been restored by the Hue Monuments Conservation Center within the Hue Imperial City. From here, the artisans, artists, and musicians of the Hue Royal Traditional Arts Theatre have a stable stage to bring Nha Nhac into operation to serve tourists. This heritage is still the top choice for tourists to enjoy when coming to Hue.
On weekdays, Duyet Thi Duong Theatre opens its doors to welcome visitors to experience and admire ancient dances and excerpts from ancient plays in the quiet, ancient space of the ancient capital. Ms. Hoang Thu Trang, a tourist from Hanoi, shared her satisfaction and delight when enjoying Nha Nhac in the Duyet Thi Duong Theatre. Through the melodies with a lively, graceful, and sometimes mournful and solemn sound, she was able to immerse herself in the historical past, deeply feel the tones of Nha Nhac and better understand the lives of people under the Nguyen Dynasty.
"Thua Thien - Hue is becoming a city of four-season festivals. Therefore, to serve the performance needs in local festivals, the Hue Royal Traditional Arts Theater stages performances that ensure large-scale investment and are based on the foundation of traditional music and royal tones, without being mixed or dissolved in modern music genres," People's Artist Bach Hac shared.
Hue royal court music was recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003.
According to Phan Thanh Hai, Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Thua Thien - Hue province, the province not only invests more in the performance environment for Nha Nhac but also focuses on training successors and improving the qualifications of artisans and artists; there should be mechanisms and policies to nurture talents; and increase exchanges and cooperation so that Nha Nhac is more internationally known.
Thanks to effective conservation work, Hue Royal Court Music is now widely circulated in daily life, art and tourism. Hue Royal Court Music is the pride of Hue people as well as Vietnamese people. Cultural workers, especially artisans, artists and traditional musicians are silently and passionately contributing to the priceless treasure of the nation - Hue Royal Court Music, to be increasingly sublimated over time.
Article: Mai Trang Photos, graphics: VNA Edited by: Ky Thu Presented by: Nguyen Ha
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