Yiruma and Ha Anh Tuan

Yiruma and Ha Anh Tuan perform in Ho Chi Minh City on the evening of March 9 - Photo: DUYEN PHAN

He did not pursue classical music because his hands were too small. When Yiruma accepted Ha Anh Tuan's offer to collaborate, the story of his student days immediately reminded us of Ha Anh Tuan's debut story.

Ha Anh Tuan - Yiruma the heretic?

In Sao Mai Diem Hen 2006, although he was a popular contestant, always praised for his bright style and innocent attitude towards music, his technique was lacking. At that time, Ha Anh Tuan was always associated with the phrase "outsider".

Yet today Yiruma's piano compositions are so popular that they sometimes surpass those of his more accomplished peers.

Elevator music is fine, wedding music is fine, popular music is fine, but there are many people who come to the piano not because they want to play Mozart's sonatas or Chopin's waltzes, but because they want to play Kiss the rain, River flows in you, I think you love me... by Yiruma.

And in fact, one may not be able to learn the music of great composers, but almost anyone can learn the music of Yiruma.

The same goes for Ha Anh Tuan, with his average vocal level, even when singing live, sometimes it can still be heard as off-key, but after twenty years, compared to other "insiders" - his fellow students from Sao Mai Diem Hen 2006, many of whom have quit their jobs, or if they haven't quit their jobs, they don't have any significant projects, just singing over and over again about their own past, Ha Anh Tuan is still successful.

Even if you only pursue music that flatters the ear, has little artistic or experimental quality, at least that is your positioning, your own mark in the pop music market. Now, who would dare to call you an "outsider"?

Yiruma makes music with Ha Anh Tuan during a meeting in Korea - Photo: NVCC

Romantic, gentle and healing

Yiruma combined with Ha Anh Tuan, so it can be considered a meeting of two outsiders, two romantics representing a school of music that is romantic, gentle, healing, and does not require much effort from the listener to enjoy it.

The song Dear, Memory, which Yiruma wrote the music and Ha Anh Tuan wrote the lyrics, is a distillation of what Yiruma and Ha Anh Tuan are best at: love, memories, sadness, dreamy state. To say whether the song contributes anything to their existing achievements, the answer is no.

The melody of Dear, Memory is still as beautiful and soothing as Yiruma's melodies, we can feel that composing such a melody, for Yiruma, is as easy as taking it out of his pocket. But compared to his iconic melodies, Dear, Memory, a song about dear memories, is not so special as to stay long in the listener's memory.

Ha Anh Tuan, Yiruma perform the song Kiss the Rain - Video: MI LY

As for Ha Anh Tuan, when mentioning him, we are mentioning countless national ballads, even a few songs that are sometimes classics of Vietnamese pop, so adding a Dear, Memory does not bring much difference in terms of music, although it really contributes a lot to his reputation, brand, and experience collaborating with international artists.

Perhaps Dear, Memory should only be considered as a date between two kindred spirits, a song that commemorates the meeting, a joyful exchange rather than a true musical ambition to find something different in both artists.

It's okay, because world music also has many types of musical encounters, there are encounters where personalities collide to create masterpieces. Like Eric Clapton with George Harrison, for example. There are also encounters that are just a light, fun cultural "exchange", like Ed Sheeran with Andrea Bocelli.

Whatever. As for the meeting of Yiruma and Ha Anh Tuan, perhaps the most interesting thing about them is how two people who are rarely taken seriously as artists, but are often given phrases that sound nice but are actually somewhat ironic when you think about it, like "kind music", "healing music", they still found their own path of "cultivating" music.

What about the outside world? The word "way" also has several paths.

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HIEN TRANG

Source: https://archive.vietnam.vn/yiruma-va-ha-anh-tuan/