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| A BRIEF HISTORY OF MUSIC IN VIETNAM | |
| Its Roots and Early
Influences Vietnam's musical culture was constructed of musical elements borrowed from China, India and the West that were combined over centuries with various indigenous styles. As a result, Vietnamese music today is distinctly different from the music of its neighboring countries, and depicts a history and artistic creativity as rich as the combinations of cultures along the Silk Road. | |
| Musical Foundations in
the Dinh Dynasty (AD 968-980) and Ten Centuries of Chinese Domination (1st-10th
c.) Vietnamese culture was influenced strongly, but never fully controlled, by China during ten centuries of Chinese domination. Some of civil and military court dance styles, traditional Vietnamese theater, orchestral style, and the gestures, symbolism and spirit of Chinese theater are all legacies of this period. Several instruments imported from China at the time have Chinese names, pronounced in Vietnamese: the 7-string zither cam, originally the Chinese chin; the ty ba lute, or the Vietnamese pronunciation of the Chinese pi'pa; and the 25-string tranh, the Vietnamese version of the Chinese cheng zither. Musical notation and names of notes also came from China. | |
| Diverse Influences from
China and the Champa Kingdom (10-14th century) While Chinese influence continued well past the 10th-c., Indian music entered ancient Vietnam via Champa, a kingdom closely connected to Indian civilization. Percussion instruments such as the phong yeu co (wasp-waist drum) and trong com (rice drum) were adaptations of Indian drums. Many others, especially gongs and chimes, were borrowed from China. An improvisatory and ornamental performance style, as well as the more highly developed modal system of traditional Vietnamese music derives from Indian music tradition. | |
| Predominant Chinese
Influences (15-18th c.) In the 15th-c., Ming Dynasty court music was imported to create a system of court music for Dai Viet (ancient Vietnam). Eight classifications of music, court dances and instrumental ensemble style corresponded to the Chinese system, pehaps influencing the predominantly pentatonic scales and modes. The five "aspects" of Chinese scales were translated into a Vietnamese musical format, closely resembling Chinese, Japanese and Korean scale systems. Chinese characters represent notes in traditional notation, written in a Chinese style. | |
| Development of
Indigenous Vietnamese Styles and Western Influences (19th-c. to World War
II) Hat cai luong, a modern Vietnamese theater tradition, was created in south Vietnam in 1918, moving away Chinese theater tradition. This operatic style reached its peak in the 1950-60s. Plays are written in colloquial language, many with Vietnamese themes, reflecting Vietnamese nature and daily life. Many of the orchestras for modern operas performed in urban Saigon and Hanoi divide the orchestra into two parts: Western and traditional instruments, each with its own character that follows the story line. Many unique Vietnamese instruments were created during this period. The monochord (danbau or dan doc huyen), the long lute (dan day) and coin clappers are original and conform to the scales, modes, and vocal and instrumental techniques of Vietnamese music. | |
| Preservation of
Traditional Styles and Development of New Compositions in a Western Idiom
(Post-WWII to Present) Contact with the West, particularly France and the United States, has left its impression on the younger generation. Postwar music education emphasized all types of Western styles. Talented Vietnamese composers have developed their own contemporary styles; performers are acclaimed internationally. The violin and Spanish, Hawaiian and electric guitars found their place in popular Vietnamese music. Today, an amazing amount of hip hop, hard rock and sentimental pop ballades from the US and Europe exist side-by-side with Asian pop styles from Thailand, Hong Kong and Tokyo; all types of tapes and CDs are sold freely on Saigon and Hanoi streets. Many traditional folk styles have been neglected, with the exception of the cai luong opera and puppet shows still performed in urban centers. Thanks to the efforts of many expatriate Vietnamese, a large variety of classical, folk and pop styles (with Vietnamese, French and English texts) have been lovingly preserved for posterity on compact discs and videotapes, as well as actively performed by various musicians. | |
| SUGGESTED
READING Phong Nguyen's books, From Rice Paddies and Temple Yards : Traditional Music of Viet Nam (World Music Press, 1990) and Father Mountain and Mother Sea: Living Musical Traditions of Vietnam (White Cliffs Media, 1997). | |
| Amy Catlin and Era Fraenkel, eds. Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology: Text, Context, and Performance in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. University of California at Los Angeles, 1992. | |
| Adelaida Reyes. Songs of the Caged, Songs of the Free : Music and the Vietnamese Refugee Experience. Temple University Press, 1999. | |
| Craig A. Lockard. Dance of Life: Popular Music and Politics in Southeast Asia, 1998. | |
©1999 AsiaSound.com, Inc. |
