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(Cinet)-“Don ca tai tu” – a traditional improvisational chamber music - emerged in the south at the end of the 19th century. Coming to life no more than two centuries ago and becoming much loved by southerners of Vietnam, “Don ca tai tu” is deeply rooted in the culture and spirits of locals and considered a traditional music of the nation.
“Don ca tai tu” is a traditional art in the Southern-Vietnamese community, which appears since the 19th century with two forms of arts including Tuong and Nhac Le. Since the 19th century, this kind of music is performed not only at parties, but also in the post-harvest time. It is played in the shade of trees or on boats, on a bright moonlit night. This southern amateur music cannot be found on modern stages or in cultural or tourism festivals. This genre of chamber music is usually performed on ‘plank beds’ in living rooms in southern traditional houses. Tuong is a kind of theatre in which drums and oboes are the main instruments; Nhac le is the kind of music serving the ritual customs and mainly uses string and percussion instruments. Starting from playing for relaxing between 2 crops or in free time, the musicians created “don cay” movement (playing musical instruments without percussion) based on the above forms. This movement quickly expanded its influence on all over the East and the West of the South. In the late 19th and the early 20th century, many musical mandarins and musicians of the Nguyen Dynasty moved to the south during a revolutionary movement and they combined their Hue music and that of the south to compose new “tài tử” songs and open classes to locals. They contributed to composing songs and transmitting them to the south. Thanks to the “don cay" movement, musical teachers of Hue – the old capital – created physical changes to make “don cay” music the new kind of traditional music: “Don ca tai tu”. They combined the music of the South and Hue to compose new Tai Tu songs and open classes in both the East and the West of the South. Some musical teachers were Mr. Nguyen Quang Dai (Ba Doi) (1880) in Long An province, Mr. Tran Quang Diem (1853 – 1927) in My Tho province, Mr. Le Binh An (1862 – 1924) in Bac Lieu province, Mr. Tran Quang Quon in the West, Teacher Tam, Teacher Dzung, and 2 musical mandarins Phan Hien Dao - Ton Tho Truong who studied music in Hue. They contributed in composing songs and transmitting in the South. Thanks to “don cay’ movement, musical teachers of Hue – the old capital – created physical changes to make “don cay” music the new kind of traditional music: “ Don ca Tai Tu”.
It often takes people a long time, normally from 2 to 3 years, to play fluently the repertoires, using well the techniques while playing and then can play “dieu” and “hoi” (tune and air). Nowadays, “ Don ca tai tu” has been performed in the stage, especially in the southern, which attracts to more seers including some friends, neighbors in order to share some passions in our life. Now there are hundreds of pieces in “tai tu” repertoire, in which 20 typical songs include Luu Thuy truong, Phu Luc Chan, Binh Ban chan, Co ban truong, Xuan tinh chan, Tay Thi truong, Xang xe, Ngu doi thuong, Ngu doi ha, Long dang, Long ngam, Van gia, Tieu khuc, Nam Xuan, Nam Ai, Dao ngu cung, Tu dai oan, Phung hoang, Giang nam – cuu khuc, Phung cau. Each musical sentence has a fixed number of measures. There are usually two types of sentence: sentence with 4 measures of 4/4, sentence with 8 measures of 4/4. The basic tunes was created on Bac tune (Bac air, Ha air), Nam tune (Xuan air, Ai air, Dao air) and Oan tune (Oan air). A traditional “tai tu” orchestra comprises such instruments as don kim (Vietnamese two-chord guitar), don tranh (Vietnamese 16-chord zither), don ty ba (Chinese four-chord lute), don co (Vietnamese two-chord fiddle), don bau (monochord) and ong tieu (flute). Since the late middle of 20th century, guitar and violin have been added into the “tài tử” orchestra. Based on “tai tu” music, lyrics are composed for signers. Lyrics soon became a very effective tool to promote the art values and educational functions of Don ca Tai Tu to the public – “the folk-song public” with the tradition of taking the musical contents through lyrics. Soon after that, the singers who performs Nhac Tai Tu co loi changed the way of performance which does not only include singing but also acting called “Ca ra bo”. The first “Ca ra bo” band was of Mr. Nguyen Tong Trieu (Tu Trieu) and Ms. Ba Dac, who played three roles (Bui Kiem, Bui Ong and Kieu Nguyet Nga) in “Tu Dai Oan” in 1910 Paris Fair. “Ca ra bo” was the first step for forming “Cai Luong Nam Bo” stage. In 1917, the play “Luc Van Tien” by Truong Duy Toan was opened in Sa dec. It was considered the first Cai Luong of the third on-stage art of Vietnam (the first is Tuong and the second is Cheo). Thank to prospective list of “tai tu” music and the great artists, Cai Luong has been developing fast and became one of the most attractive on-stage performance in the South during 20th century. On the contrary, Cai Luong is an active element helping “tai tu” music expand widely.
In the 40 and 50 century, some training courses about “ Don ca tai tu” has been opened in HCM City. At that time, some studying classes are famed by some artisans such as Chin Phang, Hai Dau, Nam Long and Nam Duoc. The folklore closely attached to the formation and development of this land since its first came into being. At the dawn of the South, “Don ca tai tu” existed and developed under oral culture. Land exploiters made advantage of quintessence of ceremonial music, royal music and folk songs to create a new form of music which is suitable with the water-logged region. About 10 years, some media means has downgraded. Therefore, some maintenances and development of some traditional arts have been kept such as a performing stage, some singing endeavors and composing development. Many researchers and authors said that a number of people associate “Don ca tai tu” with “cai luong”, the reformed theatre, and “vong co” singing, popular in the south-western region. Therefore, various restaurants and public bars hang panels to advertise “Don ca tai tu”, but “cai luong” and “vong co” singing are performed there, instead. Moreover, restaurant owners have made use of “Don ca tai tu” to promote their restaurants while they know only a little about “Don ca tai tu”. These owners are often not natives of the South. Thus, they do not understand that “Don ca tai tu” is often performed outdoors, in the garden or on boat, not in a stuffy and noisy house. As to the vision of “Don ca tai tu”, Prof. Dr Tran Van Khe stressed that “Don ca tai tu” is the ‘soul of the South’s culture’. It will never be lost into oblivion or disappear. The most important thing is that “Don ca tai tu” must be preserved and developed and prevented from being mutated into new forms. To do that, suitable playgrounds for “Don ca tai tu” must be created, instead of just several festivals or competitions. Being awarness of an important role of the form of art in Vietnam, some researchers of the domestic and foreign music have tried to collect and summarized some forms of the arts. In 2010, the MOCST has had Document to propose that 19 provinces and cities including HCM City, Can Tho , Binh Phuoc , Vinh Longy, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau has inspected about some intangible cultural heritages in oder to establish Document for recognizing as UNESCO heritage. Strength of the arts has existed for a long time from HCM City to some provinces such as My Tho, Can Tho and Bac Lieu with many clubs. As a results, there are 2019 clubs with about 22.643 members; 2850 musical equipment in some clubs; 120 printing works of the arts in 14 localities.
To turn the arts to UNESCO, some localities in the Southern has opened some arts classed to introduce “ Don ca tai tu” to people. HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism organized a dialogue themed “Maintenance and development some intangible cultural heritages of “Don ca tai tu”. The Dialogue attracts to some artisans and musicians to participate. The dialogue consists of 16 authors and 6 opinions focuses on two contents such as “Some important issues of arts values of “ Don ca tai tu” and some aspects forming “ Don ca tai tu”. Closing at dialogue is a summary as follows: “ Don ca tai tu” is a cultural heritage in the South Vietnam, which should maintain and keep in people’s lives. To fulfill Document before March 31, 2011, the MOCST organized an international seminar “ Don ca tai tu and some random from January 09-11, 2011. The seminar includes 120 delegations with 33 scientific researches. The seminar plays an important role of turning Bac Ninh folk song to become the world heritage, which introduces some pictures into the world. The seminar also affirm and increase more awareness of the domestic and international community. Relating to “ Don ca tai tu”, in 2012, Vinh Long province organized the festival on June 05-10. The festival is a good opportunity for some arts managers to appreciate some situations of the arts in the southern Vietnam in order to orient a development of the type in the renewed period, which contributes to maintain and fulfill the Document to submit the UNESCO. Cinet |
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“Don ca tai tu”- a history and development
