Orchestral and chamber music
During the latter days of the French colonial period several leading restaurant and 'tea shop' bands and orchestras in Hà Nội, Hải Phòng and Sài Gòn served as important training grounds for talented Vietnamese piano, string, woodwind and brass players. Before the August Revolution of 1945 a very small number of indigenous chamber works for western instruments were composed by Nguyễn Xuân Khoát (1910-1994) and Tạ Phước (Tạ Văn Phước, b 1919). Thái Thị Lang (b 1915), one of several Vietnamese musicians who went to study in France during the twilight of French rule, had several piano pieces published following her graduation from the Paris Conservatoire in 1935.
Close links with the Soviet Bloc during the 1950s enabled many northern Vietnamese to train to a high level at leading Russian and East European conservatories. Russian assistance was also instrumental in helping to set up the new Việt Nam School of Music (Trường Âm nhạc Việt Nam, now the Hà Nội Conservatory of Music), which opened its doors in 1956. In that same year the National School of Music and Drama (Trường Quốc gia Âm nhạc và Kịch, now the Hồ Chí Minh City Conservatory of Music), was established by the Sài Gòn regime. The opening of the Huế National School of Music and Dramatic Arts (Trường Quốc gia Âm nhạc-kịch nghệ Huế, now part of the Huế University of Arts) followed in 1962. Between them these three institutions were to turn out successive generations of talented Vietnamese musicians and composers.
From 1957 onwards, with the encouragement and sponsorship of the newly-established Việt Nam Musicians’ Association (
Hội Nhạc sĩ Việt Nam), numerous Vietnamese composers worked within the medium of western classical music, seeking to develop a distinctly Vietnamese aesthetic inspired by indigenous music traditions and themes of resistance and revolutionary heroism. Consequently there now exists a substantial body of Vietnamese chamber and orchestral music, including many works of high artistic quality. Regrettably due to lack of resources there remain all too few opportunities to hear these works performed, neither has it yet been possible to secure sufficient funding to begin the task of recording this important national musical heritage.
Chamber pieces for solo or ensemble piano, strings or woodwind were created during the late 1950s by composers such as Đỗ Nhuận (1922-1991), Huy Du (Nguyễn Huy Du, b 1926) and Văn Ký (Vũ Văn Ký, b 1928).
Thereafter chamber music began to attract the interest of many other composers, including Nguyễn Văn Thương (b 1919), Lưu Cầu (Nguyễn Hoàn Cầu, b 1930), Trọng Bằng (NSND Nguyễn Trọng Bằng, b 1931), Đàm Linh (1932-2000), Hoàng Dương (Ngô Hoàng Dương, b 1933), Nguyễn Thị Nhung (b 1936), Chu Minh (Triệu Đạt Hiền, b 1931), Thụy Loan (Nguyễn Thụy Loan, b 1945), Ca Lê Thuần (b 1938), Trần Ngọc Xương (b 1930), Đinh Quang Hợp (b 1935), Nguyễn Đình Tấn (b 1930), Vĩnh Cát (Nguyễn Vĩnh Cát, b 1936) and Thuận Yến (Đoàn Hữu Công, b 1935).
An important milestone in the development of Vietnamese chamber and orchestral music was the establishment in 1959 of the Việt Nam Symphony Orchestra (
Dàn nhạc Giao hưởng Việt Nam, VNSO) with the assistance of specialists from North Korea. The orchestra gave its first public performance in Hà Nội during the Third Party Congress of 1960. Thereafter, despite ongoing difficulties such as the shortage of musicians, instruments and scores and lack of training and performance facilities, the orchestra developed rapidly under the baton of leading music directors such as Trọng Bằng, Trần Quý, Quang Hải and Đỗ Dũng, performing both in Hà Nội and in other cities and provinces of the north. Between 1964 and 1978 the orchestra became part of the combined Việt Nam Orchestra, Choir and Ballet Theatre (
Nhà hát Giao hưởng, Hợp xướng, Nhạc Vũ kịch Việt Nam), contributing significantly to the growth and development of Vietnamese opera and ballet (see below). During this second, crucially important phase of its development, the orchestra worked with many leading East European conductors and soloists, developing its symphonic repertoire. A highlight of the period was its celebrated visit of May-June 1975 to newly-liberated Sài Gòn, where it gave numerous performances under the baton of Trọng Bằng.
Amongst the pioneers in the composition of Vietnamese orchestral music were Nguyễn Vĩnh Cát, whose symphonic suite for the ballet
Hái hoa dâng Bác ('Offering Flowers to Uncle Hồ') was the first local work performed by the Việt Nam Symphony Orchestra in 1960, and war martyr Hoàng Việt (Lê Chí Trực, 1928-1967), who at around about the same period composed the four-movement Bản Giao hưởng số 1,
Quê hương (Symphony No 1, 'Homeland').
Other important orchestral works created before 1975 included Đồng khởi ('Uprising') by Nguyễn Văn Thương, the three-movement symphony Cây đuốc sống ('Living Torch') by Nguyễn Đình Tấn, the symphonic poems Lửa cách mạng ('Flame of Revolution') by Trần Ngọc Xương and Nữ anh hùng miền Nam ('Heroic Southern Woman') by Nguyễn Thị Nhung, and the symphonic suites Điện Biên by Đỗ Nhuận, Miền Nam tuyến đầu ('Southern Front Line') by Chu Minh and Nước mẹ ('Mother Country') by Nguyễn Đức Toàn (b 1929).The years since 1975 have proven to be a very productive period for both chamber and orchestral music in Việt Nam, a period which has witnessed the rapid professionalisation of the Vietnamese serious music sector.
Many noteworthy chamber music pieces were written during the decade after Reunification. In addition to the aforementioned Nguyễn Thị Nhung, Ca Lê Thuần, Trọng Bằng, Đàm Linh, Nguyễn Vĩnh Cát, Hoàng Dương, Trần Ngọc Xương, Nguyễn Đình Tấn, Nguyễn Văn Thương and Chu Minh, leading chamber music composers of this period included Nguyễn Đức Toàn and Hoàng Văn (Lê Văn Ngọ, b 1930), together with Xuân Tứ (Nguyễn Xuân Tứ, b 1933), Quang Hải (Huỳnh Tấn Sỹ, b 1935), Phạm Minh Tuấn (b 1942), Nguyễn Cường (Nguyễn Mạnh Cường, b 1943), Trần Trọng Hùng (b 1943), Hoàng Cương (b 1944) and Minh Khang (Phạm Minh Khang, b 1944). Since đổi mới this group has been joined by a gifted younger generation, foremost amongst whom are Đặng Hữu Phúc (b 1953), Lê Dũng (b 1955), Đỗ Hồng Quân (b 1956) and Nguyễn Trọng Đài (b 1958).
The last quarter of the 20th century also witnessed a flowering of symphonic composition. Works of note by first-generation orchestral composers include Trọng Bằng's
Chào mừng ('Greetings') Overture and Symphonic Poem
Người về đem tới ngày vui ('A Happy Day Brought by His Return'); Đàm Linh's
A Phủ; Trần Trọng Hùng's
Trở về Điện Biên ('Return to Điện Biên');
Bản Giao hưởng số 1, số 2 (Symphonies 1 and 2) and the symphony
Việt Nam đang nở hoa ('Việt Nam is Blossoming') by Nguyễn Đình Phúc (1919-2001);
Bản giao hưởng số 1 (Symphony No 1) by Nhật Lai (Nguyễn Tuân, b 1931);
Tháng Tám lịch sử ('Historic August') by Doãn Nho (b 1933);
Nam Bộ kháng chiến ('Southern Resistance') and
Nam Kỳ khởi nghĩa ('Southern Uprising') by Lê Khiêm (b 1935);
Một thời để nhớ ('A Time to Remember') by Phan Ngọc (b 1936);
Bản Giao hưởng số 1, Cuộc đối đầu lịch sử ('Symphony No 1, Historic Confrontation') by Nguyễn Vĩnh Cát;
Bản Giao hưởng Việt Nam ('The Việt Nam Symphony') by Đỗ Dũng (Đỗ Hiếu Dũng, b 1939); and
Bản Giao hưởng Thái Bình Dương ('Pacific Symphony') by Ngô Quốc Tính (b 1943). In 2005 Hoàng Văn premiered the four-movement
Bản Giao hưởng Điện Biên Phủ (‘Điện Biên Phủ Symphony’), which had taken him more than 10 years to complete.
Important symphonic works created by younger musicians in the 1990s include Bản Giao hưởng số 1, số 2 (Symphonies 1 and 2) by Nguyễn Trọng Đài and no less than seven symphonies by the prolific Nguyễn Văn Nam (b 1936), the latest of which is a large-scale six-movement programmatic work based on Nguyễn Du's Truyện Kiều ('The Story of Kiều').
Other significant orchestral compositions of the last two decades include Concertos for Piano and Orchestra by Quang Hải, Ca Lê Thuần, Lê Dũng, Nguyễn Đình Lượng, Đỗ Dũng, Trương Châu Mỹ (b 1938) and Thanh Hà (Bùi Đức Hạnh, b 1937); Concertos for Violin and Orchestra by Đỗ Hồng Quân, Trần Hữu Bích, Nguyễn Cường, Hoàng Văn and Đàm Linh; a Concerto for 'Cello and Orchestra by Hoàng Dương; and a Concerto for Flute and Orchestra by An Thuyên (Nguyễn An Thuyên, b 1949).There have also been some interesting and noteworthy experiments combining solo Vietnamese traditional instruments with the western symphony orchestra. These include a Concerto for Đàn bầu and Orchestra by Hoàng Đạm (Phạm Hoàng Đạm, b 1931), a Concerto for Đàn t'rưng and Orchestra by Xuân Tứ, Concertos for Đàn tranh and Orchestra by Quang Hải and Xuân Tứ, and a Concerto for Đàn nguyệt and Orchestra by Quang Hải.
It should also be noted that many Vietnamese composers, including Đỗ Nhuận, Quang Hải, Văn Cao, Trọng Bằng, Văn Ký, Trần Ngọc Xương, Hoàng Văn, Nguyễn Đức Toàn, Trần Trọng Hùng, Phạm Minh Tuấn, Đàm Linh, Đặng Hữu Phúc, Đỗ Hồng Quân, Trần Quý, Nguyễn Trọng Đài, Vĩnh Cát, Thuận Yến, Nguyễn Đình Phúc, Hồ Bắc (b 1930), Hồng Đăng (Phan Hồng Đăng, b 1936), Đặng An Nguyên (b 1938), Cát Vận (Cát Văn Vận, b 1940), Phó Đức Phương (b 1944) and Hoàng Hiệp (Lưu Trần Nghiệp, b 1945), have made a significant contribution to the development of the Vietnamese cinema industry, composing incidental music for many important feature and documentary films.
Within the past few years there has been increased interest in contemporary musical forms. In 2000 the Việt Nam Musicians' Association (Hội Nhạc sĩ Việt Nam) commissioned the creation and performance of contemporary pieces for chamber and symphony orchestra by composers Đàm Linh, Đỗ Hồng Quân and Trần Trọng Hùng. Meanwhile a decisive break from the past has been signalled by the work of leading younger generation composers Vũ Nhật Tân (b 1970) and Trần Thị Kim Ngọc (b 1975), both of whom have attracted critical acclaim overseas.
Today Việt Nam has five major orchestras, although in practice they draw from the same basic resources of musicians in Hà Nội and Hồ Chí Minh City respectively. Foremost amongst them is the afore-mentioned Việt Nam Symphony Orchestra (VNSO) (
Dàn nhạc Giao hưởng Việt Nam), which regained its separate identity in 1978 and is one of the few Asian national orchestras whose membership remains 100 per cent local. In recent years longterm partnerships with distinguished overseas music directors from both the United Kingdom (Professor Colin Metters of London's Royal Academy of Music), Switzerland (Marc Kissoczy) and Japan (Fukumura Yoshikazu) have brought the orchestra acclaim throughout the region for its high standard of playing. Other important orchestras currently operating in Việt Nam include the Việt Nam Opera-Ballet Theatre Orchestra (
Dàn nhạc Giao hưởng Nhà hát Nhạc Vũ kịch Việt Nam), the Hà Nội Philharmonic Orchestra (
Dàn nhạc Giao hưởng Hà Nội) of the Hà Nội Conservatory of Music, the Hồ Chí Minh City Symphony Orchestra (
Nhà hát Giao hưởng Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh) of the Hồ Chí Minh City Conservatory of Music and the Hồ Chí Minh City Ballet and Symphony Orchestra (HBSO) Orchestra (
Nhà hát Giao hưởng và Vũ kịch Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh-
Dàn nhạc Giao hưởng).
Việt Nam has produced numerous distinguished orchestral conductors. Foremost amongst these is People's Artist Trọng Bằng, the first Vietnamese to graduate from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music in Moscow (1963), who has since played a crucial role in the development of the Việt Nam Symphony, Việt Nam Opera Ballet and Hà Nội Conservatory Orchestras. Other leading Vietnamese orchestral conductors who graduated from Soviet music conservatories include Quang Hải, Đỗ Dũng, Trần Quý (b 1933) and Minh Cầm (Nguyễn Minh Cầm, b 1949). In recent years younger talents such as Nguyễn Thiếu Hoa (b 1952) and Lê Phi Phi (b 1968) have stepped onto the Vietnamese conductor's rostrum.
One of the earliest Vietnamese musicians to achieve success on the international concert platform was Thái Thị Liên (b 1918), a star graduate of Prague Conservatory who founded the Department of Keyboard at the Việt Nam School of Music (
Trường Âm nhạc Việt Nam, now the Hà Nội Conservatory of Music) in 1956. More recently one of Liên's students, Montréal-based pianist Đặng Thái Sơn, has enjoyed a highly successful career on the international concert circuit since winning First Prize at the 1980 Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Other outstanding Vietnamese instrumentalists who have attracted international acclaim in recent years include violinists Tạ Bồn (b 1942), Nguyễn Bích Ngọc (1940-2000) and Ngô Văn Thành (b 1951); 'cellists Bùi Gia Tường (b 1937) and Trần Thị Mơ (b 1959); pianists Tôn Nữ Nguyệt Minh (b 1956) and Hoàng My (Nguyễn Hoàng My, b 1941); and bassoonist Nguyễn Phúc Linh (b 1947).
In recent years a number of younger Vietnamese musicians have achieved success at international competitions. These include Nguyễn Hoàng Phương, First Prize Winner at the 1999 International Young Pianists' Competition held in Japan, and Nguyễn Trinh Hương, winner of the 11th
Per Giovanni Competition held in 2000 in Italy. Sibling violinists Nguyễn Hữu Khôi Nguyên (b 1973) and Nguyễn Hữu Khôi Nam (1975) are currently working as full time violinists with the
Orchestre National de France following their graduation from the Paris Conservatoire, whilst violinist Nguyễn Trọng Bình (b 1968) has also performed widely on the international concert stage.
Three distinguished Vietnamese composers associated with the avant garde school of music are resident overseas. Two of them - Nguyễn Thiên Đạo (b 1940) and Tôn Thất Tiết (b 1933) - are currently resident in Paris. The third is Nguyễn Lân Tuất (b 1934), Head of Composition at the National Conservatory of Novosibirsk in Russia. All three have won acclaim for their various chamber, orchestral and operatic works. In commemoration of the 990th birthday of the capital city of Hà Nội in 2000, Nguyễn Thiên Đạo composed 'The Nation's Soul' (Hồn Non Nước) and Nguyễn Lân Tuất the 'Symphony for 990 Years of Thăng Long-Hà Nội' (Bản Giao hưởng 990 năm Thăng Long-Hà Nội).
