VIRGIL GHEORGHIU: Nhạc tiền chiến; The Origins of Vietnamese Popular Song byJason Gibbs -- http://thingsasian.com/

nhac tien chien: the origin of vietnamese song
by jason gibbs -- http://thingsasina.com/

  nhac tien chien: the origins of vietnamese popular song
  http://thingsasian.com/

   nhac tien chien: the origins of
  vietnamese popular song
  by jason gibbs

Image c Jason Gibbs

By the 19 th century Vietnam itself forcibly and irrevocably confronted with the Western world. A this foreign presence intensified, the elite, ruling and mandarin classes insularly maintained a Confucian view that through their superior culture, civilization, and upright behavior they had the moral standing to defeat any foe. That outlook was shattered with a series of French military victories, culminating in the defeat, in 1873, of Hanoi's citaded and its 7,000Vietnamese defenders by 200 far better armed French soldiers. By the turn of the century France had consolidated Vietnam under its control and was rapidly opening the rgion to its economics and cultural prerogatives.

From the beginning the Vietnamese resisted the French, t first viewing their colonizers as barbarians, but in time they came to realize that the military might and economic wealth of the West far surpassed anything they had previously imagined. More and more Vietnamese came to believe the only way that Vietnam could escape colonization was to learn Western ways. Starting from the turn of the century, while many of their Confucian elders went into isolation, the still tiny Vietnamese professional class began adjusting to the alien culture by studying French and "quốc ngữ" (the romanization of spoken Vietnamese). They began translating westren ideas ranging from Western philosophy to agricultural methods pf "quốc ngữ" and the literature it spawned. (see note 1).

After World War I, French entrepeneurs started trading very energetically producing an economic boom hastening the advance and influence of Western thought. The 1920s represent a decade when Vietnam began to finally break from its Confucian tradition and embrace Western thought. One illustration of this can be seen in a story that composer Phạm Duy tells about his father Phạm duy Tốn, thought by some to be the originator of the modern Vietnamese short story. Phạm duy Tốn born in 1881, graduated from the school for interpreters, worked for the Indochina Bank, as a journalist, and in various other small business ventures. He was among the first generation that
took the daring step against tradition to cut off the chignon that a well-born gentlemen kept in memory of his deceased father, and also dressed in western clothing He died in 1924, his son Phạm Duy speculating that this was because of a curse from his grandmother for defying tradition by cutting his hair. While his father was the generation that took the first steps of breaking with tradition, Phạm Duy and his contemporaries were prepared and eager to meet the modern world. (see note 2).

Neil Jamieson describes this generation as "a social force wielding innovative kinds of influence based on new nd modern skills... In urban centers during the 1930s, especially in Hanoi, there was a sudden and self-conscious rush to replace the old and the new, to Westernize, to be modern." (see note 3). Owing to the popularity of Western novels, an energetic new romantic "quốc ngữ" literature emerged in 1925 and expanded greatly in the 1930s. At the same time an art school, the Ecole de Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine, opened in hanoi heralding a new movement of Western-in-
fluenced painting. This is the context out of which "nhạc tiền chiến", or "pre-war music" as born.

As Bruno Nettl has noted, the first contact that most non-Western cultures have with Western music is through church and military music. Vietnam is no exception in this regard. The Catholic Church encouraged western music and also served as a training ground for many composers. Military bands also trained Vietnamese musicians. In the beginning the music was performed for and by Westerners, but as time went on more and more Vietnamese began to participate in these activities. (see note 4).

In the years following World War I, French patriot song like "La Marseillaise" or "La Madelon" became popular in Vietnam. These songs were first heard by Vietnamese during the "cải lương", or reformed, theatre of southern Vietnam in the late 1910s and 1920s. Such performances would oftern include two music ensembles -- one of traditional instruments one of western instruments, the latter performing during entr'actes as well s before and after the play. Itinerant street musicians (hát xẩm) whose livehood depended upon playing music with the greatest currency interpersed tehse western melodies among thir traditional repertory. (see note 5).

French songs became increasingly popular in the cities owing to the spread of sound recording technology. 78 r.p.m. recordings and the radio remained inacessible to many because of their expense. But event hose who found these recordings beyond their means could hear the latest "a la mode" French songs by gathering outside record stores. However, the strongest forces leading ton the popularization of French song were the introduction of ballroom dancing and sound motion pictures in the early 1930s. Singers from the French cinema like Josephine Baker (singing "J'ai Deux Amours" and "Ma petite Tonkinoise"), Rina Kelly, and George Milton were all popular. Tino Rossi, best known for singing Vincent Scotto song like "La Marinella" became a special favorite, to the extend that there were "Tino fan clubs" (hỏi ai Tino). (see note 6).

The first indigenous attemps at Western music-styled popular song came in the mid-1930s with a movement known as "bài Ta theo điệu Tây") or" our words following Western melodies). Soon
fashioning words to French popular songs became the height of fashion. The newly fashioned lyrics turned up as pamplets, in the newspapers and at the end of dime novels. The Beka record company recorded two "cải lương" performers Ái Liên, and Kim Thoa singing these songs on 78s. In many cases, the lyricist was less than fluent in French leading to some Vietnamese lyrics being almost opposite in meaning with the French original. (see note 7).

Most commentators trace the beginning of modern Vietnamese song to a performance by Nguyễn văn Tuyên of his original compositions in Hanoi on June 9, 1939. Although several composers had written songs before that date and even performed them within their circle of friends, Tuyên's performance marks the first public, reviewed presentation of original songs. Tuyên , born in Huế, studied western music from his youth, teaching himself the rudiments from French music theory textbooks. In 1936 he moved to Saigon where he was the only Vietnamese student enrolled at the Philharmonic Society of Saigon. he began to sing French songs and was favorably received by the press and on the radio. In 1937 he solicited poems from his friends and wrote his first songs. The actual first performance of his songs took place in Saigon where they were performed at the Philharmonic Society. The governor of Cochinchina, Pages, heard him sing there and invited him to travel to France to continue his music studies, but Tuyên had to refuse for many reasons. Instead he requested and was granted the governor's support in making a tour of Vietnam to promote this new music. (see note 8).

While some contemporaries reported that his Hanoi concert was a mixed sucess, owing to Tuyên's Huế accent and to noise from the large and restless crowd, this new musical movement was lionized by the influential paper Ngày Nay which published some of Nguyễn văn Tuyên's compositions as well as works by others composers. (see note 9). He repeated his performance in Haiphong and Nam Định to enthusiastic audiences.

Most of the first generation of Vietnamese composers had very restricted access to western music education. Many like Nguyễn văn Tuyên studied from French music theory primers. Others studied through the Sinat of Universelle correspondence courses based in Filipino teachers. The French opened the Conservatoire d' Extre^eme Orient in Hanoi in 1927, but put it down in 1930 owing to the worldwide economic depression. The first musicians who were able to study, in turn became the teachers for those who followed . (see note 10).

New songs started to spread around the country, but where especially popular in Hanoi. Two important groups propagating this music were formed around 1938: Myosotis (French for Forget-Me-Not) with composers Thẩm Oánh and Dương thiệu Tước as principals, and Tricea consisting of Văn Chung, Lê Yên and Dzoãn Mẫn. Both of these groups wrote, published and organized the performance of theirs songs. Phạm Duy, writing about the Hanoi of his youth, notes the popularity of songs by the above composers as well as by Lê Thương and Văn Cao from Haiphong and Đặng Thế Phong from Nam Định. (see note 11).

In his memoirs, Phạm Duy describes his experiences, at first as a manager, but soon as a singer of new songs with the Đức Huy cải lương troupe in 1944 and 1945. The troupe's director came to know that the could sing and play guitar, so he was added to the show, where he sang during breaks in the action. This gave him the opportunity to publicize the new songs throughout the country. He met new composers in almost every city along the way, and often found that the word of mouth that preceded his arrival brought in fans expressly interested in this new musical movement . (see note 12).

During the 1940s, there was a large number of patriotic songs composed, mostly modeled after marches and French military band music. The Communist Party saw the propaganda value of such songs very early. In 1926 they translated "The International" into Vietnamese and by 1930 they were using original revolutionary songs in their organizing. (see note 13). However, the song with the Greatest popularity were from "Đồng Vọng" (Resound) movement of Hoàng Quý and the "Tổng Hội Sinh Viên " (General Association of Students) movement of Lưu hữu Phước from the 1940s. During that time, several of the composers from Myosotis and Tricea also contributed patriotic music. This movement was partially a reaction to the over-sentimentality of romantic literature and song, but gained much ot its strength from the Boy Scout program and from the physical fitness program instituted by the Vichy France government in then Japanese-occupied Vietnam.
Patriotically minded youth also organized hikes and bicycles excursions to historic monuments.
(see note 14).

Although most are not recorded or performed on teh concert stage today, these marches and songs made a strong impression at the time among young Vietnamese yearning for their country's independence. "Tiếng gọi thanh niên" ("Call of the Youth") by composer Lưu hữu Phước, with the alteration of some words, became the National Anthem of the future South Vietnam with the title "Tiếng gọi sinh viên"("Call of the Students"). The song "Tiến quân ca" (Onward Soldiers") by Văn Cao in 1945 became the National Anthem of North Vietnam. Another important composer from this movememt, Đỗ Nhuận, wrote his earliest songs from a French prison. (see note 15).

Both the romantic nad patriotic song movements continued until 1954 when the Geneva Accords divided the country in two. From 1946, many conposers went to the war zone to write songs for the Việt Minh resistance against the French. In French-occupied urban areas both patriotic and romantic music continued to be performed side by side on the radio, in dancehalls and in taverns. In 1950 Radio Hanoi Việt Nhạc magazine published a playlist of over 300 Vietnamese songs they had broadcast including both romantic songs and songs newly composed for the resistance comba-tants in the mountains and jungles. By the time they went off the air in 1954 they had broadcast over 2,000 works by over 300 composers. (see note 16).

While this movement of new Western-influenced songs took off like wildfire among urban, educated youth, it was disliked and resisted by older feudalistic intellectuels, and largely ignored by the poor and rural citizency. (see note 17). One contemporary commentator wrote in 1942 in the French-language magazine indochine that:

The youth of the city and provincial capitals, especially students, completely look down upon teh songs of our country and insanely chase after French songs. They are afraid of being sen as ridicules, or as bumpkins if they hum to themselves Vietnamse folksongs ...

He goes on to blame:

... films and French music, the scouting movement with its lively songs, music of neighboring countries, and finally the songs composed by our own artists that are wiping out the old songs. (see note 18).

Despite this alarm, a substantial number of the composers of these new songs studied traditional instruments when they were young. Composer Nguyễn xuân Khoát, one of the first Vietnamese to receive a western musical education, devoted a great deal of energy into notating and studying traditional Vietnamese folk songs, as well as "hát chèo", a popular music theatre of northern Vietnam, and hát "ả đào", a refined chamber singing tradition. Phạm Duy is very well known for research on folk songs and as a composer of new folk songs. (see note 19).

The earliest name for this new genre was "nhạc cải cách", meaning reformed music. (see note 20). One reason "reform" was needed was because of the low status music held in Vietnam. From feudal times came the saying about performers: "xướng ca vô loại" or" singers fallen from social standing." In order to avoid such scandalous associations, educated Vietnamese usually played chamber music in private homes, called "nhạc tài tử" or music talented amateurs. Thẩm Oánh described his Myosotis group as a talented amateur ensemble, no doubt wishing to avoid the stigma of being viewed as professional performers. (see note 21). Before Nguyễn văn Tuyên's concert in 1938, other composers may have hesitated to present their songs because off this negative reputation. Nguyễn văn Tuyên was possibly able to skirt this difficulty because the French governor had sponsored him.

Thẩm Oánh in a 1952 speech about the"evolution" of Vietnamese music asked his audience to consider the higher status accorded to music and the development of new musical forms in Europe, America, and in Vietnam's Asian neighbors. Emphasizing music as a basic to judge the intellectual level of a people, he affirmed the importance of this new musical movement that aimed to develop Vietnamese music to a level that would bring respect to the country. (see note 22).

In more recent years these songs have come to be called "nhạc tiền chiến", or pre-war music. This appelation problably came about as an imitation of genre name "thơ tiền chiến", or pre-war poetry, the name used in South Vietnam after 1954, where the poetry remained very popular. Although Vietnamese music historians have the "tiền chiến" period ending in 1946 or 1947 with the resumption of hostilities with the French, some songs associated with this genre were written as late as 1954. (see note 23). While they continued to find a loving audience in the South, the"nhạc tiền chiến" songs were although not banned outright, absent from the stage and airwaves of North Vietnam from 1954 until the 1980s.

Some Nothern musicians I met questioned the usefulness of the name "pre-war song". One asked "which war? we've fought so many wars." One politically correct designation I heard for these songs was "dòng âm nhạc lãng mạn trước Cách Mạng Tháng Tám" or "the current of romantic songs before the August Revolution." (see note 24). Whatever their designation these songs con-tinue to be popular among Vietnamese, both overseas and in Vietnam, especially among the older generation. They are regularly performed at the concert hall of the "Hội Nhạc Sĩ Việt Nam" (Vietnamese Association of Musicians) in Hanoi under the appellation "nhạc trữ tình" or lyrical music. When the Association in 1994 presented a festival commemorating 50 years of Vietnamese songs were well represented. (see note 25).

"Nhạc tiền chiến" songs carry them an air of nostalgia, perhaps nostalgia for an era when Vietnam was still unified, the era preceding nearly 20 years of civil war. After 1954 the country was split into two very different regimes, the communist Socialist Republic of Vietnam or North Vietnam, and the Republic of Vietnam or South Vietnam. At this time some "tiền chiến" composers went South, and others remained in the North. Most of the Northerners either ceased composing of followed the dictates of the regime for writing songs to mobilize the masses and strengthen the revolution. Southerners continued to write romantic songs. Since the North's victory resulting in Vietnam's reunification in 1975, the country's culture has continued to be divided between resident nad overseas communities. As nearly ll music and literature of a romantic or sentimental basis was banned by the communist regime, many of Vietnam's creative minds left the country in 1975 for Western countries like the United States, Australia, and France. Although differences between these two communities continue until this time, "nhạc tiền chiến" is one of the few popular song genres that can be heard on the stage of both Vietnam and among the overseas community.

In closing I would like to present the song "Giọt mưa thu" or Autumn Rain Drops by Đặng Thế phong. Đặng Thế Phong was born in the city of Nam Định in 1918, an interpreter's son. In 1940 he went to study at the Art Academy in Hanoi, where he drew cartoons for newspapers to earn money for tuition. In 1941 he traveled to Saigon and Phnom Penh, where he taught some music classes. He first performed at the Olympic Theatre ín 1940. He died in 1942 of tuberculosis at the age of 24. (see note 26).

"Giọt Mưa Thu" by Đặng Thế Phong and Bùi công Kỳ. (1939) -- (English Translation)

(...)

Outside on the veranda, the
autumn rain is gently falling.

The somber sky is quieting,
suspended clouds are
scattering.

Admist the muffled wind
blowing past in the autumn
rain, who's crying? who
grieving?

A couple of young birds chrip
from the branch as if
auguring blue skies:

"Stop wind, why bring sad
rain to a plaintive heart?"

Autumn's spirit arrives,
announcing thesadness it
brings along

Feeling empty on all sides,
for there's no screen to block
the returning wind

Who's sobbing, lamenting
life, teardrops rush down?
The world's immeasurably
sad.

We hope the clouds will scatter gentle
breezes. The clouds open up to blue sky

Could such happiness be?
The rain continues to fall,
how many more incarnations
until this melancholy
subsides?

The distant wind srill returns,
the unyielding rain spreads
its gloom

Oh sky, for how many more
years will tears pour from the
sky because of autumn.

TRANSLATION BY THE AUTHOR

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Notes

1. Marr, David G. Vietnamese Tradition on Trail, 1920-1945. (Berkeley: Univeristy of California Press, 1981), 142- 189 describes the development of literacy in Vietnam.

2. Phạm Duy. Hồi ký: Thời thơ ấu Thời vào đời . (Midway City, CA: Phạm duy Cường Productions, 1989), 14. For more information about Phạm Duy's father see Schafer, John C. "Phạm duy Tốn: Journalist, Short Story Writer, Collector of Humorous Stories, "Vietnam Forum 14 (1993), 103-124

3. Jamieson , Neil L. Understanding Vietnam (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), 100-101.

4. Nettl Bruno. The Western Impact on World Music: change, adaption and survival. (New York:
Schirmer, 1985),11. To Vu, Chi Vu, Thuy Loan. "Âm nhạc phương Tây đã nhập vào Việt Nam như thế nào?" Nghiên cứu Văn hóa Nghệ thuật 4/4, "Âm nhạc 15/3,4,5 (1994), 5.

5. To Vu, Chi Vu, Thuy Loan, op.cit., 82; 88. TrươngĐìnhCử. "Bàn về sự phát triển của nền Tân nhạc Việt-Nam," Bách Khoa 73 (15-1-1960), 92 Phạm Duy, op.cit., 97-1000 recounts the various French songs and singers popular at the close of the 1930s.

7. Jason Gibbs. "Our Songs, the West's Songs: The Introduction and Adaption of Western Popular Song in Vietnam" read at the Annual Meetings of the Information Association for Research in Popular Music, in Pittsburgh, PA, October 30, 1997.

8. Biographical information is taken from Nguyễn văn Tuyên. op.cit., 5-8.

9. Lê Thương. "Thời tiền chiến trong tân nhạc (1938-1946)" in Tuyển tập Nhạc Tiền chiến. (Saigon: Kẻ Sĩ xuất bản 1971), 63.

10. "Bách Khoa phỏng vấn giới nhạc sĩ: Võ đức Thu, 'Bách Khoa 151 (15/4/1963), 101- 106.
Conservation with Lê Yên, Hanoi, June 1995. Conservation with Hoàng Trọng, Moutain View, California, June 31, 1996. To Vu, Chi Vu, Thuy Loan.op.cit., 86.

11.ibid., 63-64 Phạm Duy., 173-154; 240. Also see Thẩm Oánh, 'Sức tiến triển của nền Việt nhạc", 'Văn Hóa Nguyệt San 13 (Tháng 5-6, 1953), 255-256. For the story of Myosotis, see Dzoãn Mẫn, "Góp phần tìm hiểu sự hình thành nền âm nhạc cải cách Việt nam," (Hanoi: Viện Âm Nhạc, 1984).

12, Phạm Duy. op.cit., 226-372.

13. Dao Trong Tu, "Renaissance of Vietnamese Music," in Essay on Vietnamese Music, Dao Trong Tu, Huy Tran and Tu Ngoc, ed. ) Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1984), 103 Thuy Loan. Lược sử Âm nhạc Việt nam. (Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Âm Nhạc, 1993), 101-104.

14. For French Vichy activities see Marr, op.cit., 80-81.

15. Nhạc sĩ Sáng tác Việt nam (Hanoi: Nhà Xuất Bản Văn Hóa, 1986), 125.

16. See Việt Nhạc 33-34-35 ( February 8 to March 16, 1950) for this roster of songs broadcast on Hanoi Radio. "Bách Khoa phỏng vấn giới nhạc sĩ; Thẩm Oánh, " Bách khoa 156 (1 tháng 7 196), 92-100.

17. Composer and music publisher Lê mộng Bảo describes hiding from his father, an amateur traditional musician, the fact that he played the mandolin and sang new songs with his friends. (Conservation, February 3, 1996). Musician Vũ Chấn describes his father forbidding him to play Western music in order to not disgrace the family name (Conservation, May 29, 1996).

18. Mai văn Lương in Indochine no. 78 (February 25, 1942), 7.

19. Some of Nguyễn xuân Khoát's efforts at studying and preserving folk music are enumerated in Phan Thành Nam "Trọn đời vì sự nghiệp Âm nhạc dân tộc," Âm Nhạc no. 4 (1993), 3-5. The composer discusses his compositional method in Nguyễn xuân Khoát "Ôn lại quãng đường sáng tác Âm nhạc của tôi" Nghiên cứu Văn hoá Nghệ thuật no. 2 (1979), 20-34; 73. See Phạm Duy. Musics of Vietnam.(Carbondale: South Illinois University, 1975). In the volume "Đường về Dân ca" (Los Alamitos, CA: Xuân Thu, 1990), he traces the folk influence in his songs.

20. According to Phạm Duy, it was poet Nguyễn văn Cổn, the lyricist for Nguyễn văn Tuyên's first songs, who came up with the name "nhạc cải cách". Hồi Ký: Thời Thơ ấu Thời Vào đời., 151.

21. Le Tuan Hung. The Dynamics of Change in Huế and Tài Tử Music of Vietnam Between c. 1890 and c. 1920. (Clayton, Victoria, Australia: the Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1991), 3. Thẩm Oánh. "Lịch trình tiến hóa của Âm nhạc cải cách," Nhạc Việt 4 (1-10-1948), 2.

22. His speech for the Ministry of Education (Bộ Quốc gia Giáo dục) at Hanoi University on December 4, 1952 was published as "Sức tiến triển của nền Việt nhạc"," op.cit. See pp.244-245

23. Lê Thương op.,cit., 62-70. Lê mộng Bảo. "Các dòng ca khúc Việt nam trước và sau 1945 qua các giai đoạn," Nghệ thuật (Montreal) 13 (tháng 3, 1995), 38-39; 14 (tháng 4, 1995), 28-29.

24. Interview with Nguyễn ngọc Oánh, June 12, 1995.

25. See special issue of Âm Nhạc no. 3,4, 6 (1994), 83-90 for the program of this festival.

26. Biography by Lê hoàng Long, printed on the verso of the sheet music; "Giọt Mưa Thu" (Saigon: Diên Hồng, 1964).

[]

Originally Published: 1998/07/01.

http://thingsasian.com/story/nhac-tien-chien-origins-vietnamese-popular-song

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Appendix:

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