Vietnam is losing living heritages

Six years ago when Vietnam was compiling the file of Quan ho folk music to submit to the UNESCO to be recognized as a world intangible cultural heritage, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism conferred the “Living heritage” titles to six senior Quan ho artists.

 

By September 2009, when Quan ho was officially honored as World Intangible Cultural Heritage, four “Living heritages” had passed away. The two remaining living heritages are Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nguyen, 89 and Mrs. Ngo Thi Nhi (photo), 88, in Bac Ninh city.

The six “Living heritages”: Nguyen Thi Khuou, 103, began singing Quan ho at the age of 13 from Tien Du district Nguyen Van Thi, 97, began singing Quan ho at the age of 16 from Hoa Long commune, Bac Ninh city Vu Thi Chich, 84, began singing Quan ho at the age of 15, from Kinh Bac ward, Bac Ninh city Nguyen Thi Nguyen, 83, began singing Quan ho at the age of 15, from Kha Le village, Vo Cuong Ward, Bac Ninh city Ngo Thi Nhi, 82, began singing Quan ho at the age of 13, from Phong Khe commune, Bac Ninh city Nguyen Thi Be, 84, started singing Quan ho at the age of 13, from Phong Khe commune, Bac Ninh city.

“I don’t sing very well now but I still teach Quan ho to the young generation in order to maintain the standards of ancient Quan ho,” said Mrs. Nguyen.

“I’m so happy because Quan ho has been honored in the world. Quan ho singers who have passed away would be very happy if they knew this. The living people should have to try to preserve it,” she added.

This year Mrs. Nguyen turned 89 but her memory still serves her well and she can sing many ancient Quan ho melodies.

She said the “Living heritage” title is the State’s acknowledgement of the contribution of Quan ho artists but the title will be less valuable if artists don’t sing or teach Quan ho.

According to the artist, to preserve traditional Quan ho, the most important thing is training Quan ho specialists, who know everything about traditional Quan ho.

“Many people can sing Quan ho right now but old people like me don’t like the way they sing because their singing style is different,” Mrs. Nguyen said.

She is now teaching two groups of leading Quan ho singers and members of the Quan ho club of Kha Le village, Bac Ninh city. The leading singers are elderly people who can sing Quan ho very well.

Like Mrs. Nguyen, Mrs. Ngo Thi Nhi, 88, from Diem village comes from a family with four generations of famous Quan ho singers. When she was young, Mrs. Nhi was honored as the leading female singer in her village.

The senior Quan ho singer still remembers around 200 ancient Quan ho songs and she can sing with 36 different voices.

The two “Living heritages” are still busy training transmitting ancient Quan ho to the younger generations.

Quan ho singing is a Vietnamese folk music style characterized both by its antiphonal nature, with alternating groups of female and male singers issuing musical challenges and responses, and by the fact that most of the songs in the repertoire deal with topics of love and sentimentality as experienced by young adults. Quan ho was recognised as the Intangible Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO in 2009. The quan ho style originated in what is now Bac Ninh Province and was first recorded in the 13th century, and has traditionally been associated with the spring festivals that follow the celebration of Tet (the Vietnamese New Year). Historically, the singing began on the evening before the festival, but today it is much more common for the singing to occur on the main day of the festival. In general, an initial "challenge phrase" from the known body of songs is sung by a pair of female singers, following which a pair of male singers will respond by selecting and singing a "matching phrase", which must repeat the melody of the challenge phrase. Once they are finished, the order is reversed, and the men will issue their own challenge phrase with a different melody. While in the past the singing was unaccompanied, it is common today for the singers to be accompanied by instruments, whether traditional Vietnamese instruments or modern ones such as electric keyboards. There are a huge number of quan họ melodies, with thousands of different songs having been recorded and written down in score form.