INTRODUCTION TO VIETNAMESE MUSIC

Dedicated to the traditional musicians of Vietnam:

“May their Art flourish and their creativity be reborn”                                                      

The Vietnamese have produced several worthwhile books about music but these have remained buried in the relative obscurity of the Vietnamese language.

THE PAST HISTORY OF VIETNAMESE MUSIC

The music of Vietnam and its history are too complex to be described briefly. True, to a large extent, Vietnamese music was handed down from one generation to another. I am spending my life studying music of every corner of the country, and am fortunate, however, in having some various written and oral sources on my research.

It is hoped that the present information will prove both informative and entertaining to those who have been attracted to Vietnamese music.

The exact ethnological origin of the Vietnamese music is not clearly known. In addition to the Chinese, Korean, Mongolian and Southeast Asian’s influences found in archeological remnants, there seems to be something that can only be explained as indigenously Vietnamese.

Along with Chinese literature, architecture, government, and religion, Vietnam had adopted Chinese music models and developed music of her own. However, in the process of adaptation, the system was likely reshaped by the Vietnamese people according to their own well established habit.

Western music is easily understood by Westerners because it is part of their own heritage. A large part of Vietnamese music is either incomprehensible to them or greatly oversimplified for them by convenient stereotypes provided by only partially-informed writers, who sometimes confuse it with that of China. Therefore, before Westerners could understand Vietnamese music, they must first have an idea of its place in the general history of Vietnam.

Because of her geographical locations, Vietnam belongs as much to East-Asia as to South-Asia. Moreover, Vietnam was under Chinese domination for a thousand years (from the 1^st to the 10^th century).  Besides, at the crossroads of peoples and civilization, Vietnam was also in touch with the people of the ancient Indianized Kingdom of Champa (The Cham still exist in greatly reduced number as one of the ethnic minorities in Viet Nam today).

Vietnamese music, like Vietnamese culture, is primarily East Asian rather than Southeast Asian. Its closest affinities are to China, Korea, Japan, and Mongolia. This combination of influences has produced a sophisticated and multifaceted musical culture, and it is not surprising that Vietnamese music shares many characteristics with that of China. Among the common items are the Pentatonic (five-tone) scale, and more than a dozen instruments, some of which are central to the music of both cultures.

Vietnam has many kinds of music, and many varieties of each musical form: The North, The Center and The South have their own kinds of music including:

ª     Court music – (which has eight subdivisions)

ª      Ceremonial and Religious music – The prayers of thanks and supplications of remembrance.  (Religions include Buddhism, Confucianism, and Caodaiism)

ª      Music for Entertainment - (roughly comparable to Western Chamber music)

ª      Folk music and the ethnic minorities - provide even more variety with their own ceremonies, dances and songs.