/ARTS WEEKLY/VIETNAM: Revival of Ancient Music Too Successful

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Tran Dinh Thanh Lam

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Jan 6 2004 (IPS) - Efforts to revive the ‘nha nhac’, court music that harks back to the country’s ancient past, have been successful – perhaps too successful.

The warning is being issued by experts who have campaigned long and hard to win U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognition of ‘nha nhac’ as one of ”humanity’s intangible oral masterpieces” in November.

After that success in reviving this ritual music that had nearly been confined to oblivion, officials of the Ministry of Culture and Information have been busy planning the nomination of other cultural forms to gain similar UNESCO recognition.

But cultural officials may have to be more vigilant in efforts to revive – and in some cases tinker with – ancient heritage if their authenticity is to be maintained.

The other cultural art forms Vietnamese officials are pushing include water puppetry, ‘Quan Ho’ folk singing, ‘Ca Tru’ choral chamber music, and gong performances and epics from the Central Highlands.

”The Cultural Heritage Council should consider what organisations should be entrusted for this task in order to preserve their originality,” said Professor To Ngoc Thanh, general secretary of the Vietnam Folklore Arts and Literature Association.

”It will be a great mistake to entrust to the Hue Centre for Conservation the task of preserving nha nhac just because it once flourished in that imperial city,” Thanh added.

Thanh, who was instrumental in the campaign to get ‘nha nhac’ recognised as intangible cultural heritage, said that even at the cradle of this music, it has been remodeled by the Hue Centre for Conservation in such a queer manner that it has lost most of its traditional values – and has become far from elegant.

‘Nha nhac’, which means elegant music, is mentioned in Ho Dynasty records dating back to 1402. The court music reached its zenith during Vietnam’s last feudal dynasty – the Nguyen – which regarded it as the most sacred form of music. It was performed at grand royal ceremonies, religious events, coronations, funerals and official receptions.

The turbulent events that shook Vietnam in the last century, especially the collapse of the dynasty in 1945 and subsequent decades of devastating wars, threatened the survival of ‘nha nhac’.

Deprived of its court context, this musical tradition lost part of its original social function to praise royalty and to be performed in court. ”Mainly for this reason, it nearly disappeared,” said Thanh.

Happily for ‘nha nhac’, some royal court musicians have worked hard to preserve the music, and some musicians in the imperial city of Hue have actually kept on playing the music and passed on its technique to others.

These activities met UNESCO’s qualifications for classifying art forms as intangible heritage.

According to Dang Van Bai, head of cultural heritage department at the culture ministry, ‘nha nhac’ possesses two factors that helped it survive: First, those holding the ‘secret’ must wish to pass them down to younger generations who want to learn it; and second, the cultural environment and institutions must be available to conserve and promote it. Many of the original venues in Hue for ‘nha nhac’ have been rebuilt. The reopening of the ‘Duyet Dao Duong’ royal theatre inside the royal court complex, along with UNESCO recognition, have given new life to the music.

Inspired by all these successes, HCC has founded its own ‘nha nhac’ orchestra to perform at the royal theatre. This Vietnamese court music in general is similar to ‘yayue’ in China, ‘gagaku’ in Japan, and ‘hyang-ak’ in Korea. But the typical instruments of two-chord fiddle, three-chord zither and bamboo flute used in ‘nha nhac’ distinguish it from the others.

In the Vietnamese royal band, musicians perform individually but listen to one another and follow the big drums that control the rhythm. ”The old ‘nha nhac’ is a kind of ‘unity through diversity’, a creative artistic style favoured by artists all over the world,” Thanh said. But the Hue centre’s renovated ‘nha nhac’ bears many changes from the original one, revisions strongly criticised by cultural experts.

Said Phan Thuy An, an expert in Hue’s cultural values: ”This is the work of unqualified curators who want to make imposing and grandiose a form of art that used to be delicate and gentle. The performance of some instruments has been modernised and has become totally different from the original one.”

Anh added that the Hue centre’s ‘nha nhac’ band increases the number of conducting drums from two to seven – with players performing like a band of pop music. Thanh was more blunt, saying ‘nha nhac’ has been modified in a horrible manner.

In the traditional band, one or two musicians perform instruments to bring all their talents into play. The Hue Centre for Conservation has increased the number of musicians and organised its ‘nha nhac’ band in the style of a Western symphonic orchestra, ”but with each musician playing for himself”, Thanh pointed out.

He says there are two main branches of Nha nhac. ‘Tieu Nhac’ (small music) used to be played during royal gatherings and parties, and ‘Dai Nhac’ (grand music) provided background for important events.

But the Hue centre has mistaken the meaning of ‘dai nhac’, thinking it would make the music grand and imposing by increasing the number of musicians. ”Turning the nha nhac band into a symphonic orchestra is like replacing the curbed-tiled roof of the Royal Palace with a flat concrete roof,” retorted Thanh.

”The ‘symphonised nhanhac’ could make UNESCO reconsider its choice,” he warned.

Thankfully, he says. authentic ‘nha nhac” is still played at Master Tran Kich’s club. Tran Kich’s ‘nha nhac’ band has been invited to perform in many countries, and the music it and its students play helped convince UNESCO experts to give recognition to ‘nha nhac ‘ in the first place.