Every lover of Vietnamese music knows Bac Ninh as the home of quan ho(love duets) and ca tru (ceremonial singing), both listed by UNESCO asintangible heritages of mankind.
However, not many are aware that the northern province nestles another special music genre in its bosom – hat trong quan.
Thisis an art form that involves a spontaneous back and forth reparteesinging accompanied by drum beats, quite like the more famous quan ho,but with distinctions that its aficionados swear by.
In the olddays, during mid-autumn nights, youngsters gathered at the village'scommunal house (or at the hamlet entrance) and divided themselves intotwo camps (men and women) and had fun singing trong quan.
Themost prominent trong quan location is Bui Xa village (Ninh Xa commune,Thuan Thanh district), where the art flourished centuries ago, and hasbeen preserved and developed since, said 88-year-old Pham Cong Ngat,whose family has been singing trong quan for four generations.
Trongquan singing began in Bui Xa in the 13th century during the reign ofthe Tran dynasty. Along with other troupes like Ba Dat of Vinh Phuprovince and Da Trach of Hung Yen province, Bui Xa Trong Quan had beeninvited by King Trung Quang in the 15th century to Thang Long (capitalcity) to sing for him, said Ngat.
"When I was 14, I was alreadyfollowing my father who travelled everywhere to perform," said Ngat, whoset up his own troupe in 1993 with five members.
In the past, artists in Bui Xa used to sing all night, attracting people from far and wide, he said.
His five-member troupe trained often and collected more than 100 old songs, Ngat said.
Despite failing health, Ngat's wife Vu Thi Kiem, 86, is still enthusiastic about teaching the art form to young couples.
Kiemsaid that the way Bui Xa artists sing trong quan is different fromother places where it is quan ho that is performed with verses in asix-eight word format in the distich metre using a fast rhythm. In BuiXa, a ten-nine word format is sung in larghetto tempo, she said.
A good voice, passion and the capacity to respond quickly in a contest mark a good trong quan singer, Kiem said.
Le Ba Dao, who heads the Trong Quan Club, the successor of Ngat's troupe, said they now have 28 members aged 39 to 88.
They meet from Friday to Sunday every week, with some members bringing along young people in their families to join, Dao said.
No absentees
"What we are most happy about is that no club member is absent everyweek. We have also received a lot of interest from village youth andchildren," he said.
The club recorded its "real success" manyyears ago by bringing the art form to the stage, performing for largeaudiences, but this did not last long, Dao said ruefully.
He saidthe club now faces difficulties in preserving and developing the folksinging because there is no environment for young people to be fullysensitive to how interesting and beautiful real trong quan is.
Forinstance, there is no all-night festival, as in the old days, to enjoytrong quan performances. The only place they can witness a performanceis the club.
Furthermore, there are only six experienced artists left in the club, and they are too old and weak, Dao said.
Tohelp the art survive and grow, there needs to be much more attentionand support from authorities as well as the local community, he added.
Agreeingwith Dao, Ngat said the folk singing really flourished in Bui Xa beforethe August Revolution in 1945. Every autumn, in the middle of theeighth lunar month, villagers would organise a festival to pray for goodweather, unity among the people and favourable crops.
Many youngmen from different directions flocked to the festival to compete withlocal artists. Later many singing couples became husbands and wives,Ngat said.
The decline of trong quan began after 1945, with only ahandful of artists taking it to the frontlines of the resistance waragainst the French, he added.-VNA
However, not many are aware that the northern province nestles another special music genre in its bosom – hat trong quan.
Thisis an art form that involves a spontaneous back and forth reparteesinging accompanied by drum beats, quite like the more famous quan ho,but with distinctions that its aficionados swear by.
In the olddays, during mid-autumn nights, youngsters gathered at the village'scommunal house (or at the hamlet entrance) and divided themselves intotwo camps (men and women) and had fun singing trong quan.
Themost prominent trong quan location is Bui Xa village (Ninh Xa commune,Thuan Thanh district), where the art flourished centuries ago, and hasbeen preserved and developed since, said 88-year-old Pham Cong Ngat,whose family has been singing trong quan for four generations.
Trongquan singing began in Bui Xa in the 13th century during the reign ofthe Tran dynasty. Along with other troupes like Ba Dat of Vinh Phuprovince and Da Trach of Hung Yen province, Bui Xa Trong Quan had beeninvited by King Trung Quang in the 15th century to Thang Long (capitalcity) to sing for him, said Ngat.
"When I was 14, I was alreadyfollowing my father who travelled everywhere to perform," said Ngat, whoset up his own troupe in 1993 with five members.
In the past, artists in Bui Xa used to sing all night, attracting people from far and wide, he said.
His five-member troupe trained often and collected more than 100 old songs, Ngat said.
Despite failing health, Ngat's wife Vu Thi Kiem, 86, is still enthusiastic about teaching the art form to young couples.
Kiemsaid that the way Bui Xa artists sing trong quan is different fromother places where it is quan ho that is performed with verses in asix-eight word format in the distich metre using a fast rhythm. In BuiXa, a ten-nine word format is sung in larghetto tempo, she said.
A good voice, passion and the capacity to respond quickly in a contest mark a good trong quan singer, Kiem said.
Le Ba Dao, who heads the Trong Quan Club, the successor of Ngat's troupe, said they now have 28 members aged 39 to 88.
They meet from Friday to Sunday every week, with some members bringing along young people in their families to join, Dao said.
No absentees
"What we are most happy about is that no club member is absent everyweek. We have also received a lot of interest from village youth andchildren," he said.
The club recorded its "real success" manyyears ago by bringing the art form to the stage, performing for largeaudiences, but this did not last long, Dao said ruefully.
He saidthe club now faces difficulties in preserving and developing the folksinging because there is no environment for young people to be fullysensitive to how interesting and beautiful real trong quan is.
Forinstance, there is no all-night festival, as in the old days, to enjoytrong quan performances. The only place they can witness a performanceis the club.
Furthermore, there are only six experienced artists left in the club, and they are too old and weak, Dao said.
Tohelp the art survive and grow, there needs to be much more attentionand support from authorities as well as the local community, he added.
Agreeingwith Dao, Ngat said the folk singing really flourished in Bui Xa beforethe August Revolution in 1945. Every autumn, in the middle of theeighth lunar month, villagers would organise a festival to pray for goodweather, unity among the people and favourable crops.
Many youngmen from different directions flocked to the festival to compete withlocal artists. Later many singing couples became husbands and wives,Ngat said.
The decline of trong quan began after 1945, with only ahandful of artists taking it to the frontlines of the resistance waragainst the French, he added.-VNA
