GIANG NAM - HỒNG NGUYÊN

  Homeland and common people are the great topics and the endless inspiration source of artists, for example, writers, poets, musicians, or painters. Particularly, regarding poem and music, many works are immortal, for instance, the poems with the country topic of Chế Lan Viên, Nam Hà, Nguyễn Đình Thi, or Nguyễn Khoa Điềm and the songs Ta tự hào đi lên ôi Việt Nam (Vietnam - very proud of their progress) (the chorus) of Chu Minh, Tổ quốc (Homeland) of Hồ Bắc, etc. All products, although being in different styles, express the deep love of authors for their homeland and fellow-countrymen.

On the occasion of the spring when Vietnamese people and oversea compatriots were eager to welcome Tân Mão 2011 New Year holiday, the journalist-musician Nguyễn Văn Chính (in charge of setting to music) and the teacher-musician Nguyễn Hữu Phước (in charge of chorus) composed a chorus with four chapters Bền vững muôn đời Tổ quốc Việt Nam ơi! (Immortal Vietnam Fatherland), performed by the choral orchestra of Nha Trang College of Culture and Art.

Chapter 1 Tổ quốc (Homeland) (Si major) was started with heroic melody. Music mingled with richly poetic lyrics, appealing audiences. Listeners seemed to feel the image of the countryside and the folk-timbre characteristics of the chorus created an S-shaped strip, which is the figure of Vietnam Fatherland.

After the introduction, when the male singer sang as a lead singer in tenor voice "Việt Nam! Xin mãi gọi tên Người Tổ quốc..." (Vietnam, I call your name forever), we were overwhelmed with ineffable pride, great gratitude to our forefathers for their effort of country expansion, and great love for Vietnam fatherland. The authors wrote about the topic of Fatherland with succinct lyrics:

Việt Nam! Xin mãi gọi tên Người Tổ quốc, chấm nhỏ giữa địa cầu. Từ ngàn đời cha, ông bạc tóc chống trời, phá giặc. Việt Nam, Tổ quốc tôi bốn mùa biển Đông sóng vỗ. Ruộng đồng tươi xanh từ Cửu Long Giang tới Hồng Hà. Từ Mục Nam Quan đền Cà Mau. Sau lũy tre hiền hòa, gái, trai dùng dằng câu Quan họ. Lơ thơ sông Cầu nước chảy, người về đến hẹn lại lên. Đêm trăng sông Tiền, sông Hậu ngọt ngào điệu Ru con. Tiếng đàn bầu gọi gió mùa Thu. Việt Nam Tổ quốc tôi, nghe âm vang thiêng liêng lời sông núi hào hùng, ta luôn mang trong tim dòng máu Lạc Hồng. Quốc hồn, Quốc túy thơm từ hạt gạo làng ta. Việt Nam Tổ quốc tôi vươn vai, lớn thành Phù Đổng, quét sạch quân thù cho muôn đời Tổ quốc vẹn nguyên. Con Lạc, cháu Hồng quyết giữ gìn biển trời sông núi trường tồn.

(Vietnam! I call your name forever, a dot in the globe. Since thousands of years ago, our forefathers have attempted to fight against enemies. Vietnam, my fatherland, has four seasons and the beautiful Eastern Sea. Green fields stretch from Cửu Long Giang to Hồng Hà and from Từ Mục Nam Quan to Cà Mau. Men and women sing Quan họ beside bamboo groves. Cầu River flows gently and people meet each other when appointment time comes. Sweet lullabies resound in moonlit nights at Tiền and Hậu Rivers. The instrumental music, performed with a bầu monochord, calls autumn wind back. My Vietnam Fatherland. I can hear the holy sound of rivers and mountains and the blood of Lạc Hồng runs in my body. National spirit and national quintessence is expressed through small things like rice of our villages. My Vietnam Fatherland has grown up like Phù Đổng and swept enemies out of the country. People have been determined to protect the country for eternal peace).

In Chapter 2 Nhân dân (The people) (Sol major), lyrics and melody continued to express the same inspiration in chapter 1.

In the harmony part, the musician Nguyễn Hữu Phước skillfully used folk timbre to create the colour of homeland. In addition, he effectively combined the singing as a lead singer of male singer and female singer and other parts  to highlight the topic in this chapter, which was demonstrated in phrases 3 and 4: "Nhân dân tôi đánh giặc xong rồi lại hiền lành như đất, thâm hậu chuyện tiếu lâm, đằm thắm câu dân ca, cổ tích nói lời vị tha. nhân dân tôi biết mình biết người, biết gió lạnh muôn đời vẫn thổi từ phước Bắc, lấy nhún nhường, nhẫn nhịn đổi bình yên..." (My fellow-countrymen, after finishing combats, are gentle, humorous with funny stories, sweet with folk songs, and altruistic. My fellow-countrymen are modest and are resigned to achieve peace).

After the climax with the lyrics “nhân dân tôi, Người là mùa xuân, Người là niềm tin, là biển bao dung, là sóng lật thuyền. Nước non này đời đời bền vững. Tổ quốc rạng ngời - nhân dân tôi" (my compatriots. You are the spring; you are belief; you are immense sea; and you are wave, which can overturn the boat. This country will be strong forever. Radiant homeland. My compatriots), the melody was played in low tone, which seemed to engrave the word “The People” in our hearts. The word “The People” and patriotism have become the tradition of Vietnamese people, which has been confirmed as a truth:

Ôi ! Tổ quốc ta, ta yêu như máu thịt
Như mẹ, cha ta, như vợ như chồng
Ôi! Tổ quốc nếu cần ta chết
Cho mỗi ngôi nhà, ngọc núi, con sông.

                                      Chế Lan Viên

(Fatherland, I love you

Like the love for parents or for spouse

My fatherland, I am willing to die

For the peace in each house, in mountains, and at rivers)

Chapter 3 Bất khuất (Indomitable) was started with three choral sentences without accompaniment. Followed were climax phrases. The melody of the first phrase was sweet and warm with touching lyrics:

Ôi nhân dân kiêu dũng của tôi, nhân ái thật thà. Người là nước mà luôn thiếu khát. Người nâng thuyền mà như lá nổi trôi. Người như lúa khắp ruộng nương nước Việt, chân lấm, tay bùn mà muôn đời như sen súng, như hương lúa thảo thơm.

(My compatriots, brave, kind, and honest. You are water, but you are always thirsty. You raise the boat, but you are like the leaf floating on river. You are like rice fields in the whole country. Your legs and hands are dirty with mud, but you have the perfume of lotus flowers and rice).

Followed were the heroic and tragic melodies of next phrases. The authors expressed the indomitable tradition, which has become the noble quality of our nation, in the climax of the final phrase. The “La” note was used as the highest note in this part. This note was combined with the lyrics, describing the beautiful images of our forefathers’ land expansion, to make good impression on audiences.

Sẽ hạnh phúc tột vời, có một lần hái lượm giữa bạt rừng, rợp bóng Mẹ Tiên. Thỏa sức với Cha Rồng xuôi bể, xăm kín mình rồi kéo mặt trời lên...

(Utmost happiness. Sometimes picking things in immense forest and under the shadow of Tiên Mother. Being together with Rồng Father. Tattooing the whole body to pull up the sun)

Yes. Indomitability has become the tradition of Việt people for thousands of years to achieve everlasting peace in our country. People have been indomitable for a immortal nation.

Chapter 4 Trường sinh (Immortal) (Si minor) followed the previous chapters as an inevitable. Immortality was expressed in the history of constructing and protecting the country of our forefathers. It was also demonstrated in civilisation progress. Immortality was located in the heart beating of Thăng Long - Hà Nội, a holy heart of the whole country. Thousands of years ago, the wise King Lý Thái Tổ foresaw the imposing flying figure of a dragon. In this place, heroes and poets gathered to make up a capital with thousands of years of civilisation and peace. This place has been the endless inspiration of writers, musicians, and poets.

All lyrics of chapter 4 were set to music by the musician Nguyễn Văn Chính from the poem Nơi anh gặp em (the place, where I meet you) of the poet Trần Chấn Uy. This is one of the excellent poems of the poet Trần Chấn Uy about Hà Nội - Thăng Long. Lyrics and melody seemed to sublimate each other. They are very lyrical, but heroic as well. As the second composer, Nguyễn Hữu Phước was very creative in coordinating musical parts skillfully and combining vocal music and instrumental music effectively in order to highlight the themes of each chapter and the whole work.

Particularly, in chapter 4, men and women performed alternate singing on the musical background of lively instrumental music and chorus, stretching from the introduction to the end; for example, the introduction was started:

Male singing voice: Nơi anh gặp em Lý Thái Tổ đọc "Thiên đô chiếu", Thế Thăng Long rồng bay, hổ ngồi. Đàn chim Việt chọn đất lành về đậu. Tổ quốc thiêng liêng bốn ngàn năm lịch sử oai hùng (I met you at the place where the King Lý Thái Tổ read the imperial edict of moving the capital to another place. The capital Thăng Long has the figure like a flying dragon and a sitting tiger. The bird flock choose a good place for living. The holy fatherland has four thousand years of heroic history).

Female singing voice: Nơi anh gặp em, Nguyễn Trãi viết “Bình Ngô đại cáo”, tuyệt bút thiên thu áng hùng văn đuổi giặc. Nguyễn Du viết những câu Kiều đứt ruột, nhân gian còn đẫm lệ  đến ngàn sau...(I met you at the place where Nguyễn Trãi read the declaration of winning the Chinese soldiers, which is a great heroic writing of driving away the enemy. Nguyễn Du wrote melancholic poem sentences about Ms. Kiều, which have caused people to be moved to tears).

In human history, each nation has their tragedy. With the tradition of patriotic love, peace love, and indomitability in front of enemies and natural disasters, Vietnamese people have endeavored to overcome tragedies to find happiness in simple and humane life. The end of chapter 4 was the end of the whole chorus Bền vững muôn đời Tổ quốc Việt Nam ơi (Immortal Vietnam Fatherland) as an oath of the Vietnamese present generation in front of our forefathers and our bright future.

“Xin được cùng em vỡ đất dựng nhà. Cùng em gieo mùa gặt hái. Cùng em đẻ cái sinh con. Cùng nuôi con Hồng, cháu Lạc. Giữ gìn non sông Đại Việt trường tồn như muôn ngọn dải Trường Sơn…” (I would like to construct the house, seed, harvest fields, give birth to babies, raise Lạc Hồng children, and protect Đại Việt country to live in everlasting peace  with you).

Tân Mão spring (2011), the first spring of the second decade of the twenty-one century, came. The heroic chorus Bền vững muôn đời Tổ quốc Việt Nam ơi! (Immortal Vietnam Fatherland) resounded with the holy soul of mountains and rivers as a small branch of the spring, which the musicianNguyễn Văn Chính, the musician Nguyễn Hữu Phước, the poet Hoàng Quý, and the poet Trần Chấn Uy respectfully offered to the Fatherland, heroic soldiers at remote islands to protect Vietnamese land and sea, Vietnamese people, and oversea compatriots.