Viet Nam News
HA NOI — Singer Tan Nhan is giving away 5,000 albums loaded with traditional music for free, and best of all, they are on CDs.
The album Niu Dai Lua Dao (Holding the Silk Ribbon Tightly) features famous folk genres the cheo (traditional operetta), xam (blind baskers’ music), quan ho (love duets) and van (spiritual singing) genres.
They also include two music videos of van songs, namely Ngoi Buon Nho Me Ta Xua (Remembering My Mom) and Co Doi Thuong Ngan (Lady Doi of Forest Palace).
The CDs will be distributed nationwide for free via the website http://www.tannhan.com/ngoi-sao-nho for anyone interested in traditional music as Nhan wants to spread the love for traditional music. More free CDs will be offered in case of high demand, Nhan said during a recent press conference.
“The silk ribbon accompanies ao tu than (four-panel traditional costume of Vietnamese women). I named the album this in an attempt to maintain traditional values,” said Nhan.
Artist Emeritus Dinh Cuong is famous for cheo. He said helping Nhan promote traditional music was an honour.
“I was surprised when Nhan called me and asked to learn to sing cheo songs. A month after the call, she came to my house in the northern province of Thai Binh," said Cuong.
“Nhan expressed her passion and diligence during the studying time. In a short time, she can feel the soul of a song and send emotions to the audience.”
Since 2013, Nhan has dreamt of releasing an album featuring the original versions of traditional music like cheo and xam. However, it’s not easy to perform these kinds of songs. So it took many years for her to learn from artisans to sing in the traditional way. Now she is confident enough to release an album of traditional music.
“Reviving traditional values of music is the trend of the world music,” she said.
“Traditional music helps create identity for the national culture. I hope that when people in the world listen to cheo, xam, ca tru (ceremonial singing), nha nhac (royal music) and so on, they immediately think of Viet Nam.
“With this project, I want to estimate the audience’s interest in traditional music. If it can attract many people, I believe that more and more artists will invest in traditional music like me, contributing to preserve and promote the traditional art. I think artists have the responsibility for the cultural heritage and for the next generation,” she said.
A year ago, Nhan made a stir when she released the album Yem Dao Xuong Pho (Wearing Traditional Costume to Go Downtown), in which she performed cheo mixed with jazz. The album was acclaimed as a combination of contemporary and classical music.
Nhan admitted she couldn’t do everything she wanted to on the album but has tried her best to promote traditional music. Through her projects, Nhan wants to inspire other artists and audiences to have passion for the folk arts.
“I will not stop at releasing albums but will continue promoting traditional music in different ways,” she said.
She plans to perform in a concert in February next year featuring traditional music in a combination with symphony orchestra.
Nhan was born in 1982 in the northern province of Ha Nam. Now she works as lecturer at the Viet Nam National Academy of Music. She won in the category of folk songs at the Morning Star national singing contest in 2005. — VNS