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Stringing along: Artist Hoang Anh Tu performs monochord to celebrate Ha Noi's 1000th anniversary. — VNS File Photo |
HA NOI — The simple but charming sound of the dan bau (a one-string Vietnamese zither) has been luring people to the Octagonal Pavilion in Ha Noi's Ly Thai To Garden, every Tuesday and Thursday evening, along with xam singing (music of blind buskers) and folk songs.
The free performances, under the theme of Preserving and Promoting the dan Bau, were organised by Excellent Artist Hoang Anh Tu to celebrate Ha Noi's 1,000th anniversary and to help foreign visitors understand more about the instrument.
With the noise of the streets in the background, people silently listen to the tender melodies from Tu's dan bau.
Tu and other artists will perform in the programme until the end of this year.
"This is a small but meaningful project to celebrate the millennium anniversary," says Quoc Chiem, deputy director of the Ha Noi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which has supported the performance series. "Since the first performance, Tu has received encouragement from the public."
The dan bau is an instrument with historic associations with the Vietnamese people. It's easy to make and play, but it has lost its standing in contemporary music.
Tu worries that the number of people who love the instrument has declined to a small number.
"My colleagues and I perform for free with the hope that more and more people will come and learn about it," Tu says.
Tu takes questions from his audiences about the instrument, in both Vietnamese and English, and mixes some Western songs into his repertoire, as well. Some foreign tourist are surprised when they hear the strains of Hotel California performed on the dan bau.
Tu has had his instrument carved with the design of a dragon, a popular symbol of the 11th-century Ly dynasty, making it suited to help celebrate the capital city's anniversary and to performance in the Ly Thai To Garden.
The Octagonal Pavilion was a great venue for the performances, Tu added, because it was wide, quiet and airy and a familiar outdoor stage for residents of Ha Noi.
The performances have also attracted audiences due to the xam singing of Tu's youngest daughter, seven-year-old Hoang Anh Thai Phuong.
Nguyen Dang Tuyen, a regular audience member, said he had come many times to enjoy Phuong's singing.
"Although she's young, she sings xam like a professional," he said. "She should be encouraged because the art form has been in decline."
It wasn't easy to find free entertainment like this in Ha Noi, Tuyen added. "Audiences can sit down on the ground to enjoy it. If someone wants to play the dan bau, Tu will show them how, without hesitation." — VNS