2015 - a year of many losses for Vietnamese music

The passing of a series of musicians who made great contributions to Vietnamese music such as An Thuyen, Phan Nhan, Nguyen Thien Dao... made music lovers feel disappointed and regretful.

2015 was a year of many losses for the Vietnamese music industry when veteran musicians and music researchers passed away one after another. In early May, musician Han Ngoc Bich breathed his last at the age of 75 due to lung cancer. Less than a month later, the audience received bad news from the family of Professor - Doctor of Music Tran Van Khe. He passed away in the early morning of June 24 after nearly a month of hospitalization due to heart failure, pneumonia and kidney failure. The professor was 94 years old.

Musician Phan Nhan followed his "old friends" to the eternal world on the morning of June 29. Artist Phi Dieu - musician Phan Nhan's wife - said that he had been hospitalized a month and a half earlier. During the last 10 days of his life, he suffered from complications of heart and lung disease and many other old-age diseases, so the doctor sent him home to be cared for by his family. Musician Phan Nhan passed away at the age of 85, surrounded by his loved ones.

On the same day, June 29, musician Phan Huynh Dieu passed away at the age of 91. He was admitted to Thong Nhat Hospital for treatment from June 26. When he was discharged, the musician fell into a deep coma. Doctors diagnosed him with acute leukemia (a type of blood cancer). Old age and other illnesses made it impossible for musician Phan Huynh Dieu to survive the critical condition.

Phan Huynh Dieu (left) and An Thuyen are two of the musicians who passed away in 2015.

Musician An Thuyen suddenly passed away on the afternoon of July 3rd due to an acute myocardial infarction. Before he died, he only had chest pain and called his daughter Bong Mai to take him to the hospital. On the way, he was still cheerful, pointing out the road to his daughter. When he reached the hospital room, the musician still showed no signs of abnormal health. By the time his daughter ran out to call the doctor and returned, musician An Thuyen had already passed away. He passed away at the age of 66.

By the end of the year, two musicians, Anh Bang and Nguyen Thien Dao, passed away one after the other. Anh Bang passed away on November 13 (Hanoi time) at his home in the US, at the age of 89. Musician Nguyen Thien Dao passed away in Paris, France on November 20 (Hanoi time), at the age of 75. Both died of liver cancer.

The musicians who passed away last year all made great contributions to the country's music industry and live on in the hearts of music lovers. Musician Han Ngoc Bich left generations of Vietnamese children's songs such as "Washing face like a cat", "I wonder about my mother" (with Van Dung), "Give rice to mother to plow", "Sound of birds in Uncle Ho's garden", "I fly in the night of fireworks"...

Pham Nhan brought to Vietnamese music famous revolutionary songs such as Hanoi, Faith and Hope, Love Song of the Country, Victor Hara's Guitar, Remembering Pac Bo... He is also a beloved children's writer with compositions such as Little Frog, I am the Rice Flower of Dien Bien or Hang Cay On Bac.

Phan Huynh Dieu is known as the "Golden Bird of Vietnamese Music". He was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Arts by the State for his contributions to Vietnamese music in the 20th century. The first composition that made his name widely known was "The Liberation Army" (written at the end of 1945).

During the resistance war against French colonialism, Phan Huynh Dieu wrote a number of songs such as Remembering President Ho Chi Minh's grace, My home town in the South... when joining the army. After 1975, Phan Huynh Dieu transferred to the Ho Chi Minh City Music Association. He composed and published more than 100 songs, including Nhung anh sao dem, Bong cay Kônia, Anh o dau song em cuoi song, Soi nho soi thuong, O hai dau noi nho, Dem nay anh o dau, Thuyen va bien, Tho tinh cuoi mua thu... He also composed a number of works for children such as Doi hon tin, Remembering Uncle Ho's grace....

An Thuyen's name is associated with lyrical songs with strong folk melodies such as Ca dao em va toi, Neo dau ben que, Ha Tinh minh thuong, Dem nghe hat do dua nho Bac... In addition, musician An Thuyen also wrote a number of musicals staged in many art troupes such as Truong Chi, Doi dua kim giao, Bien tinh cay gnat and composed instrumental music.

Musician Anh Bang is famous for his large number of compositions, about 650 love songs. Among them, many compositions have touched people's hearts such as Lan and Diep's love story, I still owe you, The story of the morning glory tree, Khuc thuy du, Sau lone bong, Anh cu hen, Bay gio con nho hay khong...

Nguyen Thien Dao was listed in the "Dictionary of World Celebrities" Le Petit Larousse in 1982, Le Petit Robert in 1995 and won many noble titles from both Vietnam and France. In his composing career, he wrote more than 80 solo works, symphonies, operas... performed all over the world. Some of his typical works include the concerto Binh Minh for 6 string instruments, the soundtrack of the film The Fallen Empire, the opera My Chau Trong Thuy, the symphony Phu Dong, the soundtrack of the film The Story of Pao...

In the field of research, Professor - Doctor of Traditional Music Tran Van Khe is a pioneer in promoting Vietnamese music in particular and Vietnamese culture in general to the world. From abroad, he contributed a huge source of materials with thousands of books, research works, video tapes... accumulated over decades of research for Vietnamese music. They are currently kept at the Ho Chi Minh City Museum. In addition, he also brought glory to the country as an honorary lifetime member of the International Music Council of UNESCO.

With their contributions, the passing of musicians leaves not only their families and friends but also the public disappointed and heartbroken.

During the funeral of Professor - Doctor Tran Van Khe, Huynh Dinh Hai street in front of his house was filled with hearses and a long line of people, estimated at 1,000 people. When the hearse passed by Binh Duong University - where Professor Khe used to teach, hundreds of students and lecturers of the school stood at the gate, holding white chrysanthemums in their hands and waving goodbye to him for the last time. Although the family and students tried to hold back their tears, they could not help but shed tears at the moment of saying goodbye to the Professor.

Long line of people seeing off Professor - Doctor Tran Van Khe.

Musician An Thuyen's funeral gathered a large number of colleagues, close friends, students and people who loved him. Musicians Pham Tuyen, Lan Cuong, Phu Quang, People's Artist Thu Hien, musician Nguyen Cuong, musician Anh Quan... were all present. Their feelings for An Thuyen did not stop at admiring his talent but also cherishing his simple personality, his dedication to life and music. Among the people who came to pay their respects, there were also people who simply loved An Thuyen's music, loved his sweet, touching songs about his homeland. In the corner of the funeral home, a fan who worked as a teacher quietly wiped away her tears and said goodbye to the musician Ca dao em va toi.

The funerals of musicians Phan Huynh Dieu, Phan Nhan, and Han Ngoc Bich were also attended by many friends, colleagues, and admirers. Abroad, the funerals of musicians Anh Bang and Nguyen Thien Dao left fans both at home and abroad heartbroken.

Not only mourning the deceased, the audience was also moved by the pain of the musicians' families, especially the old wives, at the passing of their husbands. At Phan Nhan's funeral, while colleagues tearfully walked around the coffin to say goodbye, his wife - artist Phi Dieu - just stood by the coffin, her hands tightly gripping the table, her thin shoulders shaking, her lips tightly pressed together trying to hold back her tears. Only when she received the tight hugs and sobs of her friends did she burst into tears.

Before that, she kept her calm attitude to take care of her husband's funeral. Not only did she keep Phan Nhan's favorite walking stick with her, she also personally prepared the last meal for the funeral procession with side dishes and hot milk coffee that he often drank.

Mrs. Pham Thi Van - musician Phan Huynh Dieu's wife - was not in good health. She was also paralyzed on one side and had to use a wheelchair. That was why her children and grandchildren did not tell her that her husband had passed away early. It was not until her youngest son returned from Australia that she was able to be pushed in a wheelchair to pay her respects. Just a few months after the funeral, Phan Huynh Dieu's wife also passed away with him.

At the funeral of musician An Thuyen, his wife, Ngo Huyen Lam, could not help but burst into tears at the moment of parting. The image of Nguyen Thi Thanh, musician Han Ngoc Bich's wife, at his funeral also brought many people to tears.

The musicians have passed away but their music lives on forever in the hearts of music lovers. The An Thuyen concert not long after was packed with audiences who came to pay their respects to him. Songs by Phan Huynh Dieu, Anh Bang, Phan Nhan... still resound from time to time and will continue to be associated with the spiritual lives of many generations of audiences to come.

According to VNE