"The First Spring" - a poignant waltz of reunion.
Another spring has arrived, the 40th spring of a unified Vietnam. Suddenly, the melody of "The First Spring" by the late composer Van Cao resonates. As always, this gentle, poignant waltz brings a strange sense of peace and warmth to my heart. And memories of the late composer Van Cao in his attic at 108 Yet Kieu Street, Hanoi, come flooding back to me...
Then, gently, spring returns with the swallows.
The ordinary season, the joyful season, has arrived.
That longed-for spring is arriving first...
There were epic songs written during the days of the Great Victory of Spring 1975. These were majestic, joyful songs. The general mood of the whole country at that time was one of jubilation and excitement... But perhaps the first spring that came to our country with such overwhelming joy made Van Cao pause, to express his burning aspirations and dreams after 21 years of national division... 21 years, how many lives were left unfinished, how many couples were separated... Hien Luong - Ben Hai was like a knife cutting across the heart of the Fatherland.
To achieve this reunion, the entire nation embarked on a great long march, and those two decades were marked by countless losses and sacrifices... And the day of complete victory arrived. Joy and sorrow overwhelmed us, leaving our hearts filled with mixed emotions...
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| late musician Van Cao |
I remember visiting composer Văn Cao at 108 Yết Kiêu Street in the winter of 1992. Until then, his song "First Spring" hadn't been widely sung. Over a glass of white wine, Văn Cao, thin but with bright eyes, recounted: "I heard Trịnh Công Sơn say that in America they played my song 'Thiên Thai' before he flew into space. Music, for me, is my reason for living, but I haven't written anything for 20 years. Some of my compositions seem... ordinary, so I haven't wanted to release them yet. Only 'First Spring' I wrote when I was deeply moved by the most miraculous spring for our nation."
It was a celebratory song marking the reunion of North and South Vietnam. A song for loved ones to be reunited... With that sentiment, I wrote this song in a gentle, heartfelt, and emotional waltz style. That's why the music wasn't well-received at the time. Everyone was cheering and joyfully welcoming the new day back to the homeland, while the waltz sung then seemed... too gentle!
Then, gently, spring returns with the swallows.
The ordinary season, the joyful season, has arrived.
That longed-for spring is arriving first...
Unexpectedly, as he said, "The First Spring" had a truly special fate. It somehow ended up in distant Russia, where it was published, long before being performed and popularized in Vietnam. The writer Trieu Bon once recounted that his nephew, while working in Russia, often listened to "The First Spring." The young man said he listened to Van Cao's music because: "...it makes my heart feel clean again, it makes my homeland feel right beside me..."
Meeting Ánh Tuyết before Văn Cao's concert in Hanoi last year, the singer recounted: "Since 1983, when Văn Cao's first concert was held in Ho Chi Minh City, the song 'First Spring' had not yet been sung. Then, around 1990, singer Thanh Thúy and a few others sang it, but it wasn't widely accepted... Only after the author's death, in 1995, 'First Spring' was sung everywhere. Perhaps great works of art often have such strange fates?!"
The spring of 1995 was the last spring of the author of "The First Spring." When I visited him again, I found him very tired, and by July he had passed away. On the day of his death, I paid my respects with a few short verses: He sat there like a silent note / Two cups of wine a day, full and empty / Thinking about life and death / His hair and beard were white like the clouds in the sky. His remains were laid to rest at the Vietnam House of Arts and Literature, No. 51 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hanoi. The flowers blooming in the city at that time were not enough for everyone to bring to pay their respects to the talented musician. And yet, almost 20 years have passed...
Van Cao placed a gentle, emotional waltz amidst life's struggles... But in those times, the country was in turmoil, life was filled with so many worries and responsibilities, so few could calmly appreciate the profound and sacred essence of the author's soul through a song that evoked a sense of nostalgia for peacetime... He had a deeper emotional connection, touching upon the poignant pain and suffering of a nation enduring pain and loss.
The arrival of swallows heralds a peaceful atmosphere, but the image of smoke rising over the river, roosters crowing at noon by the river, gives spring a melancholic quality... And in that historic moment, there's a feeling of wistful excitement in the heart: "Just one sunny afternoon today, so vast and boundless"...
Clip "First Spring" (Van Cao) - sung by Thanh Thuy
Regarding the creation of the song "First Spring," Van Thao, the composer's son, recounted: "When I returned home, as I climbed the stairs, I was suddenly stunned by the sound of a piano emanating from the small attic at 108 Yet Kieu Street. It was a smooth, gentle waltz. Van Cao was sitting at the piano. His thin, bony hands were gliding over the keys. The warm, sweet sound seemed unwilling to disturb the room."
After 20 years of Văn Cao being a "silent note" in life... "Father wrote this song to celebrate the reunification of the country and the reunion of our people," he gently said to me. My father wrote that piece of music in a state of joyful peace after 30 years of bloody war ended, when the country was at peace and the homeland was reunited. Before that, the Saigon Liberation newspaper sent someone to commission him to write a song celebrating peace, and that meeting gave us the masterpiece "The First Spring"...
Poet Thanh Thảo wrote: “The whole river is joyful, but not surging and rushing, but rather seems to settle down; if you listen carefully, you can hear the waves trembling, waves that seem to be whispering something, foretelling something.” Time has restored the value to many works, including Văn Cao's "The First Spring." And today, the gentle melody, like the swallows flying in the song, still warms people's hearts when spring arrives. There are melodies so beautiful they are almost ethereal. The elegant, gentle waltz is like the breath of spring, yet within that joy lies a deep sense of wistfulness and longing:
From here, people know who their homeland is.
From here, people learn to love one another.
From here, people learn to love each other.
A mix of emotions, both wistful and exhilarating, fills the hearts of Vietnamese people before the first spring. Now, that melody stirs our hearts... Oh, the song of peace and reunion. Van Cao passed away 20 years ago, and I believe that joyful song, like his other masterpieces, will forever remain with the Vietnamese people...
According to TT&VH
