Musician Le Ham - left behind many memories

My uncle Le Ham - musician Le Ham - is no longer here. So from now on, I will no longer receive messages from him: Vinh, go to bed early! Vinh, why are you up so early? It's hot today, Vinh!

Then he encouraged me when he saw me posting beautiful pictures on Facebook. He shared with me the songs he liked, articles, TV shows made about him, and small daily joys. Not only me, many people he loved also received such messages. A 90-year-old man, a famous musician... but the youthfulness, modernity, simplicity, rusticity, and affection were always present.

He was intelligent and perceptive, so talking to him was extremely interesting. Every time I met him, I always left with a feeling of gratitude, because somewhere in each sentence, each word, each fragment of the musician's memories, something like the happiness of being alive, and of being alive in the warmest and most intimate place, kept creeping in and permeating my soul without me even realizing it.

I remember clearly his bright smile during our meetings, whether he was healthy or in the hospital. The story, although it mentioned a thousand things, eventually led back to music. About the small hamlet of Dien Hong commune, Dien Chau, when the little boy Ham, when he was five or three years old, sobbed listening to his mother play Kieu. About the makeshift stage of the hamlet's art troupe. About the flute made from papaya leaf stalks that the little boy Ham always carried with him. Perhaps it was that first simple, rustic musical instrument that led the soul of musician Le Ham through the days of his life with music, so that it did not stop at passion, music became his career. About the pride in his son who followed his father's career, becoming a musician - Head of the Military Region 4 Art Troupe, who spent his entire childhood rolling around with his parents performing and sleeping soundly on the stage floor...

From his initial passion for his mother's singing of Kieu, for the melodies of the neighborhood's performing arts team, for the clear, melodious, yet simple and familiar sounds emitted from his homemade flute, Le Ham gradually entered the path of professional music. In 1948, Le Ham joined the Inter-Zone 4 Youth Military School and later became an artist of the Inter-Zone 4 Army. In 1951, he entered the Inter-Zone 4 Cultural Department and continued to study at the Composition Department, Vietnam Conservatory of Music. The years of studying and working in the musical environment were important stepping stones, helping him develop his compositional techniques and enrich his musical language.

He told me: “Vinh is a young city, a city under construction, that dawn is the beginning of a new journey, hopefully Vinh will also rise as brightly as the dawn”. That is the reason he named his song “Vinh - the city of dawn”. The inspiration for the composition was a poetic memory with a young volunteer girl he accidentally met while cycling from Ha Tinh to Vinh. She asked for a ride:“Where are you going? Are you going to Vinh city, my hometown?”He nodded. Sitting behind her, she chattered on and on, telling stories about her hometown and asking him questions. When they passed Ben Thuy, she asked to stop to turn into the road to her house, then said goodbye:"Goodbye, remember I will pick you up tomorrow to go back to Thanh Vinh."

That private memory of that warm greeting helped him write the first melody of the song:“I welcome you back to my hometown Vinh city/ Listen to the sea breeze lull the Lam river gently/ Relatives and friends live happily together in love/ These are the city squares at dawn/ The affectionate song of a girl from Vinh city...”.

Along with that story, the images of a fierce war, a devastated Vinh city, the city's children standing on the ruins to rebuild their homeland, the images of soldiers in green and red loincloths marching in unison to the sound of trumpets that Le Ham saw in the old days following his mother's hard-working wholesale fabric stall at the left gate of Vinh city..., all became the inspiration for him to write "Vinh - the city of dawn".

In addition to this work, he also has many songs about Vinh such as “From Red City we set out”, “Lovely Vinh City”… Writing about Nghe An with so much affection, one of his other outstanding works is “Nguoi me Lang Sen”, a song that has touched the hearts of many generations. The song not only praises the merits of Vietnamese mothers but also reflects the musician’s deep respect and affection for President Ho Chi Minh and his homeland. Le Ham used music to capture the great but simple image of a mother, with rustic but meaningful verses.

Musician Le Ham was also a “cultural soldier” during the war, witnessing many hardships on the front lines against the enemy. He served our soldiers at the Vinh Linh border, on the northern bank of the Ben Hai River, and then conducted the orchestra of the Ha Tinh People's Art Troupe during the most fierce years of the war. He performed on temporary stages after the enemy's bombs and bullets. The sounds of music and singing echoed across the battlefields filled with smoke. The experience from those days gave him a deep insight into the power of music in motivating soldiers and people.

Many of his songs were born from these experiences, such as “Gải Sông La”, “Chien cong Hà Tĩnh âm vang” and “Nhung nguoi chien han phe”, which became a source of inspiration for many generations in the struggle for independence and freedom. The song “Gải Sông La” brought tears to his eyes when he heard it again on the Voice of Vietnam Radio. The whole nation, from the poorest people to the young mothers who were still holding their babies, tried to lull them to sleep, tore off their milk-scented shirts to clear the way for our vehicles to pass with the desire for a day of total victory.

Le Ham is not only famous for his rich musical works but also for his passion for preserving and promoting folk cultural heritage. He spent a lot of time researching and collecting folk melodies of Nghe An, but it is worth noting that he did not just stop at preserving them but also innovated and developed them in a modern style. As he once shared, being too attached to traditional melodies without developing them can make the work monotonous and no longer attractive. Therefore, in his compositions, although he rarely uses Vi and Giam materials, they still maintain freshness and depth, reflecting the spirit of innovation and creativity in music.

He has been honored with many prestigious awards, including the 2022 State Prize for his series of works: "The Mother of Sen Village", "The Girl of La River", and "Vietnam in Our Heart". These awards are not only a recognition of his talent and dedication, but also a testament to the lasting influence of the musical works he has created.

I remember the time I heard that he had won the State Prize, the musician was in the hospital. The leaders of the Nghe An Literature and Arts Association and Song Lam Magazine came to the hospital to visit and congratulate him. When they arrived at the hospital room, the musician sat up, smiled, received flowers, and enthusiastically told stories, thanked him, and asked to take a photo with him. The oxygen mask was still on his face. But he said: No problem, still very happy, just take a photo!

Now, musician Le Ham can no longer see “the moon hanging on the top of the white Quyết mountain”, can no longer hear “the gentle music of Vinh city lights up”, “the sweet voice of the Central region with the affection of the homeland”, “the singing and chanting echoing in the blue sky”. Now, on the doorstep of the small house in Truong Thi ward, he will no longer welcome me with a bright smile. There are no more times when he leans on his cane to the Provincial Literature and Arts Association “because he misses his grandchildren” and comes to remember the happy and sad times in this place. There are no more text messages “Vinh, go to bed early”, “It’s hot today, Vinh”… But I know, not only on Vinh City Radio, but somewhere among the murmuring waves of the Lam River, among the scorching Lao wind, among the noisy city, somewhere in the hearts of his friends, colleagues and Vinh people, and even people from other places who love Le Ham, the melodies written about Vinh, about Nghe An, about the country and people of Vietnam are still being hummed. I know that music can break the limits set by the short life of a human being. And therefore, the lyrics and melodies of musicians who are deeply attached to their homeland and country like him will last through the years, will forever be “pure”, “echoing”, and will forever shine like “the sun shining at dawn”.