Musician Le Ham of 'Vinh, the city of dawn' passes away
According to information from his family, musician Le Ham passed away at 7:00 p.m. on September 18 at his home, at the age of 90.
His passing left behind countless regrets for his family, relatives, especially the audience of Vinh city, where he was attached and wrote the song "Vinh, the city of dawn" - the song is called the city song.
Musician Le Ham was born in 1934 in Dien Hong commune (Dien Chau). As a child, he had a special relationship with music when he made a flute from papaya leaf stems to play melodies from his mother's lullabies. Later, in the years 1948 - 1951,Le HamHe had just received formal music education. With an outstanding talent for the flute, he was determined to pursue a musical career and became an artist of Division 320.
From 1955 to 1961, he studied at the Vietnam Music School. After graduating, he was assigned to the Vinh Linh border to serve our soldiers on the northern bank of the Ben Hai River.
In 1964, Le Ham was assigned to teach at the Central School of Music and Art, but soon after, Ha Tinh province invited him to become the Head of the Ha Tinh Art Troupe. His musical path was associated with positions related to the artistic environment. That was also the opportunity, the source of his spontaneous but sparkling compositions, signaling a brilliant journey with music in the future.
It was during the fierce war days that he created the songs “Gai Song La”, “Nhung Nguoi Chien Si Ben Pha”, “Chien Cong Ha Tinh Vang Glorious”… Later, in 1964, “Gai Song La” - one of the songs with a strong Vi and Giam style, which is rarely seen and rarely appears in his song collections, was broadcast on Voice of Vietnam Radio; later it was one of the songs in the collection for which he was honored to receive the State Prize.
From 1970 to 1977, he held the following positions: Head of the Ha Tinh Song and Dance Troupe, Director of the Nghe An Provincial Labor Culture House, and Permanent Vice President of the Nghe An Literature and Arts Association. He retired in 1997.
Musician Le Ham also made great contributions in the fieldwork and collection to find ancient melodies for Nghe Tinh folk songs. Later, he was the editor-in-chief of the book “Folk Music of Nghe An” which was highly appreciated by the music community.
In 1970, when he had collected 30 Ho, Vi, and Giam songs, the Ha Tinh Literature and Arts Association published a collection of Nghe An Folk Songs. It became a familiar performance of art troupes in the two provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh. Ho songs such as “Ho boi thuyen” or songs developed from Vi melodies were rewritten by Le Ham, and many generations of folk singers later thought that they were the original melodies of Vi and Giam Folk Songs.
When mentioning “Vinh, the city of dawn”, people immediately think of the theme song of Vinh City Radio and Television Station, think of the song “City Song” of Vinh - a young, vibrant and affectionate city. “Vinh, the city of dawn” has a lyrical, poignant melody but is also bustling and passionate, just like the way this musician feels about Vinh. And from the first days of its release until today, when mentioning Vinh, when coming to Vinh, people all want to sing the cheerful and hearty melody “Vinh, the city of dawn”.
In his composing career, he has more than 200 songs, including songs for children that have been selected for textbooks, and even choir suites, but for him, songs like "The Mother of Sen Village", "Vinh, the City of Dawn", "Girls of La River", "Going to the Sen Village Festival" are songs that many audiences love, and are honored by music lovers on many large and small stages.
In 2022, musician Le Ham was awarded the State Prize for Literature and Arts for a series of musical works: Mother of Sen Village, Girl of La River, Vietnam in our hearts, Drum sound on the moonlit night, Ha Tinh, our homeland.
