Musician Nguyen Tai Tue and the "Dream of Homeland"

(Baonghean.vn) - On the second floor of the private house near Nga Tu So (Hanoi) where musician Nguyen Tai Tue works every day, there is always an organ, next to it is a small table and chairs for receiving guests - friends in the art world, students, confidants and even admirers. They come to study, listen, share and express... A few times, it was me. I came to meet Nguyen Tai Tue as an admirer.

Nguyen Tai Tue was born in 1936 in Thanh Van, Thanh Chuong, Nghe An, and currently lives in Hanoi. In 1955, he left his hometown for the capital. He entered the literary path with the aim of becoming a literature teacher but at the same time also learned guitar. Gradually, he realized that music was his aspiration.

Musician Nguyen Tai Tue

After graduating, Nguyen Tai Tue sang in a choir of the Central People's Song and Dance Troupe. In 1957, he worked at the Lao - Ha Yen Song and Dance Troupe. In 1959, he returned to Hanoi to work at the Folk Music Research Department (now the Folk Music Research Institute). He has been attached to Hanoi ever since.

The musician has a small stature, a voice still full of Nghe accent, almost silver hair, and a pair of warm eyes and a smile. His slow, clear way of speaking, his caring tone, and all his polite gestures strangely attracted me. He talked about his composing work, his hometown Thanh Chuong, the singers who sang his compositions... And then he talked about the most beautiful dream in his life, "also the most beautiful dream of every person", which is childhood. He had dreamed that dream all his life in exile, and then one day, when he felt he had been away from home for too long and needed to return or he would be "a broken promise", the musician painted that dream with each note and called it "Homeland Dream".

As the author of famous songs such as "Xa Khoi", "Tieng hat giua rung Pac Bo", "Xon xao ben nuoc"..., Nguyen Tai Tue has a special love for "Mo que". He revealed that "Xa Khoi" and "Mo que" are the two songs he "likes" the most among all the songs he has composed, but "Mo que" is the only work that bears the mark of his homeland. In "Mo que" appears the image of his hometown Thanh Chuong, that is Rang market, the ferry on Lam river with a longing wait, the familiar, lingering saying "con laa"...

But according to him, although it is a bit private when he puts into the song those images that are close to his heart, it can still be considered the homeland of everyone. Nguyen Tai Tue believes that art must go beyond the limits of space and time, go beyond everything to reflect the eternal issues of humanity such as love, beauty, human values... The last thing that art aims for must be those eternal values. "War? It will pass. Everything will pass, only humanity, love will remain. So, to live forever with time, art must carry those things. And to do that

So the artist needs to have knowledge and heart." He said passionately: "I think the German philosopher Nietzsche's concept of artistic creation is extremely standard. According to Nietzsche, the conditions for a work to be born must include 3 factors: social circumstances, time and moment. Just think about it, a work cannot be born without these 3 factors, these are its objective conditions. As for me, the subjective conditions are knowledge, intelligence, and another especially important factor is love. If the artist does not have heart and love, there will be no work of art with its true meaning."

Once, I visited and Nguyen Tai Tue played me some of his songs, including "Mờ quê" performed by two different female singers. He said Anh Tho's voice was very beautiful and smooth, while To Uyen's voice was gentle, mature and mature. Composed over more than 10 years, "Mờ quê" contained the feelings that the musician cherished. He wrote that song with obsessions about his childhood, the time when he was attached to the sound of school drums, the sound of flutes on the dike, the sound of chickens melting in dreams, the obsession with the Nghe An folk song, the Kieu folk song, the lullabies of his parents... He said he loved the folk song of his hometown very much, and it seemed that he could not help but mention it, he recited a familiar tune: "When I reached the flower trellis, the flowers had already bloomed. When I reached the ferry, the boat was full and had crossed the river. When I reached you, you were already married...". The musician continued: "It was that melody that made me write in "Homeland Dream": "Hoi cau vi dam has missed an appointment with anyone yet". But deep down I know that waiting has a tremendous power, and that the appointment still remains, as the people of Nghe An, my hometown, still say: "the appointment still lingers".

Like an urge, the nostalgia for his homeland is always in the musician's heart with the melody: "Let's go home, let's go home". I have a feeling that "Dream of Homeland" is the musician's return, so that he does not miss his hometown, does not miss his childhood. He returns with a beautiful dream. The dream, both real and unreal, lingers in his mind and will never fade away. He can only make it, that dream, more soaring, more sparkling and help it reach everyone. Nguyen Tai Tue did that when he wrote the beautiful lyrics and melody of "Dream of Homeland".

Every time, returning from his small room, I feel regretful about something, feeling like I haven't fully understood what Nguyen Tai Tue wanted to convey, haven't fully listened to "Dream of Hometown", or haven't lived fully, haven't loved with all my heart... Perhaps, his melodies are awakening the unfinished dream in each of us?

Thuy Vinh