Musician Vu Quoc Nam: Musical notes rising from the heart

(Baonghean) - I first met musician Quoc Nam a few years ago, at a concert to support the people of Central Vietnam who had just experienced a historic flood at the Provincial Labor Culture House and learned that he was the author of a very emotional song that was sung that night. Haunting and haunting, the lyrics of “Central Vietnam, Flood Country” brought tears to many people in the hall that day. And I was surprised when musician Quoc Nam, still very young, stood in front of me…

I told him: I thought the person who wrote that song must be a person with a lot of experience, for the pain to be so "deep", so "permeable"? He said, very gently: Anything written from the heart, from the surges, will find its way to the heart...

Musician Quoc Nam and musician Nguyen Trong Tao.

And today, in his small studio, on the 3rd floor of the house on Ton That Tung Street, I once again heard him talk about how he came to the public: Writing from the heart. And in his own private space, a space exclusively dedicated to music, he told me about how he came to music, how he chose it to repay his childhood passion. The young musician talked about the hymns that have been melodious in his soul since his childhood.

Sunday mornings, the sound of church bells, the orchestra members in formal attire, the sacred moments turning to God to pray for peace for humanity... All those memories in the countryside of Hung Chau, Hung Nguyen are still deeply imprinted in Quoc Nam's heart, intact as if it were just yesterday, as if the sound of hymns has never stopped after decades even though humanity has undergone many changes...

Musician Quoc Nam in his home studio.

Born in 1981 in Hung Chau, Hung Nguyen, the 6th child in a Catholic family of 9 siblings, Quoc Nam was a member of the church choir when he was young, playing the organ. Hymns became the first music that penetrated his soul, and it was a luxurious music, both sad and joyful. On the covers of his books and notebooks, Quoc Nam often drew on the piano keys. It was not until he was 17 or 18 years old that Nam learned more about music thanks to the intimate sharing of the late musician Tung Vinh, who at that time had several professional guidance programs for the church choir.

At first, Nam and his sister participated in playing music at weddings. “One day we went to the fields to work, the next day we came back to play music at weddings” – he recalled, choking up a bit. After that, Nam became an organist for live music cafes that were once popular in Vinh such as Young Fashion Club, Tuan Euro… But it was also at these amateur music shows that Nam’s musical talent was discovered by his brothers and sisters in the Nghe An Song and Dance Troupe and he was invited to play music for the Troupe.

In 2009, Quoc Nam was able to study music composition at the Military College of Arts, and here in 2012 he was able to study at university (Faculty of Music Composition). In the same year, Quoc Nam was admitted to the Vietnam Musicians Association. After graduating from university (2014), Quoc Nam left the Ethnic Song and Dance Troupe to work at the Arts Department of Nghe An Television Station. His main job here is to edit music, arrange music, and record for the Department's music programs.

I asked Quoc Nam about the people who had a great influence on his musical career. The musician said that after Tung Vinh, the first person who helped Quoc Nam understand more and become more passionate about each musical note, the teacher that Nam admired and was grateful for was musician and People's Artist Hoang Thanh. It was this musician who was the important person who guided Quoc Nam to follow the path of composing and guided him on every step, making him understand that it was a difficult but also extremely happy path.

“The second person who has influenced my career is my wife,” musician Quoc Nam laughed. Then he talked about his wife, Ms. Ho Thu Trang, a musician of the Art Troupe of Military Region IV. During the time they met and fell in love, it was Thu Trang who helped him get closer to the professional art environment, from which he matured on his creative path. Then it was also she, when she became his loving wife who always stood by his side, quietly took care of the housework so that her husband could go to school for many years, encouraged and motivated him, and created all the conditions for his music to take off.

Musician Quoc Nam and his wife - Ho Thu Trang (musician of Military Region 4 Art Group)

Quoc Nam admitted that his disadvantage was that he had little contact with classical music since childhood and only really came to it and understood it until he was 18 years old, but he was also extremely lucky to have talented and dedicated teachers such as the late musician Tung Vinh, People's Artist Hoang Thanh, musician Truong Ngoc Ninh and a wife who always loved and shared with him. That help, encouragement and love helped him always have the consciousness to explore, strive to rise up, to achieve success in his music composition career.

The song “Nghe An reaches new heights” won the Encouragement Prize in the songwriting contest about Nghe An, the song “Huong Toc” was awarded the Ho Xuan Huong Award in 2011, “Bai ca thanh nien Nghe An” won the Second Prize (no First Prize) in the 2011 youth songwriting contest launched by the Provincial Youth Union... The awards that Quoc Nam won, he knew that they were the expectations and pride of his teachers, the joy that sparkled in the eyes of his young wife. Then he told himself that he would have to try harder...

Outside of the award story, Quoc Nam is really happy to know that his songs are known and sung by many people. Up to now, with a total of over 30 works, some songs have reached a large audience such as "Nghe An reaches new heights", "Que huong la nui Hong, song Lam" (based on Trinh Van Vinh's poem), "Nho thuong vi giam" (based on Nguyen Duc Hien's poem)..., these are songs that have the power to spread, sung by famous singers such as Que Thuong, Huyen Trang (first prize Sao Mai). The song "Mien trung que lu" is also a song written by Quoc Nam in an emotional mood, many people sang and cried. In early 2016, a song written by him about Nghe An police officers was also awarded...

The song "Nho thuong vi giam" by musician Quoc Nam

And for Quoc Nam, those songs are gifts from the soul. He said that the most important thing in the creative process of artists in general and musicians in particular is emotion, then comes things like academics and supporting techniques.

When writing about his homeland, the emotions overflowing in his heart have awakened the musical notes, melodies, and lyrics. He loves his homeland, the Central region, a dry and windy land but beautiful and poetic like a painting. "That land has so many things that move the soul, so many things worth writing about that perhaps he cannot fully exploit in his entire life," Quoc Nam said. But as a young musician, besides the topic of his homeland, he also quickly grasped the modern musical tastes of the young generation and wrote many other topics suitable for his generation.

Quoc Nam's greatest wish is that his musical works are known to more people and have more influence. Therefore, for a musician, the number of works is not important, but in each of his compositions, each melody reminds him that it will truly reach the public's heart if it is written with all his heart and is filtered and polished with a serious working attitude.

Thuy Vinh