People's Artist Tien Dung and the unforgettable impression with 'The One Who Returns to Visit His Hometown'

The song that made the name of People's Artist Tien Dung

People's Artist Tien DungHe sang “Nguoi ve tham que” in 1995 when he came across this song by musician Thuan Yen without having heard any recordings. The gentle notes inspired by the Vi Giam melody immediately attracted the young singer Tien Dung. Tien Dung broke into the song and immediately felt that this was a song that suited his vocal range. And strangely, when he sang the melody and the heartfelt lyrics in the song, it seemed to speak for his heart, for the love of Uncle Ho of the people of the whole country. When he sang it for the leader of the song and dance troupe, he immediately received endless compliments. After that, Tien Dung was assigned to sing Nguoi ve tham que in the National Professional Performance Festival in 1995 and he won the highest prize at this Festival.

He recounted: At that time, I was young, a singer of the Nghe Tinh Song and Dance Troupe. Although I had won a few professional awards, when I accepted the song "Nguoi ve vien que" to compete in the National Song and Dance Festival that time, I was extremely worried because I was afraid that I could not live up to the expectations of the Troupe's leadership. And there was one special thing: with my song, the troupe built the image of Uncle Ho during his visit to his hometown, performed by artist Ngoc Ngai. At that time, the image of Uncle Ho being built on stage was an extremely important event, and very few troupes dared to stage it because the image of President Ho Chi Minh was so sacred and noble. I still remember that year, when I had just finished singing the last verse, the image of Uncle Ho waved to the audience from the wings, the whole hall burst into applause, the overflowing emotion spread throughout the auditorium...

As expected, the performance of “Nguoi ve tham que” (The People return to visit their hometown) performed by People’s Artist Tien Dung won the Gold Medal at the National Music and Dance Festival in 1995. Since then, whenever there was an important ceremony, “Nguoi ve tham que” was played on big stages. Remember the 50th anniversary of Uncle Ho’s visit to his hometown, when People’s Artist Tien Dung stepped out from the wings and sang the melody: “Ho Chi Minh, you came here to visit and brought with you many memories, Ho Chi Minh, you left behind an unforgettable memory for your homeland..."In the audience, many tears fell. The whole space was filled with Uncle Ho's immense love, both the singers and the audience felt their hearts vibrate with the melodies of longing for him...."

But for People's Artist Tien Dung, the most beautiful and sacred memory is...People visiting their hometownIt was the time he sang at Uncle Ho's house in his hometown Lang Sen. It was on New Year's Eve, Kim Lien Relic Site was chosen as a bridge point of Vietnam Television. Right at the moment of New Year's Eve, he stepped onto the stage and his heart fluttered, singing the melody that had accompanied him through the years: "Traveling around the world, still remembering my homeland...".

The lyrics were familiar, but why was that moment so strangely sacred? He sang as if his whole heart and mind were turned to Uncle Ho, his emotions welled up, he felt like he met Uncle Ho in that moment...

The sound echoes forever

In the program 40 years of singing of People's Artist Tien Dung held in 2018, when the host introduced the performance of People's Artist Tien Dung, he said: And now the songPeople visiting their hometownPerformed by People's Artist Tien Dung, the song is a memorable highlight, a brilliant milestone that creates the artist's image in the hearts of the people... the auditorium resounded with endless applause.

Later, although he held many positions, as a singer, he was always trusted by organizers to sing songs."People visiting their hometown"We still remember, once in a program commemorating the implementation of His Will, the song "People visiting their hometown"was chosen as the main song of the program, but because of the desire for innovation, the Organizing Committee planned to assign a young singer to sing this song.

The program was set up, on the day of the report, after watching it, the Department leader commented: "This song must be sung by Mr. Dung to be worthy, no one can replace him". Immediately after that, People's Artist Tien Dung, although retired, was still invited to take on the task of more than 40 years of his career. And when People's Artist Tien Dung's voice resounded with "Nguoi ve tham que", the program received praise from thousands of audiences.

These days of May, when the Sen Village Festival is taking place in the hometown of President Ho Chi Minh, People's Artist Tien Dung is also busy with his duties as a person who organizes art programs for a number of units.

He recalled: "For more than 10 years as a manager, I have been the main director of the artistic content for the Sen Village Festival and Sen Village Singing programs. Each year has a different theme, but in general, they all praise the beauty of personality, greatness, and shining example of President Ho Chi Minh."

During that time, he composed works about Uncle Ho such as: Lotus Fragrance of Uncle Ho's Hometown (Folk Song Suite), Lotus Village Festival Remembering Uncle Ho, May Remembering Uncle Ho... Tien Dung also confided that it is very difficult to write well about Uncle Ho and requires good fortune, so for a musician and artist like him to have works that many troupes have chosen to perform at the Lotus Village Festival for many years is also a proud honor. And in his career with many different positions, performing, composing, staging, organizing, managing and transmitting, he always believes that every position is very important to himself and the community, so he always tries his best to complete it. But in the life of a performing artist, having a lifetime work on stage like the songPeople visiting their hometownIt is truly a stroke of luck that I will always cherish and remember.

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People's Artist Pham Tien Dung, born in 1959, birth name Nguyen Canh Dung, hometown Anh Son district, Nghe An. He is a member of the Nghe An Literature and Arts Association; member of the Nghe An Folk Arts Association; member of the Vietnam Musicians Association.

*Main works in the field of composition: Ép duyên (1992); Nội các anh đi lại (1994); Het ang roi thuong (1995); Net moi ban lang; Tam su co gai ban (1996); Huong sac song Lam (1999); Emotions from the folk songs (2002); Tro ve xu Nghe (2004); Yeu lam que minh (2005); Hat troi ve anh (2007); Tim ve cau Vi, Giam (2012); Song Lam tinh ma (2016); Ve voi que minh (2023)... and many songs about the mountainous region: Binh minh mien Tay; Ve ban O Du cung em; Sac xuan mien Tay... He won the C prize in 2005, 2 B prizes in 2010 and 2015 - Ho Xuan Huong Literature and Arts Award; Second prize in the 2012 Nghe An songwriting contest; Music award of the Vietnam Musicians Association...

*In the performing field, People's Artist Tien Dung also achieved many successes: In 1982, he won the Gold Medal at the Stage Singing Competition in Nghia Binh; In 1994, he won the Gold Medal at the performance in Lai Chau; In 1992, he won the Gold Medal at the National Music and Dance Festival in Hanoi; In 1995, he won 2 Gold Medals at the National Music and Dance Festival in Hai Phong with the song Neo doi ben que, composed by An Thuyen and the song Nguoi ve tham que, composed by Thuan Yen; In 1999, Tien Dung sang a duet with Meritorious Artist Ngoc Ha and won the Gold Medal in Da Nang.

* In 1989, Pham Tien Dung returned to Nghe Tinh Song and Dance Troupe as Team Leader. After the province was separated, Tien Dung worked at Nghe An Song and Dance Troupe. In 1993, he was appointed as Deputy Head of the Troupe, in 1995 he went to study at the University of Culture, in 1997 Tien Dung was appointed as Head of the Song and Dance Troupe and was awarded the title of Meritorious Artist. In 2009, Meritorious Artist Pham Tien Dung was promoted to Deputy Director of Nghe An Department of Culture and Sports. He was awarded the title of People's Artist in 2015.