People with a heavy heart for singing

(Baonghean) - For over 40 years, village teacher Dang Quang Lien (Dien Tho commune, Dien Chau district) has always been concerned about the traditional culture of his homeland. With his heart and responsibility, the research work "The melody of singing in Nho Lam" was born. The work was awarded the B prize (no A prize) by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Folk Arts Association for outstanding research work and won the B prize, the 5th Ho Xuan Huong Award of the province...

Although he is a famous person in the research village, the people of Dien Tho commune still call researcher Dang Quang Lien by a simple name: Teacher Lien. He said: “I was born in Nho Lam village, a famous land of learning. My grandfather was a rear official in Ha Tinh, my maternal grandfather was a graduate of Chinese studies, my mother was also a person who loved literature, so from a young age I was always immersed in books”. He is proud that although his mother is just a country woman, she knows a lot of folk songs and folk songs, so from a young age he was imbued with folk culture.

Researcher Dang Quang Lien.

His love for the nation’s culture was also kindled over time. However, it was not until the late 1950s that he began to approach research. Recalling that day, he said: “Once I was invited to train teachers in Vinh. During recess, a tall man came and asked: “You are from Nho Lam, you must know how to sing. Please go to Mrs. Hoet Ngoc’s house and write down for me the song of the forge!”

The person with outstanding height and a strong Thanh Hoa accent was none other than Professor Ninh Viet Giao. To him, Mrs. Hoet Ngoc was not a stranger because she lived right in front of his house. He felt angry with himself, because someone who lived far away like Professor Ninh Viet Giao found it precious, but he, because he lived close by, did not realize the value of the songs that Mrs. Hoet Ngoc sang every day. From that time on, he began to learn about singing and cherished the desire to copy all the singing that was still preserved in the area.

The most difficult thing at that time was that the country was still at war, and he himself had to take on teaching work, so he did not have much time to collect. It was not until after peace was restored that the idea was gradually realized. He recounted a memory during the process of collecting documents: “Once I went to teach in Dien Phu, on the way back I happened to hear that Mr. Dien Hien knew many singing melodies. Without hesitation, I went to his house and sat from 11am to 5pm, forgetting to eat to listen to him sing. If there was a part that was unclear, I asked him to sing it over and over again to write it down completely... At that time, modern means were not available, so all documents were copied by hand or memorized in my head...”.

Hat reo is the song of people who go to collect firewood and grass in Dai Vac forest, mainly young men and women of Nho Lam village. "Reo" here means cheering. In the past, when carrying firewood and grass, to forget the tiredness, the villagers sang while walking. The melody of hat reo was deeply influenced by the melodies of ve dam and other folk songs of Nghe An. The only difference is that because they sang while doing hard labor, running and singing, each person sang a verse. They sang until they returned to the village. When the last verse of the song ended, the horn blew loudly, the cheers made the whole countryside noisy.

Although Hat reo is a unique and regionally distinctive folk music genre, many people in the region had forgotten it before the research work “Hat reo Melody in Nho Lam” by author Dang Quang Lien was published. Perhaps because of that, after the book was published and received an award, the author himself did not consider it important.

On the contrary, what he is most happy about is reviving a tune, a folk culture of the region. Looking at the nearly 200-page research work of author Dang Quang Lien, one can see that this is quite an elaborate work. It includes complete documents about the origin and development process of the singing troupe in the region. In addition, the author has also published dozens of typical singing songs that he has collected over the past forty years. The songs are carefully analyzed, demonstrating the unique values ​​of the tune.

Besides this meaningful work, few people know that teacher Dang Quang Lien is passionate about Sinology and has many published works, including the nearly 600-page "Nghe An Stele" written by him with authors Dao Tam Tinh and Thai Doan Chat. In addition, he also participated in writing "Dien Chau Geography, Village Culture", Treasure of Nghe An Verses (9 volumes), Treasure of Nghe An Folk Tales (4 volumes), Nghe An Culinary Culture, Nghe An Folk Games, etc.

At 80 years old, his passion for writing and dedication also helps him forget about his approaching old age. More importantly, it is the quietest way for him to know that he is still useful and valuable to life.

My Ha

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