I met a musician from Nghe An who has written many songs about President Ho Chi Minh.
With over 50 years of experience in the music industry and having composed hundreds of songs, Van The is known as one of the musicians in Nghe An who has written many songs about President Ho Chi Minh.
The source of joy
Starting his career with the Nghe An Performing Arts Troupe in 1959, musician Van The (born in 1937) began his creative journey for the culture and music of Nghe An province. To date, his musical legacy includes hundreds of songs, many of which have the folk music style of Nghe Tinh, and are loved and highly appreciated by the public.
In particular, one of musician Van The's successful themes is composing songs about President Ho Chi Minh. With 15 works published in the song collection "Song Lam, the Love of Uncle Ho," he is considered one of the musicians in Nghe An with many compositions about President Ho Chi Minh, including some highly acclaimed songs that have won several awards.
“The first song about President Ho Chi Minh I wrote was in 1969, ‘Celebrating President Ho Chi Minh’s Spring Poetry,’ set to his New Year’s greetings poem. Immediately afterwards, the Nghe An Performing Arts Troupe was assigned to perform for a delegation of Central Committee officials led by Comrade Le Duan – the First Secretary. The song ‘Celebrating President Ho Chi Minh’s Spring Poetry’ was the opening act of the performance and received much praise,” recalled musician Van The.
Some time later, the song "Celebrating President Ho Chi Minh's Spring Poetry" was submitted by composer Do Nhuan, then the General Secretary of the Vietnam Musicians Association, to the Magazine of the Ministry of Culture and Information and broadcast on the Voice of Vietnam Radio.
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Previously, President Ho Chi Minh's New Year's greeting poem from 1969 was successfully set to music by composer Huy Thuc in the song "Forward, Soldiers and Compatriots," which was broadcast on the Voice of Vietnam radio station and was seen as an exhortation to the people and soldiers nationwide. The song was highly praised, deeply touching people's hearts, imbued with the traditional folk opera style of the Northern countryside and also incorporating elements of the folk singing and chanting of Nghe Tinh, President Ho Chi Minh's homeland.
When composer Văn Thế set President Ho Chi Minh's New Year's greeting poem to music in 1969, he determined that he had to make a difference by emphasizing the song with a rapid and decisive melody. In particular, the line "Fight to drive the Americans out, fight to overthrow the puppet regime" clearly expresses the fighting spirit and victory of the army and people of both North and South Vietnam.
To achieve this, composer Van The effectively utilized the melodies of Nghe An folk songs. In other words, the robustness and powerful yet profound rhythm of the folk songs and melodies were "infused" into the music by the Nghe An composer, contributing to the success of the song "Celebrating President Ho Chi Minh's Spring Poem".
Composer Văn Thế shared: “Just like literature and painting, composing songs about President Ho Chi Minh is always a great challenge. Many composers from all over the country have already achieved success with timeless songs, including big names like Thuận Yến, Phong Nhã, Huy Thục, and An Thuyên… Therefore, I had to find my own path by drawing inspiration from the melodies and traditions of Nghệ An folk music.”
May it resonate and spread far and wide.
Following the song "Celebrating President Ho Chi Minh's Spring Poetry," composer Van The continued to create more beautiful songs about President Ho Chi Minh, notably "Pilgrimage to President Ho Chi Minh's Homeland" (C Prize - Ho Xuan Huong Award of the Nghe An Literature and Arts Association); "The Sacred Moment of New Year's Eve" (B Prize - in the campaign to create and promote literary, artistic, and journalistic works on the theme "Studying and Following the Moral Example of Ho Chi Minh" in 2010)...
At the same time, in addition to songs, composer Van The also composed several choral works on the theme of President Ho Chi Minh and achieved considerable success, most notably the work "Epic of the Lam River" (Category C - Ho Xuan Huong Award).
The driving force behind musician Van The's numerous songs about President Ho Chi Minh was none other than his deep respect and love for the immense contributions of the President to the country and its people. Furthermore, as a cultural officer in charge of mass arts, every year on the occasion of President Ho Chi Minh's birthday, especially during the Lang Sen Singing Festival, he always wished to compose songs to offer to him.
In addition, composer Van The is also known for his extensive practical experience in his homeland of Nghe An. He belongs to an earlier generation of composers, having witnessed many periods of change in his homeland and country, and having worked in various cultural and artistic organizations, thus accumulating a wealth of life experience and expertise that contributed to his artistic success.
Composer Van The has compiled 15 songs about President Ho Chi Minh into a collection titled "The Lam River, the Love of Uncle Ho," which was recently published. In the introduction, composer Thanh Luu affirmed: "It can be said that the theme of Uncle Ho is an endless source of inspiration that many composers have successfully written about, but not many have written as much as he (composer Van The)... Perhaps that is why the Provincial People's Committee decided to invest in him publishing a collection of songs on this theme, titled 'The Lam River, the Love of Uncle Ho'."
"This is a recognition of the contributions of a musician who composed many songs praising the President's merits in the Vietnamese revolutionary cause, and it is also a precious gift to him."
It is known that recently, composer Van The recorded the song "Song Lam, the Love of Uncle Ho" (one of 15 songs in the collection) and submitted it to the competition for composing and promoting works on the theme "Studying and following the moral example and style of Ho Chi Minh". The work was highly appreciated for both its ideological content and form of expression, and was awarded first prize in the Music category by the Organizing Committee.
Composer Van The shared: “My greatest wish is to continue recording the remaining songs to widely disseminate them in the cultural and artistic life of my homeland. From there, the heartfelt feelings and gratitude towards Uncle Ho will resonate and spread far and wide…”
Despite his advanced age, composer Van The remains passionate about composing and has many beautiful songs about his homeland and President Ho Chi Minh. His songs about President Ho Chi Minh are often short, with simple lyrics, yet full of emotion, expressing the sacred feelings of his descendants for him.
Musician Trinh Quang Thuan - Member of the Standing Committee of the Nghe An Provincial Association of Literature and Arts