The passion for folk songs and Vi Giam of an 80-year-old artist

(Baonghean.vn)- Artisan Nguyen Trong Dong (80 years old) in Thanh Tuong commune, Thanh Chuong district has just been awarded the title "Meritorious Artisan".

Nguyen Trong Dong was born into a poor farming family. From an early age, he was immersed in profound and meaningful folk songs.

Clip of old artist Nguyen Trong Dong singing folk songs:

.

Growing up with the songs, in 1954 he left Vinh An village, Thanh Tuong commune to study at Lien Khu 4 Pedagogical School and then became a teacher. But it seemed like fate, the childhood memories with the folk songs urged him to soon return and attach himself to the folk melodies of Nghe - Tinh.

Although he is 80 years old this year, Mr. Nguyen Trong Dong is still passionate about folk songs, vi and giam.

The performance "Forest - Sea of ​​Love" was born and won First Prize at the Nghe An Province Mass Art Performance in 1965, officially directing Nguyen Trong Dong's life and career to a different direction.

From the Principal of the Primary School, he was transferred to the District Cultural Office. His passion and natural talent created Trong Dong - a screenwriter with hundreds of works and thousands of folk songs; many of which won gold medals at the national mass art performance such as: Traction Strength, The First Straw of the Season, A Certificate, Stories Behind the Counter, Dien Bien Heroism, Teamwork Affection...

Most of his works have been staged, performed and broadcast on radio and television.

Along with composing, Nguyen Trong Dong also has many contributions in the field of collecting, researching and introducing folk songs.

He and his colleagues traveled all over the countryside, collected over 100 folk songs with ancient lyrics, recorded many documents about ca tru, xam cho and collected dozens of stories.

Every night, he still researches, collects and composes new lyrics.

From his ancient repertoire, he wrote 18 Ca Tru songs with themes about the Party, Uncle Ho and the homeland; many Ca Tru singers who won high prizes at provincial festivals were discovered and nurtured by him.

With his contributions, he was admitted to the Literature and Arts Association, the Nghe An Folk Arts Association, became close friends with many famous people, became friends with talented younger generations... and recently he was one of 39 artisans of Nghe An who were awarded the title "Meritorious Artisan" by the State in the first batch.

Over the age of 80, he has been working hard as the head of the District Folk Song Club, actively collaborating with the Thanh Chuong education sector to bring folk songs into schools, and is enthusiastically helping many localities and schools organize and maintain the activities of grassroots folk song clubs.

Among the performances of 3 folk song clubs of Thanh Chuong district participating in the recent Nghe An Vi Dam Folk Song Festival, the number of works that he collected and composed accounted for more than half. His script The Price of Life to Pay was just released last year and won the Ho Xuan Huong Award, making many people admire him even more.

A lifelong passion, Nguyen Trong Dong was very pleased and happy when Nghe An folk songs were recognized by UNESCO as a cultural heritage of humanity. Because, at his age, he understood more deeply the saying of beloved Uncle Ho "If you love your Fatherland, you will love folk songs even more passionately".

This year he is 80 years old, his health is no longer good, but he always keeps in mind that as long as he has strength, he will continue to sing and compose Vi and Giam folk songs, all for the preservation of Vi and Giam folk songs of Nghe An...

Tran Dinh Ha