Vietnamese-Australian Nguyen Le Tuyen says he was lucky to discover a
Tai tu (traditional improvisational chamber music) piece performed in
Paris more than 100 years ago.
It was at the
National Library in the French capital that he found the musical
notation written for the Vietnamese song by a French researcher. Julien
Tiersot had been researching Tai tu when a troupe from Vietnam performed
the song in Paris.
Tuyen, who studies Vietnam’s
gong culture, plays rock music, and lectures at the Australian National
University, said he recently became hooked on Vietnamese traditional
music. He puts down his discovery of Indochina Dance, as the musical
piece is called, to “fate”.
He recently published a
book in Vietnamese about traditional music in Vietnam between the late
19th and early 20th centuries, written in collaboration with another
Vietnamese-Australian, Nguyen Duc Hiep, a researcher.
History of Tai tu, Hat boi (southern traditional theatre) and Cai
luong (reformed theatre) was a labour of love for them, almost
literally, as his analogy showed. “While writing the book about the
history of three types of Vietnamese traditional music – Tai tu, Hat boi
and Cai luong – Hiep and I were not aware we were working; it was love,
rather,” Tuyen said.
They did not focus on materials
available in Vietnam, but western ones. Explaining this, he said while
researching into gong culture too he was keen to know foreigners’ view
of Vietnamese music. “It is important to know what foreigners thinks
about Vietnamese traditional music at a time of globalisation.”
Tuyen said he wants to raise awareness among Vietnamese as well as
outsiders, especially the musical community, about Tai tu, which is
awaiting UNESCO recognition as an intangible cultural heritage.
He is set to talk about the music at an international conference in
Hong Kong. “Staying in a foreign country, I can introduce Vietnamese
music to foreigners in a more effective way.”
Referring to Tuyen’s discovery of Indochina Dance, Nguyen Thi Hai
Phuong, a well-known performer of Vietnamese traditional music, said the
discovery has turned the spotlight on Tai tu other traditional music
forms. “Despite knowing that UNESCO recognition is being sought for Tai
tu, people don’t pay attention to the music. The discovery has [changed
that].”
But he has had to battle criticism. Critics
and traditional musicians have derided him, possibly unfairly, for
researching traditional music while being a rock musician. “[They] made
comments about my research, but they did not read my research
thoroughly,” Tuyen said.-VNA