HISTORY OF VIETNAMESE MUSIC

THE PAST HISTORY OF VIETNAMESE MUSIC

The music of Vietnam and its history are too complex to be described briefly. True, to a large extent, Vietnamese music was handed down from one generation to another. I am spending my life studying music of every corner of the country, and am fortunate, however, in having some various written and oral sources on my research.

It is hoped that the present information will prove both informative and entertaining to those who have been attracted to Vietnamese music. The exact ethnological origin of the Vietnamese music is not clearly known. In addition to the Chinese, Korean, Mongolian and Southeast Asian’s influences found in archeological remnants, there seems to be something that can only be explained as indigenously Vietnamese.

Along with Chinese literature, architecture, government, and religion, Vietnam had adopted Chinese music models and developed music of her own. However, in the process of adaptation, the system was likely reshaped by the Vietnamese people according to their own well established habit.

Western music is easily understood by Westerners because it is part of their own heritage. A large part of Vietnamese music is either incomprehensible to them or greatly oversimplified for them by convenient stereotypes provided by only partially-informed writers, who sometimes confuse it with that of China. Therefore, before Westerners could understand Vietnamese music, they must first have an idea of its place in the general history of Vietnam.

Because of her geographical locations, Vietnam belongs as much to East-Asia as to South-Asia. Moreover, Vietnam was under Chinese domination for a thousand years (from the 1st to the 10th century). Besides, at the crossroads of peoples and civilization, Vietnam was also in touch with the people of the ancient Indianized Kingdom of Champa (The Cham still exist in greatly reduced number as one of the ethnic minorities in Viet Nam today).


Vietnamese music, like Vietnamese culture, is primarily East Asian rather than Southeast Asian. Its closest affinities are to China, Korea, Japan, and Mongolia. This combination of influences has produced a sophisticated and multifaceted musical culture, and it is not surprising that Vietnamese music shares many characteristics with that of China. Among the common items are the Pentatonic (five-tone) scale, and more than a dozen instruments, some of which are central to the music of both cultures.

Vietnam has many kinds of music, and many varieties of each musical form: The North, The Center and The South have their own kinds of music including:

Court music – (which has eight subdivisions)
Ceremonial and Religious music – The prayers of thanks and supplications of remembrance. (Religions include Buddhism, Confucianism, and Caodaiism)
Music for Entertainment - (roughly comparable to Western Chamber music)
Folk music and the ethnic minorities - provide even more variety with their own ceremonies, dances and songs.
Musical Theater, long popular in Vietnam, divides clearly into three sections:

The Folk Opera of the North - resembles the opera comic and the Renovated Theater of the South (Hat Cai luong).
The Classical Theater of the Central - akin to grand opera called the “Hat Boi”. Legend claims that the “Hat Boi” was initially brought to Viet Nam from China by a Chinese invasion soldier who was captured by the Vietnamese army. (1)
The Renovated Theater of the South (Hat Cai Luong) - a kind of operetta. It was born in the twentieth century as a mixture of Chamber music, French theater, and traditional element. (2)

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(1)The Hat Boi is a conventionalized and symbolic art form, not at all a realistic one. The Vietnamese Hat Boi borrowed from Chinese opera the symbolic use of scenery, the costumes, makeup, and the gestures. Its stories remain mostly Chinese or translations of Chinese historical tales which have a Confucian moral. Musically, in Hat Boi the percussion is the most important element. The largest drum is the “trô'' ng chiên” (battle drum), which punctuates declamations and accompanies songs and dances, and also leads the orchestra. The second most important musician plays the “Kèn” (oboe or sona). The “Kèn” in Vietnamese ears “rips the heart from your intestines”, and it is therefore also used in funeral music. The “dan Co or dan Nhi and the dan Gao” (2 stringed-fiddle) is especially used to accompany declamations. Percussion instruments include Gongs and Cliquettes, and sometimes also the buffalo horn and Cymbals. Today, the Hat Boi is in a period of decline
(2) The Hat Cai luong - The growth of the Hat Cai luong made it necessary to have a great deal of additional music. The Nhac Tai Tu music was not enough; so many new pieces were written, particularly shorter selections to fit particular kinds of action. Singing is the most important feature, as 70 % to 80 % of a performance may be devoted to songs, accompanied by instruments such as the “dan Kim” or “dan Nguyet” (moon shaped-lute), the “dan Tranh” (Zither), the “dan Co” or “dan Nhi” and the “dan Gao” (2 stringed-fiddle), the “dan Tam” (3 nylon strings fretless lute), the “dan Doc huyen” or “dan Bau” (monochord). The Hat Cai luong has increased its popularity over the years compared with the Hat Boi.