In the 1920s Hanoi had 216 ca tru groups with nearly 2,000 co dao or co dau (women singers). Working along side the co dau were dao ruou or ‘attractive wine girls’, who did not sing but served customers. Since that period, ca tru developed an unsavoury reputation, and it was increasingly seen as immoral work, tied up in the popular imagination with prostitution, an idea that has prevailed until relatively recently.
Now, however, fans of ca tru still see it for its musical value and honour its performers. Ca tru is experiencing something of a revival, with young people becoming increasingly interested in learning and performing the traditional music at classes.
Despite ca tru being a traditional form of courtly chamber music which dates back to the 16th century, its wonderful mixture of poetic lyrics, intricate and difficult-to-master vocals and musical instrumentation is finding increasing popularity among young people.
At Hanoi’s famous Thang Long Club young people are studying. The club’s first three members were 86-year-old craftsman Nguyen Phu De and 78-year-old Nguyen Thi Chuc and their special student 36-year-old Pham Thi Hue. Since then the club has grown and now boasts ten young performers, three girl child singers, and several senior members. Now Pham Thi Hue is training younger singers and introducing them to the classical songs at her music class in Cong Vi Communal House, Doi Can Street, Hanoi without tuition fees.
Hue says “My class has some members attending to listen to the music. The class attracts people of different ages and backgrounds. Some visit the club after watching us on television, some have a passion for music, and some want to learn about the music to help to preserve traditional values.”
Hue has taught music in Sweden and introduced Vietnamese traditional music while there. She says “Whenever Swedish students visit Vietnam, they often take advantage of their time to attend my free class to enjoy the music and discover more about Vietnamese culture.”
While once ca tru was confined to small inns and special festivities, now it can be found being performed and sung once a month and every first Saturday night of month by the Thang Long Ca Tru Club. The performances are to introduce ca tru to traditional music lovers and teach them how to play their instruments. Pham Thi Hue says “My club is well-known for having lots of young performers who we are training, helping to preserve and promote ca tru.”
“At the beginning of the course, I introduce my pupils to the five basic methods, including the rules about writing verses and the rhythm of the phach (small wooden sticks beaten on a small bamboo platform to serve as percussion), then gradually they are trained in the more difficult skills such as the rhythm of songs, playing the dan day and singing.”
The most widely performed type of ca tru involves only three performers: a female singer provides the vocals whilst playing her phach. She is accompanied by a man who plays the dan day, a long-necked, 3-string lute. A spectator (often a scholar or connoisseur of the art) strikes a trong chau (praise drum). The way in which he strikes the drum shows whether he likes or dislikes the performance, but he always does it according to the beat provided by the singers’ phach percussion.
Hue says “I often advise my pupils that to learn ca tru well they need to have a passion and a willingness to learn it to the last.”
Thanks to the clubs like the Thang Long Club, ca tru has been preserved and promoted. A lot of young people have gradually become professional performers.
Hue’s daughter 9-year-old Nguyen Hue Phuong, often follows her mother to the class and also has a passion for ca tru, just like her mother. Hue Phuong says “I love ca tru because it is nice to listen to. I try to practice singing in my free time, even when I am playing, although I have to spend time studying too.” She says “Now I can sing with a long and loud breath and with a clear voice. I can sing ten songs.”
Dan day craftsman Nguyen Phu De and performer Nguyen Thi Chuc of the Thang Long Club are two musicians who have spent their lives teaching their descendants this traditional music, and they act as advisors to Pham Thi Hue.
Today, extensive efforts are being made to invigorate the genre, including many festivals and events where several types of ca tru (among other related arts) are performed. Vietnam has also completed the documentation to have ca tru recognised by UNESCO as a masterpiece of oral and intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
Nguyen Thi Chuc says “I am going to pass away one day, and I would be inconsolable if I hadn’t helped preserve ca tru for the younger generation.”
Ca tru lessons take place at the Thang Long Club, Cong Vi Communal House, 518 Alley, Doi Can Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi.
Hoang Thuy (The Vietnam Nation)
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