-- Lui beaucoup faire saoûler hier soir -- lui pas laissé ine sou
-- Him make big drunk last night - him not leave a penny
-- Anh ta say xỉn quá tối hôm qua -- anh ta không để một xu nào cả
source: Courrier d'Haiphong 25 aout 1906
We see a European soldier (French or legionnaire?) and his congaïe. He has gone on quite a drunk. During colonial Indochina, the government and armed forces organized many "grands bals" where there was dancing until dawn. Whatever happened, it involved a great deal of unchecked carousing.
What is the yellow peril? The congaïe could be considered a concubine - a poor young woman who met a man's physical and domestic needs. The term comes from the Vietnam "con gái" meaning daughter or girl.
Is she the peril? She seems to be always at the ready to spirit away the contents of his pockets. However, she has their joint household to consider. He needs to provide money for her to take to market so she can cook and feed the two of them.
Is the stationing of soldiers like him in an unchecked environment among the "yellow races" the actual peril. It looks like life in Indochina has gotten the better of him.
Đây, từng lớp sóng Nhạc bắt đầu trào lên dâng tràn ngút ngát khắp nẻo đường quê hương: Nhạc Dân tộc Nhạc tiến bộ.
Tất cả một Mùa Nhạc đầy sức sống tươi trẻ đang tưng bừng chỗi dậy tự lòng đất để đâm chồi nây lộc trong sinh khí Cộng Hòa. Trăm ý nhạc đang dạt dào vươn lên trong gió lộng Tự d và bên niềm tin tưởng vô biên ở tương lai xứ sở.
Đã qua rồi cả một quá khứ tối tăm nô dịch mà nghệ thuật nói chung, Âm nhạc nói riêng, bị áp lực của Thực Cộng Phong Kiến bóp chết.
Ngày nay không còn nữa những điệu nhạc ủy mị, sa đọa bệnh hoạn, đã tắt rồi, những giọng ca lời hát hỗn loạn, vong bản, phản ảnh trung thành của một xã hội thối nát đồi bại đã xê vào cõi chết.
Phải rồi, những kiến trúc lỗi thời phải được đạp đổ, san bằng đi để xây cất lại những lâu đài mới nguy nga chói sáng ý Tự do, những rơm rác cỏ dại phải được thiêu hủy đi, để những chồi non lộc tia của một nền nhạc lành mạnh, đầy nhựa sống Dân tộc, được chỗi dậy tươi tốt vươn lên như khóm trúc Cộng Hòa.
Here, each musical wave begins to surge and overflow throughout all the roads of the homeland: People's music, progressive music.
All of a musical season full of youthful vibrancy, animated rises up from the land, sprouts and flourishes in the spirit of the Republic. Hundreds of musical ideas are surging forth in the winds of freedom, fueled by boundless faith in the future of the nation.
They have passed, the dark past of enslavement, where the arts generally, and music in particular, was pressured by colono-communi-feudalism to be strangled.
Today, there are no more sickly, decadent, and morbid melodies, they've died out; the chaotic, rootless voices and lyrics, faithfully reflecting a rotten and corrupt society, have made their way into the realm of the dead.
Yes, the out of date structures must be dismantled and leveled to make way for new, magnificent castles shining with ideals of Freedom; the rubbish and weeds must be burned away so that the tender shoots and buds of a wholesome music, full of National vitality is able to rise up and flourish like the bamboo cluster of the Republic.
....
"Lời phi lộ," Mùa Nhạc Mới (Saigon: ??, 1956)
This editorial was published in the early days of the Republic of Vietnam. A new nation needs a new music. I find this passage interesting because it relies on a rhetoric very similar to that of the communists in the north. The "dark past of enslavement" for the communists was clearly the era of French colonization and also came mean for them the sinister domination of the United States. For the Republic of Vietnam this dark past could be both the French colonization and communist control in the north.
I am also amused by the formulation "Thực Cộng Phong Kiến" - thực is short for "thực dân" (colonialism) and cộng is short for "cộng sản" (communism). "Phong kiến" is a pejorative term that the Vietnamese -- both the Republic of Vietnam and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam -- apply to their own Vietnamese past.
It means "feudalism" and was coined to the European term. It applies to the economic, social and political system dominating Europe during the time period between the fall of Rome and the rise of the Enlightenment. The Vietnamese also apply phong kiến / feudalism to the time of their independence from China in the 10th century (anno domini) until the 19th century. Thus, the defeat of the Chinese is commensurate with the Fall of Rome and the arrival of French colonizers is commensurate with the Enlightenment, with the distinction that the French were said to have intentionally continued to inflect feudalism on the Vietnamese. Only the land-reform movement brought an end to feudalism in Vietnam.
[Chế Động Phong Kiến ... hình thành và phát triển trong thời kì từ thế kỉ 10 đến thế kỉ 19, sao đó dưới chế đội thực dân, Chế Độ phong kiến vẫ được bảo tồn và những tàn sư của nó còn tồn tại cho đến cải cách ruộng đất - Từ điển bách khoa Việt Nam (Hà Nội: Trung Tâm Biên Soạn Từ Điển Bách Khoa Việt Nam, 1995).]
In additional to using similar political terminology with the communist north, the Republic of Vietnam editorialist employs musical descriptors that the communists applied to nhạc vàng / yellow music like "ủy mị" and "sa đọa".
The crucial distinction for the southern writer is Freedom / Tự Do. He wishes that his nascent nation will produce music with a fighting spirit like that of the north. Somehow "Freedom" is bringing this into fruition. "Freedom" is also sweeping away the rubbish of the past and the music of the colonial-communist-feudal north. One problem with "Freedom" is that free people often do what they like, not what history, society or their leaders directs them to do.
Depuis quelques jours, le tam-tam, ne cesse pas, dans un village voisin. Le tam-tam, souligne les pantalonades ou les passages saillants de spièc es jounés par des acteurs ambulants.
Il y a, en effet, théâtre offert par quelques uns des cais qui ont gagné pas mal d'argent en fournissant le gravier nécessaire pour le ballastage de la ligne Viétri-Yen-Bay. Certains disent avoir ramassé ainsi 5 ou 6,000 piastres, ce qui est une petite fortune, et je comprends leur joei un peu bruyante et leur désir d'épater leurs compatriotes.
Mais n'est-il pas pénible de constater que presque partout des cais indigènes s'enrichissent alors que nombre d'Européens végétent, quand ils ne se ruinent pas.
Il est vari que l'Administration, toujours bienveillante vis-à-vis des Asiatiques, se montre inflexible lorsqu'il s'agit d'Européens.
Et puis, certains moyens employés par les Annamite répugnent aux Francais, et c'est peut-être là la cause de leur insuccès.
Quoi qu'il en soit, l'argent dépensé ici par la France ne va pas aux Francais; il s'en va aux Chinois et aux Annamites. Vive la liberté.
For the past few days, the drum beat has been incessant in a neighboring village. The drum beat underscores the slapstick and prominent passages of plays performed by traveling actors.
Indeed, there is a spectacle being put on by some of the cashiers who have earned a considerable amount of money by supplying the gravel needed for ballasting the Vietri-Yen-Bay railway line. Some claim to have amassed 5,000 or 6,000 piastres this way, which is a small fortune, and I understand their somewhat boisterous joy and their desire to impress their compatriots.
But isn't it distressing to see that almost everywhere native cashiers are getting rich while many Europeans are barely scraping by, if not going bankrupt?
It is true that the Administration, always benevolent towards Asians, is inflexible when it comes to Europeans.
Furthermore, some of the methods employed by the Annamites are repugnant to the French, and this may be the cause of their failure.
In any case, the money spent here by France does not go to the French; it goes to the Chinese and the Annamites. Long live liberty.
Trong những ngày gần đây, tiếng trống ở một ngôi làng kế cận vẫn không ngừng. Tiếng trống nhấn mạnh những màn hài kịch hoặc những đoạn nổi bật trong các vở kịch do các đoàn chèo lưu động biểu diễn.
Quả thực, có một màn trình diễn được dàn dựng bởi một số người thu ngân, những người đã kiếm được khá nhiều tiền nhờ cung cấp sỏi đá để làm đá dằn cho tuyến đường sắt Việt Trì - Vịnh Yên. Một số người tuyên bố đã thu được 5.000 hoặc 6.000 đồng theo cách này, một khoản tiền không nhỏ, và tôi hiểu được niềm vui có phần ồn ào và mong muốn làm sĩ diện đồng bào của họ.
Nhưng chẳng phải thật đau lòng khi thấy rằng hầu như ở khắp mọi nơi, những người thu ngân bản xứ được làm giàu trong khi nhiều người châu Âu chỉ đủ sống đơn điệu, thậm chí có thể bị phá sản?
Đúng là chính quyền, luôn luôn nhân từ với người châu Á, lại cứng rắn khi đối xử với người châu Âu.
Hơn nữa, một số phương pháp mà người An Nam sử dụng lại rất gớm guối đối với người Pháp, và đây có thể là nguyên nhân họ bị thất bại.
Dù sao đi nữa, số tiền Pháp chi tiêu ở đây không vào túi người Pháp; mà vào tú người Trung Quốc và người An Nam. Tự do muôn năm!
nguồn: On nous écrit, "Bac-Hat," Courrier d'Haiphong 10 mai 1904
The thrust of the article is a complaint that the government paid local Vietnamese for labor and resources instead of French who were said to be experiencing economic hardship - (cais indigènes s'enrichissent alors que nombre d'Européens végétent, quand ils ne se ruinent pas). French money should be paid to the French!
The Chinese and Vietnamese who were paid for the ballast evidently employed laborers who worked under dangerous or difficult conditions that the French would never allow French workers to experience.
The author adds emphasis to this terrible state of affairs by lamenting the din that came from an itinerant theater troupe that was hired to celebrate this windfall. I translated performance as chèo because it was described as comedic (pantalonades) but it could have easily been tuồng.
Je partais "pour France"... je gravissais, à minuit, un escalier sur le ventre du paquebot Porthos, constellé d'ampoules électriques et je quittais la ville pour entrer dans la rivière de Saïgon.
Ces nuits-là, le dancing du Perroquet fait relâche, la terrasse du Continental est abandonnée, on peut traverser la rue Catinat sans danger. Le "Tout-Saïgon" français se retrouve sur le quai. Les belles voitures sont rangées devant les docks des messageries. A bord du bateau-palace s'accomplit la fête des adieux; le salon est encombré, il faut ruser pour s'emparer d'une table dans l'intérieur du grand ou à la terrasse qui empiète sur le pont-boulevard; les femmes ont leur robe parisienne de l'unique saison, car il n'est point d'hiver, de printemps ni d'automne pour interrompre l'éternel été de Cochinchine.
I was leaving "for France"... at midnight, I climbed a staircase on the belly of the Porthos, electric lights ablaze, and I left the city to enter the Saigon River.
On those nights, the Perroquet dance hall takes a break, the terrace at the Continental is deserted, and one can cross Catinat Street without danger. All of French Saigon gathers at the quayside. Elegant cars are arrayed in front of the shipping company docks. Aboard the palace vessel, the farewell party is in full swing; the lounge is crowded, and one has to be cunning to snag a table inside the main room or on the terrace that spills onto the deck-boulevard; the women wear their Parisian dresses, the only style for the season, for there is no winter, spring, or autumn to interrupt the eternal summer of Cochinchina.
Tôi đang rời đi "đến Pháp"... lúc nửa đêm, tôi leo lên cầu thang trên boong tàu Porthos, sáng rực ánh đèn điện, và ra khỏi thành phố để vào sông Sài Gòn.
Vào những đêm như thế, vũ trường Perroquet nghỉ việc, sân thượng khách sạn Continental vắng tanh, và người ta có thể băng qua đường Catinat mà không gặp nguy hiểm. Toàn bộ người Sài Gòn Pháp quốc tụ tập trên bến tàu. Các chiếc xe sang trọng sắp xếp phía trước bến tàu của các công ty vận tải biển. Trên con tàu cung điện, bữa tiệc chia tay đang diễn ra sôi nổi; phòng khách đông nghịt, và người ta phải khéo léo mới kiếm được một chỗ ngồi trong phòng chính hoặc trên sân thượng hướng ra boong tàu; những người phụ nữ mặc chiếc váy kiểu Paris, chỉ phù hợp với một mùa duy nhất, vì không có mùa đông, mùa xuân hay mùa thu nào làm gián đoạn mùa hè vĩnh cửu của xứ Nam Kỳ.
nguồn: Louis Roubaud, Viet Nam: La tragédie indo-chinois (Paris: Librarie Vallois, 1931)
Reading many accounts of colonial Saigon, it sounds like for the French elite life was a continuous dance party. The Perroquet / Parakeet / Con Vẹt at the Continental Hotel was the main hotspot. Its popularity apparently gave way when a steamship visited the port. These vessels had their own dance bands and were an attractive novelty in town. The hullabaloo described here was accented by the fact that the Porthos was about to depart for France and it was a good chance to see friends off before their lost journey.
Hier soir, à 18 heures, la société Pro Musica donnait son soixante-dix-huitième concert de musique enregistrée. L'industrie de la confection des disques est arrivée à une telle perfection, et l'emploi du pic-up donne à l'émission une telle puissance en même temps qu'une telle finesse, qu'on croit souvent entendre directement la musique instrumentale ou la voix.
C'est dire qu'on peut passer à Pro Musica, quand on est amateur de musique, des soirées exquises.
Malheureusement, les Hanoïens semblent méconnaitre cette distraction supérieure. Faut-il croire qu'ils préfèrent délibérément les coruscations pauvrement brutales du jazz et les tristes trémoussements du dancing? Encore y a-t-il temps pour tout, et le concert semi-hebdomadaire de Pro-Musica devrait-il, il nous semble, avoir un autre succès. C'est à peine si, hier, trente personnes étaient venues entendre, outre quelques morceaux de choix, dont la jolie Valse triste de Sibelius et un solo de violon admirablement joué par Enesco, de longs fragments de La Vie du Poète, de Georges Charpentier! Et pourtant c'était là régal de choix.
Last night at 6, the Pro Musica Society presented its seventy-eighth concert of recorded music. The record industry has reached such heights of perfection, and the use of amplification gave the show such power and such finesse, that one often thinks that we are hearing the instruments and voices directly.
This means that music lovers can spend exquisite evenings at Pro Musica.
Unfortunately, the people of Hanoi seem unaware of this superior form of entertainment. Are we to believe that they deliberately prefer the crudely simplistic sounds of jazz and the dreary gyrations of the dance hall? Still, there's enough time for everything, and Pro Musica's semi-weekly concerts should, it seems to us, be more successful. Barely thirty people came yesterday to hear, besides a few choice pieces, including the lovely Sad Waltz by Sibelius and an admirably played violin solo by Enescu, long fragments from The Poet's Life by Georges Charpentier! And yet it was a choice treat.
Chiều hôm qua, lúc 6 giờ, Hội Khuyến Nhạc [tức Hội Pro Musica] đã trình bày buổi hòa nhạc thu thanh lần thứ 78. Kỹ nghệ công thu âm đã đến đỉnh cao hoàn hảo, và việc khuếch đại âm thanh đem cho buổi nghe nhạc sự sức mạnh và stinh tế đến mức người ta thường có cảm giác như đang nghe trực tiếp nhạc cụ hoặc giọng hát.
Có nghĩa là những người yêu âm nhạc có thể thưởng thức những buổi tuyệt vời tại Hội Khuyến Nhạc.
Không may là dân Hà Nội dường như không biết đến hình thức giải trí ưu việt này. Liệu chúng ta có nên tin rằng họ cố tình ưa chuộng những âm thanh thô sơ, đơn giản của nhạc jazz và những điệu nhảy buồn tẻ của các vũ trường? Tuy nhiên, mọi thứ đều có thời điểm riêng, và những buổi hòa nhạc hai lần một tuần của Hội Khuyến Nhạc, theo chúng tôi, nên thành công nhiều hơn. Chỉ có độ ba chục người đến nghe trong buổi hôm qua, ngoài một số tác phẩm chọn lọc, bao gồm bản Valse buồn tuyệt đẹp của Sibelius và tác phẩm độc tấu violin xuất sắc của Enescu chơi, còn có những trích đoạn dài từ Đời Thi Sĩ của Georges Charpentier! Mặc dù vậy, đó vẫn là một bữa âm nhạc thú vị rất chọn lọc.
source: La Velléitaire, "Pro Musica" La Volonté Indochinoise 10 octobre 1935
Many experts place Western classical music at the pinnacle of musical creation. So why do people persist in listening to tawdry jazz and dance music? Despite the strong endorsement of these record listening parties organized by a group called Pro Musica [on behalf of music], the people of Hanoi, in this case, the European people of Hanoi, are not showing a requisite level of support. Jazz and dance music remain their music of choice.
Here's your 1935 listening party. Enjoy the uplift!
Sibelius's Valse triste has been established as a work within classical music's standard repertoire.
It's not clear what musical work by Georges Enescu the Pro Musica audience heard. Enescu was a composer, conductor and violinist of Rumanian origin, a fascinating musician who should be better known.
I don't wish to belittle this work, but La vie du poète by Georges Charpentier has been lost to the sands of time.
No 516 - Arrivage de disques en Marocain, Algérien, Tunisien et Egyptien. Dernières nouveautés et Classiques de Jazz aux Arcades Rue Paul Bert Hanoi.
Number 516 - The arrival of Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisians and Egyptian records. The latest releases and jazz classics at Arcades, Rue Part Bert [phố Tràng Tiên], Hanoi.
Số 561 - Đĩa mới từ Marôc, Angiêri, Tuynizi và Ai Cập đến. Các bản phát hành mới nhất và tách phẩm jazz kinh điển tại Arcades, phố Tràng Tiên, Hà Nội.
nguồn: L'Entente 28 février 1950
Les Arcades was located at 43 rue Paul Bert, Hanoi. This advertisement shows them selling 78 rpm recordings to troops from the Corps Expedionnaire Française d'Extrême Orient (CEFEO) or French Far East Expeditionary Corps. (or Quân đội viễn chinh Pháp vùng Viễn Đông). These soldiers numbered over 100,000 during the 1st Indochina War. Egypt was not a colony, but it had the strongest record industry in the Arab-speaking world.
I find it to be little understood just how popular jazz was in French Indochina and not only among colonists. Les Arcades also stocked jazz recordings, old and new.
Rất hoan nghênh những bản nhạc VUI TƯƠI hoặc những hành khúc dũng mạnh mà các bạn gửi đến để trình bày.
Chúng tôi thiết tha mong mỏi các nhạc sỹ sáng tác lưu tâm đến loại nhạc này để cùng nhau tìm kiếm một nguồn nhạc mới.
The Việt Music Group of the Radio Station
The Voice of Vietnam
We greatly welcome the happy, cheerful music works or bold marches that you all have sent for presentation.
We sincerely hope that music composers will focus on these kinds of music so that together we can find a new musical source.
nguồn: Việt Nhạc 16 tháng 2 1949
This Voice of Vietnam was the voice of the State of Vietnam / État du Viêt-Nam led by Bảo Đại under French guidance. They funded the radio station as well as the musicians who performed on the broadcasts, most importantly the Ban Việt Nhạc - a group that ranged in size from 8 to 10 musicians who performed in a semi-classical style.
Việt Nhạc was a bi-monthly newspaper that highlight the activities of this group and the radio station. It was compiled and edited by Thẩm Oánh and Vũ Khánh who created most of the content along with Trần Văn Nhơn. The majority of pages were devoted to articles and advocacy pieces written by Thẩm Oánh often using pseudonyms. There were very few issues that did not print not print a song and 85 percent of the songs were written by Thẩm Oánh.
The advertisement presented above dates from the period of the Central Provisional Government of Vietnam / Gouvernement central provisoire du Viêt‑Nam that preceded the State of Vietnam. The songs published in Việt Nhạc were in the "happy," "bold" style advocated here. They sought to create a rousing unifying body work musical works that could compete with the songs of the Việt Minh. They did not succeed at that goal.
The Ban Việt Nhạc did feature these works along with rousing pre-revolutionary Vietnamese songs and a sprinkling of less militant songs from Việt Minh controlled areas (notably songs by Phạm Duy). They also presented a number of romantic songs that are today known as nhạc tiền chiến that I'm sure went down much better with the listening audience. The Ban Việt Nhạc included vocalists and instrumentalists of the highest quality. It's a pity that they were never recorded.
Nous avon eu pendant trois jours le régal musical le plus raffiné. Jacques Thibaud, le prestigieux violoniste était dans nos murs et tous les amateurs de musique se sont pressées en foule pour l'entendre; ils ne perdirent du reste ni leur temps ni leurs piastres. Et même pas mal de profanes qui éaient présents-parce qu'il faut bien profiter de toutes les distractions-en retiréerent une magniques impression de beauté, pendant que les connaisseurs savouraient le grand art du musicien.
Un de nos confrères a même noté que plusieurs Annamites étaient présents à ces soirées et y prenaient un plaisir manifeste et le bon journaliste de conclure un peu hâtivent que le musique était un des points d'entente des divers peuple et que l'on devait chercher à sa rapprocher par tous les moyens. La musique permettant de comprendre la civilisation d'un pays devait être utilisée dans ce but.
Parfait---je comprends fort bien que nous donnions des concert de notre musique aux Annamites, je comprends qu'ils y prennent plaisir et ce n'est que justice, puisque nous prenons bien plaisir à entendre le jazz nègre cu la guitare des Hawaiens qui ont à peu près pénétré le bon peuple francais, mais je ne vais pas pusqu'à penser que la musique, qui adoucit les moeurs ait permis aux bons Francais de comprendre la civilisation nègre ou les délicés de l'Archipel.
Au reste, je propose au rédacteur qui a émis cette affirmation d'aller entendre trois jours de suite pendant trois heures la musique chinoise, telle qu'elle est pratiquée à Shanghai ou même à Cholon et de nous dire si'l peut se faire entendre entre deux coups de cymbales, et si'l a comprise quelque chocse à la sentimentalité chinoise.
Je suis, du reste sur que mon mélomane de confrère, s'il a pris du plaisir à la musique exécutée par Jacques Thibaud, ne résisterait pas à semblable cacophonie.
For three days, we enjoyed the most refined musical experience. Jacques Thibaud, the prestigious violinist, was among us and music lovers flocked to hear him. They certainly didn't waste their time or their money. Even quite a few laypeople who were present—because one must take advantage of all available distractions—came away with a magnificent impression of beauty, while the connoisseurs savored the musician's great artistry.
One of our colleagues even noted that several Annamites were present at these evenings and clearly enjoyed themselves, leading the journalist to conclude, somewhat hastily, that music was one of the points of agreement between different peoples and that we should strive to connect with it by all means. Music allows us to understand a country's civilization and should be used for this purpose.
Perfect—I understand very well that we give concerts of our music for the Annamites; I understand that they enjoy it, and that's only fair, since we ourselves take great pleasure in hearing African jazz or the Hawaiian guitar, which has more or less penetrated the French people. But I don't go so far as to think that music, which soothes the soul, has allowed the good French to understand African civilization or the delights of the archipelago.
Furthermore, I suggest that the writer who made this assertion go and listen to Chinese music for three hours at a time, for three days in a row, as it is practiced in Shanghai or even in Chợ Lớn, and tell us if he can make himself heard between cymbal crashes, and if he has grasped any clash of Chinese sentimentality.
I am, moreover, sure that my music-loving colleague, if he enjoyed the music performed by Jacques Thibaud, would not be able to withstand such a cacophony.
"A bâtons rompus," Saigon sportif 13 juillet 1928.
Jacques Thibaud was one of the great violin virtuosos of first half of the twentieth century. His Saigon performance would have been an example of Western classical music.
Annamite / Vietnamese people listened to this virtuoso and enjoy his playing. This puzzled the casual observer. They listening to Annamite / Vietnamese music with no comprehension. How could an Annamite Vietnamese listener make anything of their music?
This experiment has been continued over nearly a century and we have results. Many more Vietnamese today enjoy and understand Western classical music than Westerners who enjoy and understand Vietnamese traditional music.
La musique du 18e Colonial est muette depuis longtemps déjà, en raison des nombreux musiciens rapatriés. Fort heureusement, quelques élèves ont été formés, et la musique, la fanfare plutôt, reprendra prochainement ses concerts du jeudi et du dimanche.
Le Lieutenant-Colonel Pourrat, qui parait être un bon chef et un excellent homme, demande l'indulgence pour les musiciens. Il peut être certain que tous ici seront trop heureux de cet agrément pour critiquer ceux qui leur procurent un instant de plaisir.
Toute la population civile se plait d'ailleurs à remercier le Lieutenant-Colonel de son amabilité, n'ayant pas été gàtée sous ce rapport par les chefs de jadis, ceux qui commandèrent avant l'arrivée du 10e.
Việt Trì. Somebody has written to us:
The band of the 18th Colonial [Battalion] has been silent for a long time, due to the large number of musicians who have been repatriated. It's very fortunate that a few students have been trained, and the enemble, or rather the brass band, will soon resume its Thursday and Sunday concerts.
Lieutenant-Colonel Pourrat, who appears to be a good leader and an excellent man, asks us to be indulgent with the musicians. He's perhaps certain that everyone here will be too pleased with this entertainment to criticize those who give them these pleasurable moments.
The entire civilian population is moreover pleased to thank the Lieutenant-Colonel for his kindness, having not been spoiled by their relationship to previous commanders, those who led the regiment before the arrival of the 10th (battalion).
Ban nhạc Trung đoàn Thuộc địa18 đã im một thời gian khá lâu, bởi vì một lớn các nhạc công được hồi hương. Rất may mắn là một vài người học được đào tạo, và ban nhạc, hay đúng hơn là ban nhạc kèn đồng, sẽ sớm tiếp tục các buổi hòa nhạc vào thứ Năm và Chủ nhật.
Trung tá Pourrat, dường như là một nhà lãnh đạo rất tốt và một người đàn ông xuất sắc, xin quí thính giả thông cảm. Ông chắc chắn rằng mọi người ở đây sẽ quá vui mừng với món giải trí này đến nỗi không có ý kiến gì chỉ trích những người đã đem cho họ niềm vui này.
Toàn thể dân cũng vui mừng cảm ơn Trung tá vì lòng tốt của ông, bởi vì họ đã không được đối xử tử tế như vậy bởi các chỉ huy trước đây, những người đã lãnh đạo trung đoàn trước khi Trung đoàn số 10 đến.
source: Courrier d'Haiphong 25 octobre 1902.
In 1902, Việt Trì might not have been much more than a French commercial and military outpost. It benefitted from a clear river route to Hà Nội and the Tonkin Gulf. The 18th Colonial Battalion stationed there must have numbered around 500 soldiers, perhaps as few as 300 - I couldn't say for sure how many. There were also French civilians living there, probably engaged in commerce. But there may have been spouses and children as well. Vietnamese families had to be nearby -- minimally the French would have had the need for interpreters and laborers. Vietnamese and Chinese merchants had to be present along with rice farmers and fishermen.
It was normal for a colonial military unit to have a "musique" or a "fanfare." A fanfare denote a brass band - an ensemble of brass instruments and likely some percussion. Brass instruments work best because they are loud and they are less susceptible to damage in a tropical environment. Wooden instruments like woodwinds and strings expand and contract according to the temperature and humidity. Additionally, wind instruments have pads and springs that could be damaged in inclement weather.
The sturdiness and loud volume of these instruments help to project the power of empire. It was a form of cultural conquest at the bell of a trumpet, so to speak. The music may have been incomprehensible to local residents, but it had to get their attention, even if it were resented as a manifestation of unwanted invaders. The melodic motifs of fanfare music eventually inspired Vietnamese patriotic marches in the 1940s.
The mystery in this piece is who the "students" are? They are most likely members of the battalion without previous musical experience. But could musicians have been recruited from within the community?
It might be difficult to detect the urgency behind recruiting a full complement of musicians. In 1902 there was no radio and sound recordings had yet to be introduced to French Indochina. If you wanted to hear music, somebody had to perform music. In Việt Trì, a European would be largely cut off from the elements of a normal life, including music. The twice weekly military band performances would be a welcome musical taste of home.
Đừng bỏ em một mình ..... trời lạnh quá ... Trời lạnh.
(Tệ trạng thanh niên ngồi các quán cà-phê nghe nhạc vàng trong lúc đa số đồng bào đi lao động)
Thursday February 23
[clock reads 9 AM]
Don't leave me all alone ..... it's too cold ... it's cold.
(The bad situation of youth sitting in cafés listening to yellow music when the majority of the compatriots are laboring).
nguồn: Tin Sáng 27 tháng 7 1977
I presume that this cartoon depicted something that approximated real life in Saigon in 1977. Student cafés playing sad love songs were common before April 1975. Afterwards all of that music, categorized as nhạc vàng or yellow music, was banned, much of it destroyed. The police surely cracked down on places like this one, but who know how effective the crackdowns were?
M café means "Em café" - "em" here meaning an endearing word for a girlfriend. See the hearts on the placard - this was a place for couples to hang out. Filtered coffee and tea were low level luxuries. I love the potted plant in the back giving the place a slight touch of elegance. That elegance is negated by the trash that these irresponsible, self-absorbed youth tossed on to the floor.
"Đừng bỏ em một mình" was a very popular song from 1969 written by Phạm Duy, a very respected and prolific songwriter. I always associate this song with the singer Lệ Thu.
This Youtube video is approaching 7 million views. It is a very representative song of the Republic of Vietnam -- the cartoonist made a good choice. Phạm Duy received the highest level of vilification by the communist government. He had left the resistance in the early 1950s, collaborated with the CIA for a time and was one of the most famous Vietnamese outside of Vietnam.
The important figure in this image is the poor laborer in the lower right hand corner. He's trembling! He's so innocent that he's embarrassed at the sight of couples enjoying themselves, enjoying each other's company.
More likely the concern comes from this music that is coming dangerously close to entering his consciousness and crushing his soul. In a recent article I explain how nhạc vàng was viewed as a both a cause of, and a reflection of societal dissatisfaction, that it both accompanied and promoted delinquent behavior. Failing to heed the call to help construct the nation was a form of delinquency.
Cartoons like this point out actual behavior in society and serve as a method to encourage people to police each other and themselves and not engage in this unacceptable behavior -- i.e., not indulge in this unacceptable, illegal, dangerous music.
Mai vô! Mai dô! Rau cải Đà Lạt tươi rói mới về đây
Vegetable stand official price
Greens haven't arrived
--------
Come tomorrow! Come morrow! Fresh Đà Lạt vegetables will be here
nguồn: Tin Sáng 27 tháng 2 1977
The three women at the left are "mậu dịch" - approved traders getting their product from the government.
The woman at the right is "hàng chui" or black market.
The approved traders have no produce to sell, possibly because the black market woman has cornered the market.
While the cartoon is meant to show disapproval of the fat and happy black marketeer, it also demonstrates the implausibility of a government controlled market delivering the products that people want and need. You can try to control the market and fix the price, but if nobody delivers the product at the government's price, the government has nothing to sell and there is nothing for people to buy.
Relisez les propos du directeur de la station de Radiophonie, propos que nous avons reproduits hier avec quelque plaisir. "La majorité des éventuels clients de nos concerts radiophoniques ont demandé des auditions de belle musique, voire de musique classique... A peine fera-t-on un jour de jazz par semaine..."
Un jour de dancing par semaine... Puis par mois... Regardez dans nos salles de danse. Ce sont toujours les mêmes danseurs. Ne disons pas que c'est le déchet. A Saigon, ils ont une excuse: il y a si peu de distractions!
Reread the remarks of the radio station director, words that we reproduced yesterday with some pleasure. "The majority of potential listeners to our radio concerts have requested performances of beautiful music, even classical music... Barely will one day of jazz be made in a week..."
One day of dancing a week... Then once a month... Look in our dance halls. It's always the same dancers. Let's not say it's a waste. In Saigon, they have an excuse: there are so few distractions!
Saïgon républicain July 12, 1930
During the earliest days of broadcasting in Saigon much of the programming was live. The station featuring a quintet that provided radio concerts of classical and light classical music - the "concerts radiophoniques."
Jazz music in that context was essentially dance music (often "hot" dance music) or just the popular songs of that time. Professional musicians often worked in both worlds. The author providing commentary notes that there was a dedicated, even fanatical, audience for this dance music, but that it was limited to the same people who turned out every night at the dance halls. This was the excuse given for the author's preference for hearing classical music on the airwaves instead of jazz.
Je recrutais les ouvriers, prenais les acteurs de théâtre, engageais les chanteuses... Croyez-vous, reprit mon interlocuteur avec un bon sourire, qu'on vienne à l'Exposition pour admirer la belle voix de vos acteurs ou les beaux yeux de vos cantatrices? Chez nous on aime ce qui est étranger, ce qui est exotique. Vos acteurs et chanteuses ont fait l'Exposition de Lyon. Ils nous sont connus. Nous allons, cette fois, régaler nos visiteurs de la musique annamite qu'on n'a jamais entendue jusqu'ici en France. Et vous verrez que vos musiciens, dont vous avez tort de sous-estimer le talent, feront là-bas figure de virtuoses et seront applaudis a l'égal des plus grands artistes du monde...
Mais revenons à l'Exposition de Bordeaux. Au cours de sa visite au village, Mme Sarah Bernhard s'intéressa vivement, comme beaucoup d'autres visiteurs, à nos exposants avec leurs objets incrustés de nacre, leurs broderies at aussi... leur musique...
A l'issue de sa visite, elle remit à M. Gravier 500 francs pour "être distribués aux Annamites"! Cinq cents francs étaient, pour nos pauvres ouvriers une fortune et ceux-ci parlèrent longtemps après, entre eux, du geste généreux de leur grâcieuse visiteuse.
Ng. Ch., "Choses vues," L'Effort 17 septembre 1937
I recruited laborers, hired actors, and engaged singers... Can you believe, my interlocutor continued with a warm smile, that people will come to the Exposition to admire the beautiful voices of your actors or the lovely eyes of your opera singers? In our land we love the foreign, the exotic. Your actors and singers performed at the Lyon Exposition. We know them. This time we will delight our visitors with Annamite music that hasn't been heard before in France. And you'll see that your musicians, whose talent you wrongly underestimate, will be considered virtuosos there and will be applauded alongside the world's greatest artists...
But let's return to the Bordeaux Exposition. During her visit to the village, Madame Sarah Bernhardt took a lively interest, like many other visitors, in our exhibitors with their mother-of-pearl inlaid objects, their embroidery, and also... their music...
At the end of her visit, she gave Mr. Gravier 500 francs "to be distributed among the Annamites"! Five hundred francs was a fortune for our poor workers, and they spoke among themselves for a long time afterward of the generous gesture of their gracious visitor.
Tôi đã tuyển công nhân, thuê diễn viên, mời ca sĩ… Người đối thoại của tôi tiếp tục với một nụ cười ấm áp: “Ông thực sự nghĩ rằng mọi người sẽ đến Triển lãm để chiêm ngưỡng giọng hát tuyệt vời của các diễn viên của ông hay đôi mắt đẹp của các ca sĩ opera của ông sao? Chúng tôi yêu thích những gì ngoại lai, những gì kỳ lạ. Các diễn viên và ca sĩ của ông đã từng biểu diễn tại Triển lãm Lyon. Chúng tôi biết họ. Lần này, chúng tôi sẽ chiêu đãi khách tham quan bằng âm nhạc An Nam, thứ âm nhạc chưa từng được nghe thấy ở Pháp trước đây.
Và ông sẽ thấy rằng các nhạc sĩ của ông, những người mà ông đã sai khi đánh giá thấp tài năng của họ, sẽ được coi là những nghệ sĩ bậc thầy ở đó và sẽ được tán thưởng cùng với những nghệ sĩ vĩ đại nhất trên thế giới…”
Nhưng hãy quay lại với Triển lãm Bordeaux. Trong chuyến thăm làng, bà Sarah Bernhardt, như nhiều khách khác, rất quan tâm đến các nhà triển lãm chúng tôi, chiêm ngưỡng những vật phẩm khảm xà cừ, những sản phẩm thêu, và cả… âm nhạc của họ…
Cuối chuyến thăm, bà đã tặng ông Gravier 500 franc “để phân phát cho người dân An Nam”! Năm trăm franc là một khoản tiền lớn đối với những người công nhân nghèo của chúng tôi, và sau đó, họ còn bàn tán rất lâu về cử chỉ hào phóng của vị khách tốt bụng.
This passage refers to colonial expositions held in Lyon (1894) and Bordeaux (1895). Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) was a legendary actress, of the most famous of all time.
Ngô Thổng thống mang nhiều điệu nhảy
Của Hoa-kỳ về dạy cho dân:
"Hồng-kông," điệu nhảy giật gân,
"Thoát y" điệu nhảy truồng trần tô hô!
"Hu-la-húp," lắc khu, ưỡn bụng,
"Rốc-canh-rơn," hí hửng, gật gù,
Ngài đang thay mốt, đổi gu,
Nhập thêm "tả bủ, ta bu," quái kỳ!
Các điệu nhảy "mê ly" của Mỹ.
Ngài tổng đều chú ý nhập ngay.
Trong làng nhảy nhót xưa nay
Ngài từng nổi tiếng là tay nhảy cừ!
Chờ xem điệu nhảy từ tầng gác
Pho-rết-tan (1) khai thác nao
Từ dinh Độc lập tầng cao
Đích thân ngài sẽ đâm đầu nhảy luôn.
Điệu này mới thật mê hồn!
(1) Forrestal, bộ trưởng chiến tranh Mỹ, năm 1950 đã nhảy từ tần gác xuống sân tư tử sau khi được tin Liên-xô đã chế được bom nguyên tử.
nguồn: Độc Lập 21 tháng 3 1959
President Ngô has brought many dances
From the United States to teach the people:
"Hong Kong," a shocking dance,
"Striptease," a naked, boisterous dance!
"Hula-Hup," shaking the hips, thrusting the belly,
"Rock-n-roll," gleeful, nodding,
He's changing fashions, changing tastes,
Bringing in "Tabu, Tabu," so bizarre!
The "enchanting" dances of America.
The President immediately took notice and adopted them.
Into the long-standing world of dancing,
He was once famous as a skilled dancer!
Wait and see his dance from above
Forrestal (1) which he will exploit
From the high floor of the Independence Palace
He himself will jump in and dance.
This dance is truly mesmerizing!
(1) In 1950, Forrestal, the US Secretary of War, jumped to his death from a balcony after learning that the Soviet Union had developed an atomic bomb.
This is a strange bit of doggerel. Yes, people in the Republic of Vietnam loved to go out dancing. The twist was a very popular fad. So popular that Ngô Đình Diệm's brother and sister-in-law tried to stamp it out. The Ngô family in actuality were killjoys and prudes.
The invocation of deceased Defense Secretary James V. Forrestal is an even stranger touch. The accompanying footnote (poems with footnotes are immediately suspect) incorrectly states that Forrestal died in 1950, taking his life after learning that the Soviet Union had built an atomic bomb. He took his life on May 22, 1949, a few months before the Soviet Union successfully test their first nuclear weapon. The Defense Secretary became mentally unstable after being removed from his post by President Harry S. Truman. When this poem was published ten years later I doubt whether many people remembered James V. Forrestal, least of all the people of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
Evening, relief came at the border's black night. Theo cánh quân anh đóng ven lưng chừng đồi.
Along the flank, I'm stationed hillside, halfway up Nghe muôn côn trùng than trong đêm trường sầu thương thế nhân
Hearing an untold number of insects moan through the long night sorrowing for mankind. Hồn rung tiềm thức quay trong vùng thương nhớ, len lén đưa anh qua bến mộng ngày xưa.
My soul, stirred unconsciously, turns back to memory's realm that seeps in, guides me past the dream docks of long ago.
Chuyện ngày xưa chia đều ra hai phe đánh.
Events long ago equally divided two fighting factions. Anh lấy cây làm súng bên em diệt thù.
I took up a stick as a gun alongside you to eliminate the enemy, Phe kia ngang tàng xua quân đốt nhà đuổi hai đứa ta
The other side arrogantly driving away soldiers, burning houses down, chasing away the two of us Trò chơi tuổi xanh đôi bên cùng nhau đánh tương sát lẫn nhau như oán thù nghìn thu.
Children's games, two sides solemnly striking each other as if there was hatred and resentment for millennia
Tháng tháng tiếp nối, thơ ấu ra đi anh giã từ cuộc chơi đó...
Month continues after month, youth has gone and I bade farewell to that game...
Đêm tiễn đưa anh, quay gót son mềm em đếm dài cây số thương
The evening you saw me off, your soft pink heals, calculating the long kilometers, feeling
Gói ghém quá khứ trong chiếc ba lô nơi tuyến đầu nằm thao thức
Packing up the past in a backpack at the front, laying awake
Giây phút suy tư, xanh giấc mơ gầy nghe trái sầu rụng nửa đêm.
Moments of reflection, hopeful slender dreams, I hear the sad fruit fall in the middle of the night.
Nhìn hỏa châu lưng trời soi chia đêm tối
Looking the flares off in the sky, dividing the night's darkness
Anh ngỡ như ngày cưới hoa đăng ngập trời.
I imagine it was like our wedding, floral lanterns flooding the sky Xin em tin rằng đôi ta bây giờ dù xa cách nhau tình yêu ngàn năm không phai nhạt hương sắc
Please dear, believe that the two of us, although now far apart, fragrance of our thousand year love will not fade
Anh hứa yêu em trong suốt cuộc đời này.
I promise to love you all of this life.
nguồn: Triết Giang & Hàn Châu, "Ngỏ hồn qua đêm" (Sài Gòn: Châu Kỳ nhạc tuyển, 1966)
Hoàng Trang was one of my favorite people in the Vietnamese music world. He was gracious, thoughtful and helpful in every way. He co-wrote this song a short time after he was wed. I know that he spent intervals of time during the 1960s among military units so he should have had a solid understanding of the psychology of the Republic of Vietnam soldier.
He describes the soldier's setting well -- a long night watch enveloped in an atmosphere of flares and an insect chorus. The thud of a falling piece of fruit breaks up the monotony. War songs are often about action, but it seems that the greater reality of soldier's life is that they spend a lot of their time waiting in remote locations with only sporadic sometimes terrifying action. Waiting leads to thinking, to an imaginary conversation with a soulmate, someone who would understand and comfort you.
Much of that thinking is nostalgia. Bến mộng / dream docks refer to the passage of his wife to his family, to their conjugal union. Bright explosions in the night recall the fireworks at their wedding. He firmly recalls the moment the parted and he entered his service. Midst the alternating worry and waiting of a foot soldier, he holds on tightly to his love for her, to their enduring mutual love.
The song poses a true riddle. Why do people of one nation fighting one another with the fervency and abandon of children's war games? The answer given is that they and their way of life have been attacked. The narrator can give no deeper understanding of the issues, but defense is a legitimate reason to take up arms. He is defending her and the future life they want to lead. The night insects appear less than satisfied with this outlook as they moan in sorrow for mankind.
Thanh Thúy sings "Ngỏ hồn qua đêm" recording on the Shotguns 27 tape in 1972.
Le "Jules Michelet" n'est point seulement intéressant par ses 4 cheminées et ses gros canons.
Le Jules Michelet est un navire mélodieux. Du matin au soir, presque chaque jour, les habitués de l'Arsenal et des quais s'arrêtent souvent, sur la berge, pour écouter les harmonies de bon aloi qui sortent, à jet continue, de la plage avant. Il ne s'agit point des jolies modulations du sifflet de manoeuvre, mais bien d'un véritable orchestra absolument remarquable, malgré l'absence de certains pupitres. Et ce fut un vrai régal, l'autre soir, autour du kiosque chauve de Boulevard Charner!
Nos élégantes Saigonnaises ont pu d'ailleurs de rendre compte aussi que les cols-bleus musiciens du Michelet, n'excellent point seulement dans la partition de Lakmé ni dans l'exécution impeccable du ballet de Coppélia, un des chefs d'oeuvre de Leo Delibes. L'autre soir, autant que les réglements l'ont permis, on a dansé ferme sur la plage arrière du croiseur aux sons encore de cet excellent orchestre et même aussi d'un jazz band hors pair!
"A bâtons rompus," Saigon Sportif 8/21/1925
Because the French Navy isn't dead yet!
The "Jules Michelet" isn't only interesting because of its four funnels and large cannons.
The Jules Michelet is a melodic ship. From morning till night, almost every day, regulars at the Arsenal and the quays often stop at the bank to listen to the quality harmonies that flow continuously from the foredeck. It's not the pretty modulations of the boatswain's pipe, but a truly remarkable orchestra, despite the absence of some sections. And it was a real treat the other evening around the bare bandstand on Boulevard Charner! [đường Nguyễn Huệ today]
Our elegant Saigon ladies could also attest that the blue-collar musicians of the Michelet excel not only in the score of Lakmé, but also in the impeccable performance of the ballet Coppélia, one of Léo Delibes' masterpieces. The other evening, as far as regulations permitted, there was lively dancing on the cruiser's aft deck to the sounds of this excellent orchestra and even a superb jazz band!
The battleship Jules Michelet circulated among French ports throughout the Far East and Pacific region. Such a vessel definitely projected colonial and imperial power. For the French residents of Saigon the vessel's arrival was heartily welcomed and here we learn one of the reasons why. The Jules Michelet brought a little variety to the city's musical life.
The article remarks about "regulars" at the docks enjoying the rehearsal of the naval band. The regulars would have included a number of Vietnamese dockworkers. The ladies of Saigon enjoyed the band's ability to perform classical works by Délibes, but the musicians were most appreciated by those who loved to kick up their heels and dance. The jazz band must have been a subset of the larger naval band. At that time a jazz band was almost certainly a dance band. I would imagine that they sounded similar to Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians.
Một ban gương mẫu như vậy không chắc đã huy động, nhưng cái gì khó khăn mới gọi là đặt giá. Chúng tôi cần đến những tay đờn thật xưa hiện giờ còn sống; đã biết qua nếp chơi tài tử cũ, ngón đờn không phải bị nhiễm độc bởi sự cải biến hàm hồ của cổ nhạc đương thời.
Chính những người đó mới làm sống lại mẫu mực của cổ nhạc. Và đó mới gọi là hòa tấu hay hòa ca cổ nhạc, chớ không phải... đánh giặc nhạc theo kiểu Năm Cơ - Văn Vỹ.
Such an exemplary group we'll probably be unable to mobilize, but the difficulty lies in the price. We need thosemusicians who have been playing for a long time who are still with us; those familiar with the manner of playing olden talented amateurs music, who finger haven't been poisoned by the careless modifications of traditional music today.
It is these people who make the ideals of traditional music live again. And that is what could really be called traditional ensembles and singing, not like the... attacking-the-enemy music in the manner of Năm Cơ and Văn Vỹ.
nguồn: Trùng Dương, "Với chủ trương phục hưng nền Quốc nhạc Tivi có nên nhận thêm vài ban tài tử lớn," [With Object of Reviving National Music on TV, should we accept a few big talented amateur groups] Đuốc nhà nam 13 tháng 4 1969.
Nhạc tài tử is the musical system underlying cải lương theater. It is also a refined art form on its own. This opinion piece interests me because he describes a couple of musicians that I love in a derisive way. However, the derision is accurate. Listen here:
These two along with Bảy Bá are the backing track of hundreds of cải lương and vọng cổ recordings. I think playing on recordings accustomed them to time limits and made their playing more rapid fire and virtuosic. At times it has the energy of Flatt and Scruggs - Foggy Mountain Breakdown.
The "đánh giặc" metaphor is really funny. It's a battlecry to attack the enemy, but within this music there's, of course, no enemy. The abundant ability of these musicians results in an aggressive form of musicianship. I think the writer is right in wanting to promote musicians from an earlier time who would likely play in more relaxed manner. I have no idea what the Saigon Television channel decided to do.
The words "nó," before we only used it to name the category of people that we despise or look down on, it was not often used to name objects.
It was a challenge translating this two letter title. Vietnamese people employ "nó" in many ways these days, sometimes in this derogatory way, sometimes just to fill in for he or she in the case a person of lower status (say, a child) or to fill in for "it."
Gaunt, ragged orphans were a part of Vietnamese life. The lyrics of this song make it clear that this pitiable scene is located north of the 17th parallel. In socialist society one imagines that there were be a safety net to provide for orphaned children. By the same token, children were sometimes shunned and abandoned because of their family status, or as the result of land reform. Was this song simply created for psy-war purposes.
The Republic of Vietnam had plenty of vulnerable orphans, although I imagine that they would have been incorporated into the "informal economy" (think of Dickens - Fagan, Oliver Twist, the Artful Dodger). Nevertheless, Vietnam at that time was in the midst of a civil war, so the heartlessness had to be found on the other side. The song cover shows a toddler who while looking forlorn does not look to be un cared for. The urban setting looks much more like Saigon and Hanoi.
Hoàng Oanh thâu bài "Nó" cho hãng dĩa Sóng Nhạc năm 1967. Văn Phụng làm hòa âm. Có người húyt sáo cùng giọng hát cảm tình của Hoàng Oanh.
Ai ăn chè bột khoai, buồn tàu đậu xanh nước dừa, đường cát hông?
Who'll eat some taro flower custard, mung beans in coconut milk, ground sugar?
Út Trà Ôn:
Nghe tiếng rao trong đêm dài u buồn
Hearing the hawker's cry on a long sad night
Đêm từng đêm thầm vang bên phố nhỏ
Each night echoing down on the narrow lane
Nghe tiếng rao như một lời kêu than
Hearing that cry like a lamentation
Cho số kiếp phụ phàng
For an unfortunate fate
Út Bạch Lan:
Em đi bán chè thưng
I sell sugary custard
Nặng lo chữ hiếu cho tròn
Bear the weight of filial piety to the end
Và em lo thân sống
And I have to worry about about staying alive
Cho tròn nợ áo cơm
To pay off the debt of food and clothing
Câu 1:
First part:
Út Trà Ôn:
Lối : Hễ mỗi lần nghe tiếng rao vang từ đầu phố là lòng tôi như nhớ thương em gái lạ đã đi ... rồi
Each time I hear that cry at the top of the lane, my heart seems to remember her, a stranger who has ... gone
Cũng gánh gánh chè khuya qua lại đường này
She also carried a load of custard to sell along this road
Em gái ấy ở trong cuối phố
She lived at the end of the lane
Với một mẹ già tuổi độ sáu mươi
With her old mother, aged around sixty
Tóc chưa xuống khỏi bờ vai
Her hair hadn't yet reached her shoulders
Mà em đã gánh nặng rồi thương đau
But she bore that heavy load, pained
Vì nuôi mẹ khổ nghèo nên em phải chịu nhọc nhằn
lo cho tròn câu hiếu thảo
To take care of her poor, miserable mother she had to wear herself out to show piety to the end
Câu 2:
Part 2:
Tuổi mới mười lăm vo cơm chưa sạch cám
Turning 15 she washed rice still mixed with bran
Mà em đã biết nấu chè thưng và gánh bán cho khách qua đường
Yet she knew about to cook sweet porridge and carried it out to sell to customers on the street
Nhưng tội nghiệp thay, chữ a bê em chưa biết một vần
But it was real shame, of her ABC's she didn't know a word
Nhưng em siêng lắm chiều nào em cũng học với bà mẹ già
But she worked hard, every evening studying with her old mother
Chỉ đọc được vần xuôi
Only reading a few syllables
Thấy thương em cố sức sống trong cảnh đói nghèo thất học
Seeing that she struggled in this situation of ignorance and want
Cho nên tôi mới bảo em mỗi ngày một buổi
I told her every day for a session
Đến nhà để tôi dạy dùm sau bữa cơm trưa
Come over to my house and I'd help her after lunch
[Thơ]
[Poem]
Em đến học được chừng mười bữa
She came around to learn for around ten sessions
Bỗng nhiên em liên tiếp vắng ba hôm
Suddenly she was absent for three days in a row
Tôi đón hỏi em vào lúc nữa đêm
I greeted her in the middle of the night
Khi em gánh gánh chè khuya về xóm vắng
When she carried custard back home at midnight through the deserted neighborhood
Câu 4:
Part 4:
Lối: Nghe tôi hỏi em cúi đầu im lặng rồi ngẩng
nhìn tôi qua ngấn lệ tuông ... trào
Hearing my question she lowered her head then looked up at me through a streams f overflowing tears
Em trả lời với tôi trong tiếng nói ngẹn ngào
She answered me with a voice choked with emotion
Em nói em nghèo lắm không tiền mua giấy mực
She said I'm very poor with no money for paper or ink
Thì làm gì trả công thầy dạy dỗ cho em
How can I pay you back for teaching me
[Thơ Vân Tiên]
[Vân Tiên poem]
Thầy ơi má đã dặn khuyên
Teacher, my mother advised me
Dốt đành chịu dốt đừng phiền người ta
Ignorance, you should suffer it instead of troubling somebody else
Một con một mẹ đã già
You and your mother who is old
Đói nghèo chịu được ơn kia khó đền
Hunger and want we can stand, don't take favors that would be hard to repay
Câu 5:
Part 5:
Không, chú dạy dỗ là mong em biết chữ
No, I've instructed you in the hope you would become literate
Chớ đâu phải được trả công bằng quà vật bạc tiền
Not so that you would have to pay me back with gifts or money
Vì thương em nghèo có hiếu lại hiền
Because I sympathized with you, a poor girl who's both dutiful and kind
Tôi nói chưa hết thì em đã khóc to hơn nữa
I hadn't finished speaking when she cried even louder
Và vội vàng quảy gánh chạy đi
And hurriedly she turn around and left with her load
Đường vắng giữa khuya chỉ còn một mình tôi đưa mắt nhìn theo em khuất dần trong bóng tối
On the empty road at midnight, I was all alone following her with my eyes as she disappeared into the shadows
Với nỗi xót thương cho một kiếp sống não nùng
With a feeling of pain and pity for such a sorrowful fate
Câu 6:
Part 6:
Rồi kể từ đêm ấy tôi không còn trông thấy bóng em đâu
So from that evening I never saw her shadow again
Chừng hỏi thăm mới hay em bị đuổi nhà và đã ra
đi ở mướn
Asking around I learned that she had been evicted and had to go out and work for hire
Để lấy tiền nuôi bịnh mẹ tại nhà thương
To get money to take care of her sick mother in the hospital
Nghe chuyện ấy lòng tôi nao nao buồn tủi
Hearing this my heart felt troubled and dejected
Thương cho cuộc đời những trẻ bơ vơ
Pitying the lives of helpful youth
Rồi đêm đêm đi về trên xóm cũ
So each night coming home to the old neighborhood
Tôi bồi hồi nhớ lại tiếng em rao
I feel restless remembering her street hawking
Như còn vương vấn nơi phố lạnh canh buồn
Like it still haunts this lane, rattling on in sadness
"Em đi bán chè thưng
"I sell sugary custard Nặng lo chữ hiếu cho tròn"
Bearing the weight of filial piety to the end"
Giờ em đi mất đâu còn
Now, who knows where you've gone
Nhưng tôi nhớ mãi tâm hồn thơ ngây
But I always remember that innocent soul
In my opinion, vọng cổ is the greatest musical achievement of the Vietnamese people in the 20th century. It is attributed to Cao Văn Lầu (Sáu Lầu) but I think it is fair to say that it has been shaped by many hands. It is a song or theatrical aria used in cải lương built around a structure that has been realized ten of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of ways. It similar to the blues in there being an audible, accepted structure as well as myriad ways of creating within that structure.
Vọng cổ balances strictness and elasticity. Framing the lyrics presented above there is a formal structure. Elements can be added and sometimes subtracted from that structure. It can open with a recited poem, a song, or even in this case the sound of an itinerant vendor hawking her wares. Câu 3 / the Third Part is replaced by a poem. When vọng cổ is performed as an instrumental, the instruments just play Cầu 3. I haven't notated this, but the ends of some phrases have to come to a unison on a series of pitches. A moment of intensification comes during the "lối" (path) where the unaccompanied voice intones, usually at a higher more dramatic pitch level, some part of the thematic meaning within the song.
Út Trà Ôn is the master of this genre. He could recite the traffic code and make it sound beautiful. Here he is briefly joined by another star of the cải lương stage - Út Bạch Lan. Út is an endearment - it refers to the last born child in the family, the runt. Trà Ôn is a Mekong delta city.
The song is like a one act play or monologue. The narrator living in a dense urban setting flashes back to an event that made a strong impression on him. Teens scraping out a living to help support their family was and I would think still is a part of the fabric of Vietnamese life. It used to be ubiquitous to hear vendors hawking their wares on the streets of Vietnam's cities. In the mid-1990s it was still common to hear the singsong of these street vendor cries. Locals barely noticed (until they wanted a little soup, a desert or to sharpen their knives) but as a foreigner I found this practice absolutely charming.
Street vendor calls hawking their wares had been common in many parts of the world (including Europe) but modernization has done it in -- modernization the form of the motorbike. The noise and the speed of these vehicles changed the pulse of city life. It also meant that it wasn't a big deal to fetch what you wanted for yourself instead of waiting for the vendor to stop by. Plus, you can't hear the vendor any more. There are some now that use amplification or prerecorded messages - but where' the beauty in that?
Returning to our song -- the narrator both pities and admires this 15 year old girl. "Có hiếu lại hiền" - "Hiếu" means dutiful, especially in the context of respect and caring for parents. "Hiền" describes somebody gentle and kind. He understands her circumstances and is impressed with how hard she struggles to take care of her elderly, worn-out mother. Having to help out with their survival from an early age she never received an education.
Living in the world firmly tied to her mother, both for survival, support and instruction, has limited her actions and agency in the world. The narrator willingly gives of himself and undoubtedly experiences no hardship of his own in trying to aid the girl. Nevertheless, her mother has instilled a sense of honor, a moral code whereby they cannot accept anything of value without being able to repay it, in turn, with something of value.
It appears that after her refusal of the narrator's kindness, the mother's and daughter's circumstances take a turn for the worse.
"Gánh" literally describes a burden carried upon the shoulders -- long bamboo pole with balanced, fairly heavy objects balanced at both ends.
The teenage vendor has limited life experience. The lyrics note that she doesn't even yet know how properly wash rice before cooking it (perhaps because rice is a luxury). This gentle girl has been pushed into the world to fight for survival walking for miles every night calling out "Ai ăn chè bột khoai, buồn tàu đậu xanh nước dừa, đường cát hông?"
some Hà Nội street cries
We have to imagine a very thin girl carrying a very heavy load. Chè is a word used to describe many kinds of deserts. Their content is mostly liquid, and liquid is heavy. At one point it's described as "chè thưng" illustrated below.
I am grateful for the privilege of being permitted to research in the Trung Tâm Lưu Trữ Quốc Gia II (National Archive II) in Hồ Chí Minh City. The staff were extremely helpful and I was able research very productively during my brief visit.
I found a good deal of information in a file originally compiled by the Thư Viện Nam-Phần Việt-Nam - this would have been the state library for Cochinchina, later becoming the library for the Republic of Vietnam. This file registers the publications (print, audio) that were deposited there from the late 1940s through around 1959.
More than 1000 songs are listed in this file. The reasons for being listed are often not given, but in some cases the year, the publisher and creators are given. Otherwise, the criteria for inclusion are not always clear. Some important songs were published and not deposited or listed. But file provides a good picture of the music marketplace of the 1950s - both the hit songs and songs that were published but never popular. The sheet music of many of the latter may be forever lost.
Here are the top 10 most represented songwriters during this period. None are southerners. Lê Thương had lived and been active in the South the longest:
1) Phạm Duy
2) Hoàng Trọng
3) Dương Thiệu Tước
4) Y Vân
5) Hoàng Thi Thơ
6) Lê Thương
7) Ngọc Bích
8) Văn Phụng
9) Hùng Lân
10) Thẩm Oánh
All except Hoàng Thi Thơ are northerners.
These are the most represented songwriters year by year:
1949 - Dương Thiệu Tước
1950 - Phạm Duy
1951 - Dương Thiệu Tước
1952 - Hoàng Trọng and Trịnh Văn Ngân
1953 - Châu Kỳ
1954 - Phạm Duy
1955 - Phạm Duy
1956 - Hoài An, Hoàng Thi Thơ and Hoàng Trọng
1957 - Y Vân
1958 - Y Vân
1959 - Hoàng Thi Thơ
Very often the information is minimal - just the title of the song. In most cases, I was able to fill in the file's missing information using my own personal files. In other cases, I was just left with questions.
Here are some of the mystery song titles:
"Ba cảnh đời" (1952)
"Binh bét về làng" (1956)
"Cánh hoa đời" (1952)
"Dạ Lan Hương" (1950) (I would like this to be "Cánh hoa duyên kiếp", but this song was deposited in 1950 and the Đoàn Chuẩn-Từ Linh song was written in 1953)
"Đẹp xưa" (1955)
"Gửi mẹ hiền" (1956)
"Hạnh ngộ" (1959)
"Hò dô ta" (1955) (There are multiple songs to choose from)
19g -- Đài hiệu - Quốc kỳ. -- Station theme - National anthem
19g03 -- Chiêu hồi. -- Open arms.
20g -- Tin tức, thông cáo -- News, announcements
20g20 -- Phim: Tài liệu các loại giây leo. -- Film: Documentary on creeping vinces
21g -- Điểm báo, Bình luận -- Newspaper opinion, discussion
Giới thiệu chương trình hôm sau. -- Introducing tomorrow's programming
21g10 -- Thời sự Quân đội -- News of the Armed Services
21g20 -- Thoại kich "Tham thì thầm" Ban Phượng Hoàng trình diễn. -- The play "Inner Greed" performed by the Phoenix Groups
Đài hiệu -- Quốc Kỳ -- Station theme - National anthem
LƯU Ý: Hoặc do trở ngại kỹ thuật, hoặc vì có tin quan trọng cần loan báo, chương trình có thể thay đổi vài tiết mục vào giờ chót
Attention: If there are technical difficulties or important announcements, the programming could be changed at the last moment
ĐÀI MỸ - American Television
1330 Turn on
1413 What's Happening
1415 Sign on news
1430 Gator Bowl (FB)
1700 Red Skelton Hour
1800 Auto racing
1830 Get Smart
1900 Roger Miller
1930 Evening news
2000 Weather
2006 Operation Entertainment
2100 What's Happening Gunsmoke
2200 Late News
2210 Feature Movie
nguồn / source: Đuốc Nhà Nam 29 tháng 1 1969
I couldn't say how many televisions there were in The Republic of Vietnam when this item appeared in the newspaper. By the autumn of the following year there were over 300,000, over 100,000 of those in Sài Gòn. That's fewer than two for every citizen of the south.
Vietnamese language television was only introduced in February 1966. The number of viewers in January 1969 must have been considerably less than 300,000 - maybe one to two hundred thousand. The Cần Thơ television station had only started a few months prior, thus nearly the entire audience would have viewed from the environs around Sài Gòn.
A television set cost around 130 dollars or 15,300 đồng - a lot of money. While sets were few, it's likely that there was a good deal of communal viewing.
There were two channels in Sài Gòn - the Vietnamese channel and the American channel (for American personnel). The American station drew from the three major networks in the United States as well as motion pictures. On January 29, 1969 American viewers would have enjoyed the Gator Bowl - a college football game where the University of Missouri defeated the University of Alabama - that was played a month earlier on December 28, 1968 (!). This suggests that tape or film of the game had to travel across the ocean to be broadcast. Surely viewers knew the outcome already.
The station also showed an episode of country singer Roger Miller's show that was only on the air for three months in 1966. They also broadcast Red Skelton's variety show - a program that had a twenty year run. Gunsmoke was a long running western and Get Smart was a spy comedy with Cold War overtones. Programs like "What's Happening" and "Operation Entertainment" must have been locally produced. The broadcast day closed with an un-identified feature film.
While the American broadcast day lasted over twelve hours, the Vietnamese broadcast was far more limited lasting around four to five hours. They had no reservoir of programming to draw from and had to create entirely original programming. Their broadcast included a good deal of public affairs, including the "Chiêu hồi" program lasting an hour that appealed to the young men of the other side to drop their weapons and come over to the side of Republic of Vietnam. These programs usually included entertainment to message more attractive. I can't imagine that documentary on creeping vines was exciting, but it must have been recorded in Vietnamese. The day's final program was the screening of a play. There were no drama series and instead theater troupes were hired to create content for the station. The brief broadcast day was bookended by the station's musical intro and the national anthem (Tiếng gọi thanh niên - Calling The Youth).
On a crowded Lambro trip some evening
Xuôi mình không quên mà ngồi bên nhau.
Within a current of strangers we sat next to each other.
Trời mang nhiều trớ trêu chi, người chưa hề biết quen gì, sao ngồi gần như tình nhân si...
How can heaven have such notions, that we people know nothing of, why were we sitting close like mad lovers?
Em xuống xe Lam đi vào hẻm sâu.
I got off the Lambro to enter a deep alleyway.
Anh vội theo chân ngõ hồn xôn xao.
You hurriedly followed my steps into the alley, my soul astir
Làm quen chuyện vãn dăm câu, niềm vui mộng ước ban đầu, trong đã rồi... mặt ngoài còn e.
Got acquainted through half dozen remarks, happy hope began there, inside was thus... the outer expression was still bashful.
Ngờ đâu yêu đương như đám lục bình, trôi theo con nước vô tình, Anh lấy vợ, vợ anh giàu có.
Who knew that love is like water hyacinth, floating along in indifferent waters, you married, your wife is rich
Tình em se cát dã tràng biển đông, em muốn tìm chồng cho xong, nhưng ngại thêm gặp kẻ bạc lòng.
My love is a sand crab filling in the ocean, I'd like to find a husband and be done, but I hesitate meeting someone with a fickle heart
Trên chuyến xe Lam đông người chiều nay.
Upon this Lambro trip there's a crowd this evening.
Nghe nhiều bơ vơ nỗi niềm chua cay.
Feeling hopeless, bitter feelings
Còn đâu một chuyến xe Lam, ngày nao mộng ước vô vàn bao kỷ niệm giờ mình Em.
Where has that Lambro trip gone, I dream daily, endless memories for Me alone.
Giao Linh ca "Chuyến xe lam chiều" trên băng Kim Đằng, xuất bản tháng 10 1973
Bây giờ, thỉnh thoảng vẫn thấy một chiếc Lam cũ, tơi tả xuất hiện đâu đó. Tiếng máy xe không còn kêu bon bon, mùi khói xăng không còn thơm như trước nữa nhưng người Sài Gòn không ai không nhớ tới những chuyến xe Lam - nhất là những chuyến xe Lam chiều vội đưa người về với gia đình, với người yêu đang chờ trên phố nhỏ. Còn đâu một chuyến xe Lam? Có chăng, chỉ còn lại dư âm trong bài Chuyến xe Lam chiều của nhạc sĩ Vinh Sử! (Lê Văn Nghĩa, "Xe Lam chiều,"
Nowadays, occasionally you'll see a dilapidated old Lambro scooter coming from somewhere. The engine no longer makes a putt-putt sound, the smell of gasoline fumes is no longer as pleasant as before, but for Saigon people, nobody can forget those Lambro trips – especially those hurried afternoon trips taking took people home to their families or to their lovers waiting on a small lane. Where did those Lambretta trip go? Perhaps they remain only in the song "An Evening Lambretta Trip" by composer Vinh Sử!
nguồn: Thanh Niên (April 10, 2016).
The Xe Lam of Vietnam is a category of auto rickshaw, a popular means of transportation throughout the developing world to this day. In Thailand there is the ubiquitous "tuk tuk" named after the sound that Lê Văn Nghĩa describes as "bon bon" and I translate as "putt putt." Three wheeled motorcycles date back to the earliest days of motorized transport. The tuk tuk and similar vehicles were principally manufactured in Italy, the home of the Lambretta scooter.
nguồn ảnh: Lê Văn Nghĩa như trên
In many places they functioned as taxis carrying at most a couple of passengers. In Vietnam these Lambrettas were a modification of a Lambro that was a small three-wheeled freight vehicle. These were modified to create a rear cabin that could carry more passengers. The Xe Lam performed a function someplace between a taxi and a bus. These vehicles had existed since the 1940s, but according to Lê Văn Nghĩa they were introduced in the Republic of Vietnam in 1966 and were in common use until the early 2000s.
It was a communal setting bringing strangers together as we witness in this song. A young man and woman felt an inarticulate spark of love. He became betrothed to another. She is unsure about ever finding somebody for herself and holds on to dreams of what might have been.
Vinh Sử often employs folk imagery and the image of the dã tráng or sand bubbler crab is very familiar. In the process of feeding, it filters sands leaving it behind in small spheres. These spheres have an aesthetic quality that seems intentional, yet the effort of creating these shapes is inevitably erased by the rising tide. Thus this crab of is a metaphor for labor expended for nought.
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