Introduction to Traditional Music (University of Music Education)

Although there are not many comments about Hue Ly in Vietnamese Traditional Music , they help us have a preliminary understanding of the quantity and differences between Hue Ly and Ly in other regions.

1.1.1.6. Introduction to Traditional Music ( University of Music Education )

This is a book edited by Ha Thi Hoa, published by Ngoc Chau Publishing House in 2014. The book is 126 pages thick, divided into 6 chapters. In particular, we pay attention to chapter 3 (from page 41 to page 58) with the title: Overview of folk song regions . The author divides folk songs into regions: Folk songs of the Northern Midlands and Plains; Folk songs of the Central region (Folk songs of the North Central region and Folk songs of the South Central region); Folk songs of the South; Folk songs of the Northern mountainous region; Folk songs of the Central Highlands. We have collected some information about Hue Ly (in the section on Folk songs of the South Central region ) and Southern Ly melodies (in the section on Folk songs of the South ).

Ly Hue was mentioned by author Ha Thi Hoa through a quote (on page 19) in the book The Vitality of Vietnamese Traditional Music by musician To Vu as follows:

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Ly tunes: are folk songs with complete rhythms, refined and balanced melodies like typical Quan Ho tunes. The content of Ly tunes is very close to the content of sentimental, rich, and graceful folk songs such as Ly Hoai Xuan, Ly Tu Vi, Ly Tinh Tang, Ly Nam Canh ... Unlike Northern folk songs that are often built on a natural 5-tone scale, in Ly tunes as well as some Ho tunes we see very unique sound variations. Is it the influence of the Central dialect (probably the Central region) or the influence of Cham musical elements? Anyway, there have been researchers who have pointed out the characteristics of the Mai Day Ho tune scale, which is far from the familiar natural 5-tone scale, but closer to the average 5-tone scale, a popular scale in Indonesian folk music and also a scale very close to the sound series of trumpet instruments in Cham music [42, p.51].

Regarding the melodies, the author "quoted the book Vietnamese Sounds and Traditional Music by author Hoang Kieu (on page 26) as follows:

In ancient times, China called the folk songs of the countryside as Lu. In Vietnam, it refers to folk songs in the folk song genre with neat rhythms and complete organization. Lu occupies an important position in Vietnamese folk songs... Ly is the rustic song of the countryside people... Ly is the rustic habit... Ly is not elegant, rude, like Ly ca (song), Ly ngu (proverb) [42, p.53].

Like many other music researchers, here author Ha Thi Hoa also emphasizes that: each Ly song usually only uses one or two musical sentences... "The nature of Ly songs is mainly to express love between men and women, there are also some songs describing scenery, describing objects... Ly songs also have sad, metaphorical, and distant qualities..." [40, p.54]. Those comments help us reflect on the multidimensionality of the emotional content of Ly songs to apply to teaching.

1.1.2. Research articles published in journals

1.1.2.1. Ly - the sentiments of Vietnamese people

This is an article by researcher Le Van Hao published in Music Magazine No. 1-2 in 1981, then reprinted in the Anthology of Research Documents on Vietnamese Music Theory and Criticism in the 20th Century , Volume 2B. In the article, although the content is not long, the author has basically outlined the picture of the Ly Con Sao tune in the regions of the country. The author divides Ly Con Sao into: Ly Con Sao of the Central region, Ly Con Sao of the North, Ly Con Sao of Thanh, Ly Con Sao of Hue, Ly Con Sao of Quang, Ly Con Sao of Nam. Not stopping there, Le Van Hao continues to point out the number of songs in each region and the general musical characteristics of those songs. We can summarize this study as follows:

According to Le Van Hao, the Central Highlands flute song has 3 songs: "the melody style is close to the chanting style, graceful lines, free rhythm, flexible tempo, moderate, unconstrained and the rhythms have accents" [33, p.117].

Ly con sao Bac (Ha Bac) also has 3 songs, of which 2 songs "belong to the minor voice system in quan ho singing..., all sung in medium rhythm and have musical nature.

cheerful, gentle, optimistic, and full of mischievous humor" [33, p.121].

With the Thanh Hoa song "Ly Con Sao", the author believes that there is only one song, "the musical structure is as simple as the Central Highlands song "Ly Con Sao"; sung at a moderate rhythm, it is one of the cheerful and optimistic "Ly Con Sao" songs" [32, p.122].

Regarding the Quang flute, the author only introduces 2 pieces, however, although it is subjective here, Le Van Hao still affirms: piece 1 "is clearly influenced by the Hue flute", piece 2 "is close to the Northern tunes in the Quang music" [33, p.128].

Ly con sao Nam, the author collected 5 songs, in which song 1 and song 5 ( Ly Con sao Go Cong ) "more or less have the influence of Ly Con sao Hue " [33, p.132]. As for the part about Ly Con sao Hue , the author included all of this content in the book Hue among us (we will discuss this issue below). In general, Ly - the sentiments of the Vietnamese people , Le Van Hao gave us a general view of the appearance of Ly con sao songs. Do Ly con sao songs in the North - Central - South all originate from Ly Con sao in Hue? To answer this question, in addition to a solid knowledge of music, clear historical evidence is needed. Through the article, we clearly see the implication of author Le Van Hao: he really wants to prove the origin of Ly con sao songs all originate from Ly Con sao Hue.

1.1.2.2. Back to the folk song "Ly hoai xuan"

This is an article by author Minh Phuong, published in Song Huong magazine (issue 8, 1990). The author wrote this article after reading the article "A special folk melody in the folk song treasury of Binh Tri Thien" by researcher Le Van Hao published in Song Huong magazine (Tet Canh Than issue). The main content of the article, according to the author, is: "raising a number of issues for us to discuss and investigate to verify: Is Ly Con Sao the same as Ly Hoai Xuan ?" [89, p.91].

After considering on the level: music, lyrics, legendary stories

Based on the relevant dialogue and consultation with artists, author Minh Phuong came to the conclusion: “Ly Hoai Xuan and Ly Con Sao are two melodies far apart, not one... Ly Con Sao has a close relationship with folk songs from all three regions of the country, which allows us to hypothesize that Ly Con Sao may have originated from the North” [89, p.97]. In our opinion, this issue also has reasonable kernels, however, more documents are needed to verify its authenticity.

1.1.2.3. Rambling around Ly melodies

This is an article by musician To Vu published in the Journal of Culture and Arts, issue 12, 1995 - later republished in the Collection of Research Materials on Vietnamese Music Theory and Criticism in the 20th Century - discussing many issues surrounding the melodies of Lý. Musician To Vu said: “Lý does not have a specific function and content. In other words, Lý is truly “multi-functional” and has “diverse” content. This is the first “explanation” for the impressive number and rich content of Lý melodies” [79, p.763]. Another issue that we are interested in in this article is the origin of the word Lý and the form of Lý.

First of all, we can consider that Lý is derived from the Sino-Vietnamese root "Lý ca" whose etymology "Lý" clearly indicates its meaning as rustic songs . Chinese scholars (for example: Tô Hạ) have analyzed the differences between "Lý ca" and "Nghe thuat ca"... Lý ca does not have a musical score, it is preserved and spread orally, and has a high variation. Those characteristics of Lý ca are also opposite points to the art of ca (or art song, scholarly song [79, p.764].

When referring to the form of Lý, musician Tô Vũ commented: “in short, it is the form of (folk) song. It is similar to the forms of folk songs of other ethnic groups” [79, p.764]. Although the article does not directly mention Lý Huế, it has provided us with many aspects of Lý in addition to the issues mentioned above. Especially when referring to the content and musical properties

music, the musician said:

Northern melodies generally have a solemn and graceful style, and if they are a bit witty, they are expressed discreetly and delicately; Central melodies (Tu vi, Hoai Xuan, Hoai Nam, Vong phu, Thuong nhau...) are mostly melancholy and filled with sadness" [79, pp.769-770].

This is also something we should pay attention to the content and musical nature of Ly Hue to have the right perspective when applying it to teaching intermediate music students at HVAN Hue.

1.1.2.4. Assumptions about the origin of the "Ly" form in Vietnamese folk songs

This is an article by Duong Bich Ha in Huong River Magazine, issue 4, 1996 - later republished in the Anthology of Research Documents on Vietnamese Music Theory and Criticism in the 20th Century . To hypothesize the origin of the word "ly" in Vietnamese folk songs, the author cites the explanation of the word "ly " by a number of researchers: Tu Ngoc, Dao Trong Tu, Lu Nhat Vu, Le Van Hao, Nguyen Dang Hoe, Pham Duy..., and the explanation in the Sino-Vietnamese Dictionary as well as the quote in the book " Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu". Through the documents of previous researchers, especially when Pham Duy explained "ly" as "village", author Duong Bich Ha believes that:

The above explanation of the word "ly" is completely far from the nature of singing; it is just a way of speaking to criticize and disparage folk literature. The word "ly" here does not carry the meaning of an administrative unit such as "village, commune" or a unit of measurement such as "thousand miles", "nautical miles"... In the "Sino-Vietnamese Dictionary" recently published by Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House, there is a similar explanation: "... a rustic song sung by a country person...[79, p.785].

We also agree with the author's opinion when he wrote: with the characteristic of oral transmission (sung music), all genres of folk music are closely linked to the origin and long-standing tradition of folk music of the nation. Therefore

With reason, when explaining its origin, it cannot be separated from the origin of Dai Viet culture.

According to Duong Bich Ha, this is a point of view. From this point of view, the author believes that: "the homeland of Ly could be Hue, the land of Thuan Hoa" [79, p.787]. It is still a conjecture: Ly could be separated from the performance environment of traditional love duet singing, and it is assumed that it could have been separated from Gheo singing, Trong Quan singing, Vi singing... or from the rich folk song genres of the Muong people... following the footsteps of the Northern residents to Chau O, Ly [79, p.788-789]. Then: the Vietnamese people in Thuan Hoa - Phu Xuan originated from Nghe Tinh, Thanh Hoa and the Northern Delta, in that migration they brought the singing with them. The residents of Dang Ngoai brought to Thuan Hoa many songs that remained in their memories, separated from the environment of male-female dialogue performances, separated from the customs of their local folk songs... through the struggle with life in a strange land, the process of adapting to the new climate is the process of psychological change and metamorphosis in folk songs, the process of forming a new source of folk music [79, p.789].

Finally, the destination must still be reached, Duong Bich Ha affirmed: "Ly has been born since ancient times in Hue" [79, p.791]. Starting from this thesis (somewhat similar to the research of Le Van Hao), Hue is considered the center of the birth of Ly melodies. From Hue, Ly then spread, influenced the North and returned to its ancient roots such as in Quan Ho, Phu Tho teasing songs, Bac Bo Delta drums and Thanh Hoa folk songs, in which the songs Chuon Chuon Am Hanh Vuong, Quat Tau 36 nan Xuong, Ly Tam That, Ly Thien Thai ... all carry the essence of Hue Ly melodies, and especially:

The 36-slat Chinese fan (Thanh Hoa), The dragonfly caught in a spider's web and especially The thread threading needle still retain the full shape of the Hue Ly Nam xang . It can be said that they are like two brothers.

twins whose elder brother speaks with a Hue accent and whose younger brother speaks with a Northern accent [79, p.792].

The spread and influence of Hue's lyrical songs on the Southern provinces is also demonstrated by the author: Ly Ba con ngua, Ly Thuong nhau (Quang province), Ly Nam canh (South Central), Ly Ngua o, Ly Con sao, Ly Lu la (Southern region)... all originated from Hue [79, p.793].

We believe that tracing the origin and influence of Lý is an extremely difficult problem. When researching the origin of Lý, it is necessary to rely on many other scientific data to be convincing enough. However, the article has provided us with many issues surrounding Lý Huế, especially the explanation of Lý:

Lý is a type of singing in the folk songs of the Central and Southern regions, both to indicate the genre and to carry the meaning of the form, used to express thoughts, feelings, and express private thoughts, not to be a dialogue... Usually has a short structure, but is complete and tight in one or two six-eight verses, with a flexible melody, easy to remember, easy to memorize. The characteristic of lý is to use empty words as filler words, and repeated words, often with motifs that are mentioned over and over again at the end [79, p.787]. We basically agree with the above explanation of lý by

Duong Bich Ha. However, if we consider all the elements, Ly is not a type of folk singing, but should only be considered a type of folk singing belonging to the music genre.

1.1.2.5. Musical formal structure in Ly Hue

This is also an article by author Duong Bich Ha published in the Culture and Arts Magazine, July 1997 issue and reprinted in volume 2B of the Collection of Research Documents on Vietnamese Music Theory and Criticism in the 20th Century . At the beginning of the article, Duong Bich Ha assumed: Hue is the cradle of physical music. Ly was formed on the basis of inheriting the traditional national music. "Hue Ly has the characteristics of

Common features of Vietnamese folk songs: the lyrics are mostly traditional folk songs with six-eight meter, so there is an organic relationship between folk songs and folk songs, and there is not even a clear boundary" [79, p.850].

Through the survey of Hue Ly melodies, the author shows the relationship between music and lyrics through the completeness of the formal structure. Normally, a folk song (consisting of a pair of six-eight verses) has created a complete structure of a Ly tune.

But sometimes, just one six-line verse (of the six-eight verse form) is a complete structure thanks to the padding, reduplication..., which are used by the people to expand the rhythm. There are cases where the poem consists of many six-eight verse pairs, and the musical structure of the melody is complete in the first verse pair with a certain form, then the following verse pairs are repeated in a variation form, or more simply, repeated as verse 1, verse 2... or as the artist calls it, verse 1, verse 2... [79, p.851].

After the above general comments, the author has cited specific cases: The Ly melody is completely formed on a pair of six-eight poems like Ly Hoai Nam ; the Ly melody is formed right in the next sentence of the six-eight poem like Ly Giang Nam ; it is completely formed by the first pair of six-eight poems, and the following pairs of poems are repetitions, or repetitions with variations like Ly Nam Canh ; the Ly melody is formed by two pairs of six-eight poems, typically like Ly Tu Vi [79, pp.851-857].

The article " Structure of musical form in Ly Hue" by Duong Bich Ha has helped us understand more about the talented ability of folk artists in composing poetry to create Ly Hue. Through this, we can know the form of Ly Hue, most of which is built in the form of a section consisting of 2 parts and often in the structure of the drum-roof style. In addition, the author also sees the ability of folk artists to use padding sounds, repetitions, and breath sounds to create the completeness and balance as well as the aesthetics of the form.

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