As Prof., Dr. Tran Van Khe, a Vietnamese musicologist, once said, “The sound of lithophone can express people’s feelings,” the musical notes from these instruments performed by military Vietnamese artists Nguyen Xuan Bac and Ha Cong Cuong at the event helped listeners feel about the sentiment of ethnic minority people in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. They also brought audiences on an imaginative journey through superb mountains and cultural festivals of people in the region.
    |
 |
|
Vietnamese artists Nguyen Xuan Bac and Ha Cong Cuong help listeners feel the sentiment of ethnic minority people in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. |
Lithophone is considered one of the surprises of the “Army of Culture” Contingent of the Vietnam People’s Army at the Army Games 2021, as it was played at the event for the first time.
Before heading to Russia for the competition, People’s Artist Colonel Nguyen Xuan Bac from the Military University of Culture and Arts shared that he is interested in instruments of ethnic minority people in the Central Highlands and has spent more than 30 years studying them. He added that he was proud to be the first person to bring lithophone’s sound to the international event.
|
|
 |
|
People’s Artist Colonel Nguyen Xuan Bac from the Military University of Culture and Arts can play many instruments of ethnic minority people, including the T'rung. |
“This is an excellent opportunity for me to introduce this unique instrument to international friends,” Bac said.
Taking about his preparation for the performance, Colonel Bac said that he met a lot of difficulties. Due to the complicated developments of the COVID-19, the military artist could not travel to the Central Highlands to choose the instrument and consult local artisans in person. Therefore, he had to consult instrument specialists on the phone and do all preparation by himself, from coming up with ideas for the performance, shaping stone bars for building a lithophone, tuning the instrument and composing.
However, thanks to his rich knowledge and experience in stone chimes, Bac finally composed a piece of music, titled “Am vang dai ngan” (Echoing Sounds of Mountains), to perform at the “Army of Culture” contest of the Army Games 2021. The work, imbued with the gong culture of the ethnic groups of Gia Rai, E De, Gie Trieng, and Ba Na, received a lot of applauding from audiences.
Earlier, also in the “Instrumental Genre” stage, the two instrumentalists impressed the audience with “Tinh ca du muc - Cachiusa” (Those Were the Days – Katyusha) mash-up on the T’rung (traditional bamboo xylophone of the people in the Central Highlands of Vietnam) and flute.
|
In 1949, road builders discovered 11 slabs of stone shaped by human hands in Ndut Lieng Krak village in Dak Lak province. The findings were reported to professor Georges Condominas, a French archaeologist, who was working at the French School of the Far East. In June 1950, these rock bars were taken to Paris by the French professor and then studied by French music professor André Schaeffner. More than a year later, the music professor published research findings on the Journal of Musicology, confirming that lithophone founded in Ndut Lieng Krak is unique and not the same as any stone instruments that scientists have known. At present, the lithophone is on display at the Museum of Mankind in Paris, France. Vietnamese lithophone was listed as one of the instruments in the Culture Space of the Gongs of the Central Highlands by UNESCO. |
Reported by PAN’s reporters from Moscow, Russia
Translated by Tran Hoai