HÀ NỘI — Veteran musician Nguyễn Cường is back and better than ever, with his new musical work entitled Đà Giang – Đại Hợp Xướng (Đà River – Masterpiece Chorus).

The work comprises four movements about Đà River and Mường culture in the northern Hòa Bình Province.

“I intended to write a song, but after getting to know more about the Mường culture, Đẻ Đất Đẻ Nước, a Mường epic that explains how the universe was created, I thought it needed much more than a song,” Cường said.

The first movement entitled Đà Giang Bi Vang Thàng Động is a musical narration of a Mường epic. It features the roots and progress of Mường ethnic culture, which is seen as belonging to a legendary and mysterious land.

The musician was inspired by literary works of noted poets Tản Đà and Vũ Hoàng Chương, writer Nguyễn Tuân and musician Phạm Duy to create the second movement entitled Thuyền Du Bến Nước Sông Trăng.

The Đường Lên Tây Bắc movement reminds people of the Điện Biên Phủ Victory, which was in part due to thousands of young volunteers who transported rice to the Tây Bắc region.

The final movement entitled Ta Xây Thành Phố Mơ Cùng Sông Đà is about a desire to build a modern city along Đà River.

The piece was warmly welcomed and highly appreciated at the launching ceremony held recently.

“Cường shows freshness and creativity in his new work,” musician Phạm Ngọc Khôi, deputy head of the Việt Nam Musicians’ Association, said. “It is a masterpiece of Vietnamese music in the 21st century.”

From a historian’s angle, researcher Dương Trung Quốc said it was not only a musical work about Đà River but also about the Vietnamese people.

“It is not by chance that Đà River flows through the Mường ethnic area, which is seen as the oldest area in Việt Nam. Đà River has provided rich plains to the country.”

The chorus has been commissioned by businessman Vũ Duy Bổng to celebrate the 130th anniversary of Hòa Bình Province.

Cường visited Hòa Bình Province several times and read many books. He researched about Hòa Bình culture and its people for a year.

“The trips to Hòa Bình Culture were a return to the roots of Vietnamese culture,” the musician said.

Born in 1943 in Hà Nội, Cường is known for composing songs about the Central Highlands, in which he incorporates traditional musical ideas. — VNS