HÀ NỘI — A symphonic poem by Vũ Duy Cương will be performed for the first time ever under the baton of France’s Michael Cousteau at Việt Nam National Academy of Music today.

Mầm Sống (Life Sprout) is one of the rare symphonies to be composed by modern Vietnamese musicians. It was written for a philharmonic orchestra, commissioned by the Việt Nam Musicians’ Association.

Cương worked on the symphony for the last two years.

"The symphony is poetic, romantic and friendly," said Cương. "Man likes seed which will be developed well if it is planted in fat land. Mầm Sống tells about brave and dauntless spirit of Vietnamese during the war time."

Cương used Vietnamese folk music including the northern province of Bắc Ninh’s Hoa Thơm Bướm Lượn melody (Scented Flowers Flying Butterflies) to compose Mầm Sống.

Cương has won numerous of awards like Việt Nam Musicians’ Association Awards in 1990, 1999 and 2011, the ASEAN Art Creativity Merit in Indonesia in 1997 and his symphony Chân Trời Bến Đợi (Skyline Wharf) won the second prize at the 1st Symphony Composing Contest. The contest was held by Việt Nam Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and UNESCO in 1993.

His other music works are Trio Sonate; variation for piano and symphony Năng Lượng Vũ Trụ Trái Đất và Con Người (Energy, Space-Earth and Man).

Mầm Sống will be played by Việt Nam National Symphony of Orchestra with conductor Cousteau, who has established himself internationally as a musician of unusual versatility, conducting operatic and symphonic repertoire ranging from the Baroque on period instruments to contemporary works.

He has regularly conducted the orchestras of the elite Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, after having founded several orchestras in the Paris conservatories system where he taught conducting. He gives several master classes in Oman, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, the mainland China and Taiwan.

This is the first time he will perform in Việt Nam.

The concert will also include pieces by Claude Debussy and Camille Saint-Saens. The piece Concerto No5 for piano by Saint-Saens will feature Vietnamese critically-acclaimed pianist Nguyễn Bích Trà.

Trà graduated from the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory in 1997. Two years later, she completed an advanced performance course at the London-based Royal Academy of Music and continued her master’s degree at the College of Music and Media there.

She was awarded the ARAM (Associate of the Royal Academy of Music) for her ‘significant contribution to the music profession’ in 2013.

The concert will begin at 8pm at 77 Hào Nam Street, Hà Nội. — VNS