An unusual composer finds the muse waiting all around him.

He does not have to sit by a waterfall, listen to the sound of birds chirping, or the falling rain drops, or the rustling of leaves.

He hears it in the din of the marketplace, in the revving of motorbike engines, and in the pho shops where loud conversations mingle with the noise of busy street traffic.

What’s more, he does not hesitate to present it as music to audiences. It is not surprising that is often dismissed as an eccentric, but Tan is unfazed.

“Audiences can like or dislike my music. I will create the best conditions for them to enjoy my music, but it’s up to them to decide whether they want it or not. I don’t cater to the masses and want to travel my own road. I would have lots of supporters if I wrote music more pleasing to the ear, but I simply can’t do that.

“I don’t care much about public opinion. I’m not flattered by compliments or affected by criticism,” Tan says.

While he has plenty of critics, he is also seen as an outstanding musical talent and a pioneer in the country in fusing contemporary instrumental music with classical and traditional elements. His innovative music has been lavishly praised and enthusiastically embraced by foreigners, but it has yet to strike a chord with local audiences.

“Many people may find my works difficult to appreciate, but that doesn’t mean I have to adjust my writing to their taste,” he says, adding that catering to the audience’s tastes can stifle creativity.

He feels most Vietnamese associate music with pop and tend to ignore chamber music and different kinds of experimental music.

“Music is inclusive and songs are just part of music.”

Tan also points out difficulties composers of instrumental music encounter. They need a lot of training, but cannot make a comfortable living after graduating.

There are even fewer composers in contemporary instrumental music. “Contemporary instrumental music is alien even to professionals, forget winning audiences.”

Despite the difficulties he has faced in publishing his albums, Tan has persisted as Vietnam’s sole composer in contemporary classical music though he may not ever find mainstream success.

“I always try to add originality to my music by bringing something new out of both classical and traditional instruments. I always bear in mind that good music doesn’t always need mellifluous melodies and harmonious rhythms.”

Tan pioneered in noise music in Vietnam after a performance in 2005. Xom, one of his CDs, has the sounds of a water pump and a running motorbike.

Adept at playing several instruments, Tan says music isn’t always made up of sweet melodies and harmonious rhythms.

He is currently recording the noise at pho (noodles with beef or chicken) shops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City for his “I Love Pho” ensemble funded by a group of Vietnamese Australians to promote the dish.

In noisy pho shops in the southern hub, the buzz of conversation and the traffic noise drown out the clink of bowls whereas it is quieter and the clink of bowls is more distinct at shops in the capital city, he notes. The difference adds originality to the piece, which is set to be completed this December.

Asked whether the clink of bowls at pho shops can be confused with that in shops selling other cooking, Tan encourages listeners to employ their imagination.

Collages

Tan’s notable works are Ngu doi dang dan (Interplay of five instruments); chamber music using five Vietnamese traditional instruments - flute, dan nhi (two-stringed vertical fiddle), dan nguyet (moon-shaped two-string lute), dan tranh (16-chord zither), and percussion instruments; Dong ai (Winter melancholy), a piano solo; Ao don ao kep, chamber music for flute, bassoon, violin, violoncello, contrabass, guitar and percussion; and Doan trang (Blank), another piano solo.

Nhip don nhip kep (Simple meter, compound meter) a chamber music piece with flute, clarinet, violin, viola and cello has been performed many times at several international festivals.

“Tan also found inspiration in earlier music, in his case the folk, court and concert music of various regions of Vietnam. These influences peek through the sometimes eerie, sometimes sharply etched timbres of his ‘Simple meter, compound meter,’ the Times noted.

His “Meditations & ABC” for violin and cello quickly became a series of gliding microtonal gestures that sometimes sounded like sirens interrupted by shooting wars between snapped and plucked strings.

One of his CDs, Bung, has four tracks that mix electronic music, sample sound, dan tranh and noise. He also blends laptop music with the now popular fast-paced dance music in this CD.

Another, Com, comprises music written for sao, nhi, nguyet and tranh played in the style of don ca tai tu (the traditional improvisational chamber music of southern Vietnam).

Music installation

Tan is also a pioneer in music installation. With painter Tran Hau Yen The, he put on Vac and Xom (Bitter and Squat), a music, installation and video outing together.

Other multimedia performances include Thap Dien Diem Vuong – The Ten Courts of the King of Hell; and Thang – Bamboo ladders (installation).

He recently performed alongside Micmac, a French artist, in the Noise&Beat Lado Wonderful Show.

Tan was born in 1970 in Hanoi and studied piano, composition and musicology at the National Conservatory of Music in Hanoi.

He later studied computer music and new music at the Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik in Cologne in 2000-01, on a scholarship from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. He also studied composition at the University of California at San Diego in 2002 as a guest student.

His many honors include the first Prize in the Saint-German-en-Laye competition in 1995, for Ky uc (Memory); four prizes from the Vietnam Composers Association in 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2003; and a grant from the Asian Cultural Council (2002) to research contemporary music and ethnomusicology in the United States.

Tan’s music has been performed in Australia, Cambodia, China, France, Germany, Mongolia, Switzerland, the US, and Vietnam, including at the Roaring Hoofs Festival in Ulaanbaatar (2000), the Louisiana Festival of Contemporary Music in Baton Rouge (2002), the Totally Huge New Music Festival in Perth (2003), and the Asian Music Festival in Tokyo (2003).

He has also performed on numerous occasions as a pianist and sao tre (bamboo flute)-player in contemporary and improvisational music in Australia, China and Vietnam.

He has lectured on composition and musicology at the National Conservatory of Music in Hanoi since 1995.

Reported by Diem Thu