VietNamNet Bridge - Musician Dang Hoanh Loan, the late deputy director of the National Music Institute, collected information and documents to submit to UNESCO in the hope that ca tru would be recognised as a World Cultural Heritage.

What’s the position of the ca tru once performed at the old royal palace compared with the art of ca tru nominated for World Culture Heritage?

Hat co dau is a special type of ca tru, a variant of hat choi ca tru, once reserved for singing to male patrons in the Vietnamese equivalent of a geisha house. People often associate the noise of a wooden castanet being beaten with hat co dau, but it’s the same for all types of ca tru – and there are three.

Hat choi ca tru is performed for public entertainment, hat tho ca tru is for temples and pagodas, and hat cua quyen ca tru is reserved for royal palaces.

Hat co dau is a variant of hat choi, which was very popular in Ha Noi in the 19th century.

So, how was ca tru performed at royal palaces? What’s the difference between the ca tru for palaces and ca tru for public entertainment?

In olden times, ca tru performances were often held at palaces during rituals of great rejoicing. Songs were composed by the court, not the troupe, and were related to celebrations, such as those for new year and royal birthdays.

The ca tru performed at imperial palaces was on a large scale and featured dancing, unlike other types of ca tru.

However, hat cua quyen retained the typical characteristics of ca tru, such as dan day, plucking a guitar-like instrument with a long neck and three strings, and the use of the trong chau, a drum beaten to keep time, and the ever present hollow wooden castanets beaten with two sticks.

Many well-known dances such as fan dancing and bai bong dancing originated from imperial ca tru singing. (Bai bong is a spectacular form of dancing from the Tran Dynasty in the 13th century. Each performer carries two candlelit lanterns suspended from each shoulder.)

Selecting female vocalists for royal ca tru was carried out with great care. Singers practised methodically, waiting for an opportunity to display their talent. When they returned home, they were treated with great respect by all villagers and other artists.

Enrolling ca tru artistes to sing for the royal family was maintained during the Ly and Nguyen dynasties. Popular public-style ca tru troupes became a source of artistes for the court.

One much loved troupe from Quang Binh Province was employed to perform at the palace. There is no doubt that ca tru played an important role in the imperial arts.

How many royal ca tru artistes are still living?

To my knowledge, only a few – and they are residing at Co Dam Commune.

Ca tru troupes that performed at the royal palace were often given fine names and titles by the rulers. The Nguyen family from Chanh Village in Phu Xuyen District on the outskirts of Ha Noi was honoured with calligraphy saying that ca tru was as “precious as pearls”.

A female vocalist from Giao Thuy District in the northern Nam Dinh Province was so respected that the king granted her land large enough for her troupe to live and perform.

(Source: VNS)