Playing for posterity
Published: 11/08/2009 05:00
A centenarian musician longs to teach the next generation the secrets of the Vietnamese pipa. | |||||||
After 100 years, Chau Dinh Khoa is no less dedicated to the love of his life: the dan ty ba. He still plays the same ty ba, a traditional string instrument derived from the Chinese pipa, his teacher gave him over 65 years ago. The sounds of the four-stringed pear-shaped lute can be heard every day in Khoaâs home commune of Son Thuy, where Khoa continues to play passionately. The tiny enclave of May Keo Hamlet is not far from Khoaâs hometown in Le Thuy District, Quang Binh Province. After 100 years of traveling around the country, heâs still at home. Khoaâs rosewood instrument is a Hue city-style pipa, with 10 frets instead of the eight frets found on other Vietnamese ty ba. The instrument has been used in Vietnam, particularly the central region, since the 11th century. A teacher Artist Nguyen Quang Ton, whose stage name was Tro Ton, was a famous ty ba player from Hue at the turn of the century. In 1901 he began performing throughout the country using a pipa that was at least 100 years old. To escape the bloodshed of the anti-French resistance in the early part of the century, Tro Ton and his family moved to the O Chau area in the central province of Quang Binh. Despite his familyâs near-poverty, Ton still devoted himself to teaching the ty ba and taking meticulous care of the old zither-like instrument. He paid special attention to his best student, Khoa, a small and gentle boy with a great love for traditional music. The artist taught Khoa every skill and technique he knew. The boy was quick to learn, talented and diligent. He was soon playing the lute as if it were second nature. In 1939, Tro Ton drifted north to Thanh Hoa while Khoa wandered provinces in the central region trying to make a living with music and odd jobs. âWherever he wentâ Ton passed away two years later in Hue at the age of 38. But before dying he had asked his wife to hand his old pipa to his best pupil, Khoa. In 1945, Khoa became a soldier in the war against the French. When he left home he entrusted the instrument to a neighbor. But when he returned victorious in 1954, the instrument had been badly scratched. Khoa said he burst into tears upon seeing the damage and vowed to never lose sight of it again. Since that day heâs been carrying the instrument on his person everywhere. When the war with the Americans began, he carried the instrument to the front lines to entertain soldiers. From 1959-1967, he led the Quang Binh Art Troupe. With his old ty ba, he and other folk musicians accompanied the troops and performed to boost morale. Khoa was also charged with finding his way through the jungles to enlist remote villages in the resistance struggle. During those years, an axe he bushwhacked with became almost as important as his ty ba. Khoaâs daughter Chau Thi Hai was young at the time, but she still remembers the clear image of her father: âHe carried a knapsack on his back, holding an axe in one hand and the pipa in the other. Wherever he went, the sounds of the pipa were heard.â Jubilee Last month, Khoaâs family and students threw him a party for his 100th birthday. Nearly the whole May Keo Hamlet gathered for the celebration. Several generations of some families attended, many traveling from far and wide to see an old friend they had known years and even decades ago. Khoa was delighted to see his friends, colleagues and students, many after long years of separation. That morning, he dressed in an ao dai (traditional Vietnamese tunic) and a silk hat, the traditional garb of Royal Court performers who were the first to play the ty ba in Vietnam, for a live performance to his well-wishers. For two hours, Khoa accompanied singers from the village, including his own children and grandchildren, as they sang a range of Vietnamese folk songs in different styles. The performance was a nostalgic one that prompted many there to recall the war years. Legacy Khoa says that preserving the tradition of the ty ba is very important to him. He spent the late 1990s and early 2000s teaching the instrument at the Hanoi Conservatory of Music. But he says it takes a lifetime to learn and fears that his students were not moved to the task. Khoa said the ty ba takes more patience than most artists can stomach. âThe key to my success has been the heart and my patience,â he said. âIt takes heart and patience to play the real meaning of the song. The more patient a ty ba player is, the better their notes will sound.â He said that before the war with the Americans he had four students who were destined to master the instrument. But all died in the conflict. Now in old age, Khoa says his greatest concern is that there will be no one to continue playing the ty ba. To impart his knowledge on the next generation, Khoa now teaches lessons at his house, all of which are recorded for later use. Khoa said he hoped that there would never come a time in Vietnam in which the sounds of the pipa could not be heard. Reported by Truong Quang Nam |
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