26 years for a reunion

From left to right: Musician Nhi Do, poet Tran Thi Bich Thuy, and author Do Anh Vu at a reunion.

For generations, Hanoi has been an endless source of inspiration for literature and art, including music . A significant number of famous songs about Hanoi are set to poems. Many songs by composer Phu Quang include: "Hanoi on the Day of Return" (poem by Thanh Tung), "Oh, Hanoi City" (poem by Phan Vu), "Silent Hanoi Night" (poem by Pham Thi Ngoc Lien), "Afternoon at Tay Ho Lake" (poem by Thai Thang Long), "Dreaming of a Faraway Place" (poem by Thai Thang Long), "Hanoi When Autumn Turns to Winter" (poem by Chu Hoach), and "The Melancholy Winter Afternoon in Hanoi" (poem by Ta Quoc Chuong). Other songs widely known throughout the country include: "Hanoi in the Season of Few Rains" (set to a poem by Bui Thanh Tuan by Truong Quy Hai), and "Is It You, Hanoi Autumn?" (set to a poem by To Nhu Chau by Tran Quang Loc).

It's easy to see that in most of the songs mentioned above, the composer and the lyricist were friends, even very close friends. It's only because they were friends and fond of each other that they easily found common ground and empathy, setting each other's poems to music to enrich their friendship. However, today I want to tell readers about a truly special case of setting a poem to music, where the composer knew absolutely nothing about the author of the poem, and had certainly never met her. Yet, a truly beautiful song about Hanoi was born. That is the song "Writing for Winter" by composer Nhi Do, set to a poem by Tran Thi Bich Thuy.

The Hanoi New Newspaper's weekend editions in the 1990s always featured a poetry page. And in the March 14, 1998 issue, there was a poem titled "Writing for Winter" by Tran Thi Bich Thuy. The original poem is as follows:

The manuscript of the poem "Writing for Winter".

It's only when we're apart that I realize how much I love you.

The gentle chill of Hanoi's winter.

The old tamarind tree by the roadside stood bewildered.

Let the leaves fall in one afternoon.

Which winter is the winter I'm far from you?

Far from familiar street corners

Far from the coffee shop on Nguyen Du Street, fragrant with milk flower blossoms.

Who will you sit there with?

When the city comes alive at night

The sadness lies within the absence of you.

It was the sound of a piano echoing through the windows.

The last note lingers in the wind.

Even a slight chill in the air is enough to bring tears to my eyes.

He remembers a winter

The late-blooming milkweed flowers linger in the street corner.

The autumn breeze still lingers along the small path.

Hanoi, in my mind, has become swept by the monsoon winds.

Quite by chance, the newspaper article containing the poem reached musician Nhi Do, who was then a journalism student at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. The song, set to music, was quickly created, retaining almost entirely the lyrics of the poem. The smooth, sweet E minor melody leads listeners into an emotional love story of a couple separated by distance. Many of Nhi Do's classmates and friends loved the song. "Writing for Winter" continued to spread, reaching students in other faculties of the university, and thus became known to many young people. In 2000, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Journalism Faculty, Nhi Do took to the stage with his guitar to accompany his classmate Nguyen Truong Giang as he sang "Writing for Winter," to the enthusiastic applause of friends and teachers, followed by the emotional outpouring of the audience. After graduating from the Journalism department in 2004, Nhi Do joined the Music Department of the Voice of Vietnam Radio . The song "Writing for Winter" was approved for production by composer Do Hong Quan, then head of the music department. Composer Doan Nguyen was responsible for the arrangement. Calling me from the US, composer Doan Nguyen recalled with emotion: "I was really surprised because I didn't think Nhi Do was so young. Many composers, when writing arrangements, only focus on the music and don't pay much attention to the lyrics. But in this case, I read the lyrics very carefully because it was a musical setting of a poem. Nhi Do touched the soul of the poem to create a truly pure, gentle melody, capturing the genuine emotion of someone experiencing love for the first time. I intentionally used many strings in the arrangement to enhance the soaring, poignant quality. This was a successful song for Nhi Do right from the beginning of his songwriting career."

After the song was arranged, it was performed by Meritorious Artist Duc Long with an orchestra. Duc Long's recording, made at Studio M – the best studio of the Voice of Vietnam at the time – quickly spread on social media, reposted on many music websites, and on other platforms like YouTube and Facebook. What bothered Nhi Do the most was that he still didn't know who Tran Thi Bich Thuy was. Hearing that she was an author living in Da Lat, Nhi Do flew to Da Lat several times to search for information, but to no avail.

Years have passed, and Nhi Do and his friends still sing "Writing for Winter" at every reunion, whenever they have tea or drinks together. Although Nhi Do later wrote hundreds of other songs, he never forgot the special impact of "Writing for Winter." After Nguyen Truong Giang, another friend who performed this song beautifully is the poet and journalist Khanh Van Tran Nhat Minh, a former student of the K44 Journalism class at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Coincidentally, Nhat Minh's circumstances after graduation were exactly like the lyrical character in the song. After graduating from the Journalism department, Nhat Minh went to Ho Chi Minh City to work at the Popular Science newspaper. His girlfriend, at that time, was still in her final year at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Thus, countless times the song was played over the phone as Nhat Minh sang it to his lover in Hanoi. So many tears of longing and separation were shed.

The song, with its sweet and profound melody and beautiful lyrics, deeply touched the hearts of Nhi Do's friends and colleagues. Everyone silently thanked the author of the poem, but didn't know where she was. Not only Nhat Minh, but many other friends of Nhi Do, such as poet and journalist Nguyen Quang Hung, poet Truong Xuan Thien, musician Duong Hong Kong, and myself, have been trying to find information about Tran Thi Bich Thuy for many years. Then, luckily, in mid-September, I accidentally learned that the person in charge of the poetry page of the Hanoi New Weekend newspaper back then was the poet and journalist Vuong Tam. I messaged him to ask about the poetry page and Tran Thi Bich Thuy's poem, and he quickly sent me the author's Facebook page. Messaging and chatting with Bich Thuy, I was surprised to learn that she was also a former student of the Journalism Department, class of 37, Hanoi University. And Thuy had no idea her poem had been set to music, even though she was in charge of content censorship and copyright for Vinaphone's mobile service, which included tens of thousands of songs. After listening to the recording by Meritorious Artist Duc Long and the clip performed by poet and journalist Khanh Van Tran Nhat Minh, Thuy was deeply moved and hoped to one day meet composer Nhi Do.

I scheduled this warm and touching gathering on a day when Hanoi was experiencing a monsoon. Today, "Writing for Winter" was sung many times in the presence of friends and colleagues. We sang for two friends who have passed away, Nguyen Truong Giang and Tran Nhat Minh, two friends who had also longed to meet the author of the poem but never had the chance.

So, after 26 years, the composer and the poet met for the first time, filled with overwhelming emotion for both sides. I believe this meeting will provide great motivation for Nhi Do to release his CD soon. As for Bich Thuy, she will revisit her old poetry notebooks with many unpublished poems and write new ones. And as Thuy said, the handwritten manuscript of the poem "Writing for Winter" remains intact…

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/26-nam-cho-mot-lan-hoi-ngo-10292586.html