Translating Trinh's music is not easy, 'like hitting your head on a rock'

That is the sharing of members translating Trinh Cong Son's music in the project 'Let's love jazz' initiated by Hanoi Blues Note.

'Let's love jazz' connects Trinh's music with music lovers through jazz - Photo: D.DUNG

Lasting from October 2025 to the end of 2028, Let's Love Jazz is a project to renew and spread Trinh's music through jazz, fusion and acoustic arrangements, combined with translation into English, Japanese and Korean.

Translating Trinh's music is not easy.

MC Nguyen Huu Chien Thang shared that the lyrics in Trinh's music are not just lyrics but sometimes even poetry. When singing, there are times when I don't understand what he wrote. "How do I translate this? It feels like hitting my head against a rock," the MC joked.

Mr. Nguyen Nhat Tuan ( Hanoi University), the project's language consultant, shared that to translate Trinh's music, one must not only translate the lyrics but also almost write a new song.

"Vietnamese is a monosyllabic language, rich in tones, a small mark can change the emotional nuances; meanwhile, English has a completely different rhythm of stress, emphasis, and release," he said. Processing a Trinh song is a parallel journey between meaning and music. Keeping the meaning can easily break the music, and keeping the music can easily lose the soul of Trinh's music.

So when translating Trinh's music, we have to think about how to translate it so that when pronounced, it "sounds international and Western". We have to determine which sounds are closed and which sounds are open so that the singer can sing better. That is not an easy thing.

Trinh's music translation team shares the difficulties in translating Trinh's music - Photo: D.DUNG

Quynh Pham, representative of Hanoi Blues Note, expressed that Vietnamese songs often have short breaths, almost whispers; while English versions have to expand or reduce syllables to make the melody more natural. When singing Vietnamese, singers can sing long notes according to the tone; while singing English, they have to follow the stress and mouth shape.

"With the same melody, the Vietnamese version is a nostalgic mist, but the English version is sometimes a clear narrative with a Western rhythm," she added.

But no matter what language, according to the crew, the melody still tells the same story. Trinh's music can "live" in many languages. Each translation, each voice is a dialogue with beauty and sadness that has no end.

Artists perform Trinh's music at the press conference - Clip: D.DUNG

Love jazz, it promises to be more fun.

Singer Trinh Vinh Trinh, sister of musician Trinh Cong Son, commented that "this is a long-term, elaborate, and serious project of young people."

"Trinh's music has been discovered by young people in many different ways. Now it continues to be developed with jazz - the most difficult genre ever, and has been translated into other languages, which is truly a happy thing for the family," she said.

At the press conference to launch the project on the afternoon of October 24, the crew performed live some songs by musician Trinh Cong Son such as Looking at the Autumns Going, Sad Stone Age, I Lull You to Sleep ...

Singer Trinh Vinh Trinh shared that during his lifetime, musician Trinh Cong Son encouraged and inspired young people to sing his music - Photo: D.DUNG

It can be seen in this project, from singers to musicians, most of them are young generation Z, and all love jazz and Trinh's music.

Jazz is the most spontaneous, liberal and free genre, in which there are "inversions" that express the artist's creative personality. However, when listening to the above performances, the feeling is not enough and still too calm.

Is this long-term project going to have a calm tone like that or is this just the beginning? Sharing with Tuoi Tre Online , Quynh Pham said the team applied a release strategy in stages, with different musical directions to reach a diverse audience.

The first songs were gentle, calm, relaxing, aimed at an audience in need of "relaxation".

"There will definitely be more 'fun' and more playful songs. Artists will also have their own versions that promise to bring many new musical colors and will be announced in the near future," said this representative.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chuyen-ngu-nhac-trinh-khong-de-nhu-huc-dau-vao-da-20251024203530492.htm