From simple childhood songs that have stood the test of time to modern compositions that have reached millions of views, children's music is still a passionate subject for musicians.
Honoring "musicians of childhood"
The De Men Award has been organized by the Sports and Culture Newspaper (Vietnam News Agency) since 2020, to honor literary and artistic works by and for children. This year, the noble title of De Men Knight was awarded to a musician for the first time: musician Pham Tuyen.
Awarded with five De Men Aspiration Awards, musician Pham Tuyen is the 2025 De Men Knight
Having just turned 96, musician Pham Tuyen was present in the auditorium honoring him, full of life and smiling gently when surrounded by children. In his collection of more than 700 songs, he dedicated more than 200 articles to children. His music is both gentlyeducational and contributes to nurturing the souls of children with beautiful melodies rich in tradition.
The bright melodies and cheerful lyrics of songs such as: The Star Lantern; Tien Len Doan Vien; I Have Fun Today; Co Va Me; Ca Tuan Are Good; Met Nhau Duoi Troi Thu Ha Noi ; Canh En Tuoi Tho; Chu Voi Con O Ban Don; Bai Song Tieng Chuong Va Don Co, Ba Cong... are known by heart by many generations, becoming a part of their memories. Not only is he the author of hundreds of beloved children's songs, musician Pham Tuyen also has the merit of bringing many international children's songs to Vietnam through his beautiful and accurate Vietnamese translations.
In addition, the musician born in 1930 owns a priceless "treasure" of 41 ancient nursery rhymes that he set to music, containing the soulful and intimate beauty of natural landscapes, people, and Vietnamese folk culture. After many years of collecting and preserving them, these nursery rhymes have been included in the multimedia book project "Baby's Nursery Rhymes" with the support of the musician's daughter - journalist Pham Hong Tuyen. The work combines storytelling, music, illustrations, and QR codes to listen to the audio. The first book in the series, "Back to the Hometown - Baby's Nursery Rhymes", has excellently entered the final round of the 2025 De Men Award.
With his lasting contributions, musician Pham Tuyen is considered a “musician of childhood”, a symbol of Vietnamese children’s music for many decades. Chairman of the Jury of the De Men Award, poet Tran Dang Khoa emphasized: “Musician Pham Tuyen is a giant in Vietnamese music, spreading out to three branches: one is lyrical music, two is revolutionary music and three is children’s music. Pham Tuyen closely follows the growth of children through music. It can be said that it is a “musical encyclopedia” of all states, ages, and emotional levels in the world of children’s souls”.
Young musicians fuel passion
The 2025 De Men Award also made a special mark with the first inspirational ambassador, musician Nguyen Van Chung (born in 1983). Previously, in 2020, he was awarded the De Men Aspiration Award for outstanding children's songs composed during that period.
Expressing his admiration and emotion at being on the same stage with musician Pham Tuyen, musician Nguyen Van Chung shared that he has been nurturing many plans to continue spreading the value of children's music as well as contributing to inspiring creativity for contemporary artists. While musician Pham Tuyen composed many songs from the desire to dedicate to his daughter and friends, musician Nguyen Van Chung has also been more deeply attached to children's music since becoming a father.
With more than 300 songs for children, Nguyen Van Chung currently holds the record for being the young musician who composed the most children's songs in Vietnam. His outstanding songs such as: Mother's Diary; Small Family, Big Happiness; Mom, Do You Know; Dad's Little Daughter; Dad, Tell Me a Story; Happy to School... have spread widely on many digital platforms and are regularly performed at cultural and educational events.
Since 2023, musician Nguyen Van Chung has invested a large amount of money to carry out the project "Singing with Children" (or "300 Children's Songs") and released it for free on YouTube. The project is like an online collection introducing songs and providing vocal practice instructions, helping parents, teachers and children easily access, choose to listen and watch at any time.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/giai-thuong-de-men-2025-chung-tay-vi-am-nhac-thieu-nhi-post883936.html
Comment (0)