Artists perform Hue folk songs on the Perfume River. Photo: P. Thanh

In the introduction to the book, Mr. Nguyen Duy Hien, former Director of Hue Festival Center, wrote very sincerely: "With the thought of showing gratitude to our ancestors to express the quintessence, along with the development of the Hue Ca Club, many new elements have appeared, a new generation of artists, playing, singing and composing lyrics. Hoa dieu tri am - a collection of new lyrics by many authors is published and introduced as a recognition of the achievements and good signals from the young artisans and artists of the Club. They have been lighting the fire of passion day and night, illuminating the quintessence of an art that is unchanging with time".

Ca Hue is a type of intangible cultural heritage that the people of Hue are always proud of when mentioning. The melodious, melodious, sad and melancholy melodies have captivated many poets and visitors when they came to Hue and enjoyed the art of Hue singing. Hue songs were composed by composers in the Nguyen Dynasty Royal Family, such as: Mai Am, the pen name of Princess Nguyen Phuc Trinh Than, Ung Binh Thuc Gia Thi, Buu Loc, Ung Thuyen, Buu Bat, Buu Huan, Ton That My... There are also composers who are not of royal lineage such as Vo Chuan, Kieu Khe, Thanh Tung, Tran Ngoc Co, Ky Chau, Hoang Cam...

Not only Hue people love Hue singing and compose lyrics for Hue singing, but there are also many people living in other regions who also compose lyrics for Hue singing such as poet Tan Da Nguyen Khac Hieu, poet A Nam Tran Tuan Khai from the North, and later two brothers Van Cong Hoang and Van Cong Le from Quang Nam ... And when talking about composing lyrics for Hue singing, we cannot help but mention poet Vo Que. He has many songs that are widely popularized and performed on radio and television channels, in chamber Hue singing programs, on boats on the Perfume River... As a poet, his lyrics are always smooth, rich in meaning, rich in emotion and especially rhyme, even and odd rhythm, easy to sing and easy to remember, so many artists love to sing his songs.

Not only was he a fair, responsible, and enthusiastic club director, he also always encouraged the artists in the club to compose new lyrics for Hue songs. And, with timely encouragement and motivation, at first, only one or two artists composed one or two songs. Gradually, more and more people composed lyrics, and many Hue songs were born with many melodies belonging to the major repertoire: Nam ai, Nam binh, Qua phu, Nam xuan, Ngu doi thuong, Hanh van, Tuong tu khuc, Co ban, Tu dai canh, Dang dan cung, Luu thuy, Kim tien...

If in the past, Hue songs often had content praising Hue's scenery, praising nature, or content exploited from historical anecdotes, now new composers have added songs praising love for the homeland, love between couples suitable for contemporary life. Blending with the flow of social culture over time, Hue songs with new lyrics are no longer limited to ancient vocabulary, but composers use new words of a modern nature to make it easier for listeners to understand the content.

In particular, aiming to bring Hue singing into theeducational environment, there are composers who have composed songs with content suitable for children and young people, thereby choosing melodies with a cheerful and pure nature so that children can more easily access the art of Hue singing. And "Tri Am Harmony" is a beautiful initial result of a process of effort of not only the collective members of the Club but also of many people who have harmonized with tri am, creating richness for the content of the work.

"Harmony of soul mates - the title and content of the book has been a bond for those who love Hue singing to harmonize, harmonize, and harmonize in the common love of Hue singing art.

Trang Thuy