In 2005, I wrote the poem " About Lim Festival " for People's Artist Thuy Huong. The poem was published in the Literature and Arts Newspaper. Musician Tuan Phuong, Head of the Music Department, Literature and Arts Department, Vietnam Television, liked to set this song to music. After much thought, Tuan Phuong said:

- I think Quan Ho is not my forte. I'll introduce you to my friend - Le Minh. He is very passionate about Quan Ho!

Through Tuan Phuong, musician Le Minh and I met, but the first meeting was very... bland. But about a week later, on the day when it rained and flooded the streets of Hanoi and the To Lich River, I received a call from Le Minh:

- Hello Thang! This is Le Minh, I've finished composing the poem "About Lim Festival" into music. If you have time, please come over to my house to listen.

Can you hear me?

- I think it's cool!

Lim festival was later introduced by VTV in the New Works program, with many famous singers singing.

Since then, Le Minh and I have become soul mates as if by fate, for nearly 20 years.

Le Minh was born in 1947, 5 years older than me. His hometown is Cam Tu village, Dong Hoang commune, Dong Son district, Thanh Hoa. Born into a poor farming family, Le Minh learned to play the erhu at the age of 8-9, taught by his brother-in-law. He was in the village art troupe, and when he grew up, he joined the information army. Le Minh also knew how to play the guitar and accordion, and was good at writing and drawing, so he was selected to join the Art Troupe of the Information and Communications Corps at the same time as poet Nguyen Duy, musician Nguyen Thuy Kha, painter Dang Truong Luu, artist Trong Hoa, musician Huy Tien...

In 1980, Le Minh left the army to work at the Department of Culture and Sports of Ha Tay (formerly). To take care of his family of wife and 3 children, he did many jobs, and currently Le Minh is still a talented piano teacher. His son and daughter both graduated from the Hanoi Conservatory of Music, and his nephew Le Van is both a famous musician and pianist.

Le Minh's musical output is not many, only about 100 works. Before 2000, audiences rarely heard of Le Minh. It was only with the song Loi ru (music by Le Minh - poetry by Hoang Hanh) that people knew him.

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Musician Le Minh

Not noisy but like gentle, cool seasonal rains, many famous singers also performed his songs, Le Minh became a member of the Hanoi Music Association.

Le Minh is gentle, very honest, sometimes clumsy and easygoing. He has a famous friend in the art world, there was a period when Le Minh was invited to collaborate. Due to conflicts at work, Le Minh was almost defeated and his family almost broke up. However, one day, reading his opponent's poem, he found it interesting and immediately composed music, the song with the Quan Ho melody "Kham den choi nha" was born. The two old friends sat drinking, didn't say anything to each other, just listened to the music, forgetting all the sad stories of the past...

Most of the people who compose poetry, literature, music and paintings avoid following in the footsteps of their predecessors. An idea, a plot, a drawing, a line of poetry from someone else mixed into their work is like a grain of sand, easily leading to the accusation of "stealing", some authors lose their reputation for life. Yet the country musician Le Minh dared to rewrite old works but still succeeded, for example, some works: Tap tam vong , Khach den choi nha , Het an hoar roi thuong ...

As someone who has lived a life in harmony with the people, participated in many festivals, listened to and played many musical instruments, Le Minh's compositions about Quan Ho still have the Hue sound, and his compositions about the North have something of the South's passion and the lingering love of Nghe An. Many songs are like a cool breeze, easy for the singer to sing and easy for the listener to understand.

Nguyen Ba Thang