A milestone in Vietnamese music

UNESCO's inscription of the late composer Hoang Van's music collection into the Memory of the World program for the Asia-Pacific region marks an important milestone, affirming the position of Vietnamese musical heritage on its journey towards becoming a world documentary heritage.

The work "The Impregnable Fortress of the Fatherland" by composer Hoang Van. (Source: National Archives Center III)

Hoang Van (1930-2018) was one of the great composers of Vietnamese revolutionary and modern music . His name is associated with many classic works such as "Ho Keo Phao" (Pulling the Cannon), "Quang Binh Que Ta Oi" (Oh, My Homeland Quang Binh) , "Bai Ca Nguoi Tho Mo" (Song of the Miner), "Tinh Ca Tay Nguyen" (Love Song of the Central Highlands), as well as many symphonies, choral works and film scores such as "Vi Tuyen 17 Ngay Va Dem" (The 17th Parallel Day and Night), "Con Thu Tat Khen" (The Disabled Beast), "Em Be Ha Noi" (The Little Girl from Hanoi )...

Composer Hoang Van's collection, honored by UNESCO, comprises over 700 musical works composed between 1951 and 2010. These works are well-preserved and highly accessible through multilingual digital platforms. Beyond their richness and scale, his works are also invaluable musical documents reflecting the mindset, aesthetics, and socio-historical context of Vietnam in the 20th century.

According to Ambassador Nguyen Thi Van Anh, Head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to UNESCO, the collection is one of 74 dossiers recommended for inscription by UNESCO out of a total of 121 nominations considered at this session. The dossier's successful approval, exceeding expectations, was due to close cooperation among many stakeholders, particularly the timely advice of Dr. Vu Thi Minh Huong, a member of the International Advisory Committee of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme for the 2024-2028 term, which significantly contributed to its unanimous (100%) approval.

The legacy named after Hoang Van includes the most complete and rare collection of documents about the career of an individual artist.

Among the more than 1,000 manuscripts, recordings, video recordings, prints, and photographs, there are a few documents of particular importance, such as the image of a handwritten manuscript of "Recollections," probably from the early 1960s, and the musical score of "Recollections," which was recorded by composer Hoang Luong in 1976 and is still widely used today; and the image of the music collection that won the first prize at the National Performing Arts Congress in 1955, in which "Ho Keo Phao" won first prize when the composer had already left to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

Notably, the 1959-1960 recording of " The Impregnable Fortress of the Fatherland "—one of Vietnam's first symphonic poems—was performed by the Beijing Central Conservatory Orchestra under the direction of conductor Hoang Phu Lap.

Commenting on this heritage, Professor Matthew Gelbart (Fordham University, USA) affirmed that the Hoang Van collection sends a strong message from the Vietnamese school to the international community about the spread of European classical music. Dr. Dana Rappoport, Director of Research at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France, emphasized: “The collection contributes to the study of other world music traditions, enriching the global perspective in ethnomusicology.”

Dr. Le Y Linh, daughter of composer Hoang Van, said that in the coming time, the family will continue to send other documents and artifacts such as photos, discs, tapes, books... as well as some additional collected materials after 2022 to the National Archives Center III to complete the archive collection about the late composer.

The family of composer Hoang Van will collaborate with the National Archives Center III to organize activities such as publishing, exhibitions, virtual exhibitions, and mobile exhibitions, contributing to raising awareness among the community, individuals, families, and clans about the importance of preserving documents for archiving, classification, preservation, and utilization to serve the community.

“The UNESCO inscription of Composer Hoang Van’s collection is not only a great honor for the composer and his family, but also an affirmation of the position of Vietnamese music in the flow of human intellectual heritage. This is vivid proof of the enduring vitality of Vietnamese music, a living memory of a historical period, reflecting the soul, identity, and aspirations of an entire nation through each melody.” – Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ngo Le Van.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/moc-son-am-nhac-viet-nam-311514.html