Energy from love of homeland and country

Musician Quynh Hop.

Emotions from commitment

I have listened to the songs of musician Quynh Hop many times, and was lucky enough to meet her on a beautiful autumn day in Hanoi a decade ago. But it was not until I attended the Music and Literature Composition Camp with the theme “Mobile Police - Steel Shield Protecting Peaceful Life” that I had the opportunity to hear her sing in person.

As I knew about her, Quynh Hop composed two songs about the mobile police force during those days of field work. She is an open-minded, approachable and adventurous person. That is how she experiences to gain more capital for her career. During the 20 years she worked as an editor and organizer of music activities in Ho Chi Minh City, she demonstrated her ability to compose quickly. She wrote to serve the music movement as well as political and social events. In particular, Quynh Hop wrote hundreds of songs about cultural and historical regions as well as the landscapes of her homeland. Many of her songs became familiar in cultural events as well as on radio and television at the central and local levels.

Musician Quynh Hop confided: "I have been to many places, many provinces with famous landmarks, historical sites such as Hanoi , Dien Bien, Phu Yen, Da Lat, Lai Chau, Son La..., wherever I go, I compose a lot and have albums."

Of the total 76 albums, she has 3 albums about Hanoi with nearly 50 songs (set to poetry) about Hanoi. If the album “Sac Dao Nhat Tan” is a creative expression of the author’s feelings, the album “Ha Noi - Ngau Hung Pho” has a contemporary lyrical quality. Listeners can see the initiative, the freedom in emotions and the professional “playing of music”. The album “Pho Thu” is a love for Hanoi’s autumn that makes listeners flutter and feel nostalgic. The music expresses the feelings and emotions of the musician. With this album, Quynh Hop seems to have partly paid her debt to the place where she was born, the place that gave her the opportunity to take flight with music.

After the record of 20 songs about the Air Defense - Air Force, Quynh Hop surprised everyone with her extraordinary work capacity with 11 songs about Dien Bien (mainly poems) written in 10 days and nights. These are the songs performed on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory (2004). To have such writing ability, in addition to her sophistication, Quynh Hop spent a lot of time in the field, enriching her life experience. Especially the folk songs and dances of the Thai people in the Northwest are deeply ingrained in her soul. She writes as if in a trance with strange, warm and passionate emotions.

For other localities, such as Da Lat - Lam Dong, she wrote 6 albums, Hue 2 and Da Nang 2 albums... Regarding compositions about Da Lat - Lam Dong, I asked, why did she write so much about this place? Quynh Hop shared that Da Lat is a city of thousands of flowers with its own beauty, very lyrical, and also has many touching love stories. And flower festivals also inspire her compositions.

I still remember, ten years ago, Quynh Hop introduced to the public many songs about the sea and islands. She had 4 albums about this topic: “Whispering with the ocean”, “Fatherland seen from the ocean”, “Truong Sa in the middle of the ocean waves” (co-written with musician - Colonel Nguyen Hong Son) and “Listen to you sing in Truong Sa”. Quynh Hop confided: “The business trip to Truong Sa in mid-2011 left me with a special impression and emotion. Setting foot on Sinh Ton island, my emotions were sublimated with Tran Dang Khoa's poetry, which helped me write the song “Ling dao doi mua” - which was awarded the A prize by the Navy - 5-year award (2006 - 2011) for Literature and Arts about the Navy. The voyage to Truong Sa has given wings to dozens of my songs about Truong Sa”.

Each of Quynh Hop's albums is about a different theme but is imbued with the folk culture of many different cultural regions, with youthful rhythms, beautiful lyrics and rich poetry.

Never stop innovating

Musician Quynh Hop was born in 1959 in Hanoi. She graduated from the College of Music Education (Central School of Music and Art; 1981), and graduated from the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music (1995). She was a singer of the Art Troupe of the Communications Command, and a singer of the Air Force Art Troupe.

I still remember, right after graduating from the College of Music Education, when she was just 22 years old, she worked in the music team of the Information and Communications Command as a singer. On an anniversary of the military branch, encouraged by colleagues and friends, Quynh Hop boldly wrote music. She wrote 6 songs in a row and sang on the guitar herself. That song was "Em la chien si thong tin", a "certificate" of her composing profession. She also popularized poems by soldiers in the branch, creating a new atmosphere in the singing movement of the art team. The image of a female information soldier playing the guitar and singing with bright, innocent eyes has touched the hearts of many people.

In 1995, after graduating from the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music, she was discharged from the army with the rank of Captain and became a music editor at the Ho Chi Minh City People's Radio Station under the pen names Nhat Ha, Ha Nhat Quynh. Journalist Phan Tan Hung, a friend of hers, shared: “As a musician, Quynh Hop writes well. As a music journalist, she always searches for, discovers and gives wings to new works. Quynh Hop not only contributes to contemporary Vietnamese music, but also through the programs broadcast on the Ho Chi Minh City People's Radio Station that she produces. Quynh Hop has introduced to a wide audience the faces of musicians, singers, and typical works in the country's musical life, including many female authors.”

Admiring Quynh Hop's works, poet and journalist Uong Thai Bieu said: "In the flow of traditional and revolutionary Vietnamese music, Quynh Hop has contributed a unique feminine and individual voice. Listeners feel that the soldier theme is reflected quite clearly by her with a soldier-like rhythm, youthful, lively and close. Hidden in each song is the closeness and simplicity but always full of emotions of a sensitive woman who loves the freshness of life's reality". And musician Vu Thiet, author of the famous song "Listening to Quan Ho songs on the highlands", shared: "Quynh Hop is a musician with a lot of creative energy, especially compositions expressing feelings for her homeland and country. She has the ability to compose quickly and owns many good songs".

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