Musician Truong Quang Luc: Writing for children requires empathy and a little sacrifice

SGGP 11/05/2023 07:28

In the first season of the inspirational art program Viet Nam Stronger with the theme of Phu Dong Dream organized by Saigon Giai Phong Newspaper in collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh City Young Entrepreneurs Association, musician Truong Quang Luc (pictured) composed the song "Lighting up faith, Overcoming difficulties to school " as a gift for the program. In the middle of a late afternoon in November, musician Truong Quang Luc shared his sincere thoughts about his journey of composing songs for children, nurturing love in children...

REPORTER: Could you please tell us what emotions motivated you to compose the songs "Lighting up faith" and "Overcoming difficulties to go to school"?

Musician TRUONG QUANG LUC: I used to be the Head of the Science and Education Department of Saigon Giai Phong Newspaper, and have been associated with the newspaper for many years, so I understand that in addition to journalism, programs aimed at community values have always been focused on by the staff of Saigon Giai Phong Newspaper through the generations.

Among the newspaper’s programs, “Lighting up the Faith - Overcoming Difficulties to Go to School” made a strong impression on me. Social work nowadays has a vast scope, so we have to choose the most needy subjects. The way Saigon Giai Phong Newspaper chose children in remote areas, border areas, islands, etc. to join hands with society to help them go to school really moved everyone.

Musician Truong Quang Luc

I composed the song for about 4 days. Before writing the song, I watched many video clips and images of the gift-giving program Light up the Faith - Overcoming Difficulties to Go to School . Seeing the children in the highlands, all with dark skin and sunburned hair, smiling happily when receiving gifts, when wearing new shirts at the beginning of the school year, when holding brand new books, when standing in a spacious library... I was so touched. I felt so sorry for them! That was a great source of inspiration for me to write a song for the children, for the program. The song is my whole heart.

Do you have anything to say after the song was performed on the stage of Hoa Binh Theater on the night of October 13?

Lighting up the faith - Overcoming difficulties to go to school highlights the spirit of helping each other, because even in difficulties and hardships, the belief in sharing always shines. My song therefore aims to encourage, without slogans but is gentle and approachable. When writing the song, it is on black and white paper, but on stage, it is through melody and performance. The SiSi children's choir performed very well. I suddenly had a wish that on some occasion this song would be sung by children in remote areas where the Saigon Giai Phong Newspaper program came to support. I believe that then the song will have more meaning, and it will be extremely touching to listen to.

How difficult is it to write music for children today? What should we pay attention to, sir?

When writing for children, the melody and lyrics do not need to be difficult to understand, or have complex metaphors, but the difficulty is to grasp and understand the psychology to put it into a suitable song. Write so that children do not find it too far away, but must be close to them and recognized by them. It is not easy to make a song come to life in the hearts of children.

I have written more than 10 songs about mothers, but the children sang them and then forgot them. The only song that the children remember the most is Only One in the World. I wrote: In the sky there are thousands of stars/ In the green fields there are thousands of rice plants/ The wild birds have thousands of songs/ The trees in the garden have thousands of leaves and flowers/ Only the sun is one/ And my mother is only one in the world… Many children told me that they like this song because it is easy to feel, because they cannot help but acknowledge that truth. When writing songs for children, I think the lyrics must be like poetry, must rhyme, must be soaring… In a song, the lyrics are extremely important, they make the song have a long-lasting vitality. To compose good, suitable songs, you have to research and study very carefully. You also need to pay more attention to the national sound in the songs. I think that when composing music for children, musicians are all very willing, although sometimes it requires sympathy and a little sacrifice.

He is over 90 years old this year, but his creative energy is still abundant. Have you thought about retiring?

Now, I can compose about 4-5 songs a year. Even though I am 90 years old, composing sometimes has an impact. Every time I receive a song request, I often cannot sleep. Sometimes I sleep until 1-2 am, then wake up to write until 4 am, and then live with the emotions of the song for many days. Musician Hoang Viet once said that he wanted to compose until his last breath. Musician Huy Thuc once wrote a letter to me saying that he was about to retire, but only in terms of administration, not in terms of composing. Personally, I think the messages from my seniors are worth learning. I will also continue to compose until my last breath. And the audience will be the most accurate measure of the life of an artist's song.