People's Artist Quoc Hung and singer Dao To Loan perform the song in the MV.
"The Man Who Seeks the Shape of Water" is a poem that is familiar to many generations, but has never been widely spread through music like many other works. The poem is very good in many aspects, but it is very difficult to put it to music if the musician is not skillful enough to improvise, arrange and create more ideas to seamlessly connect the emotions and stories hidden inside.
Musician Kien Ninh shared that, like many other people who write songs about love for the homeland, he always wanted to compose works that have the mark of Uncle Ho. However, it took him 3 years of incubation before he could write the song "The person who searches for the image of the country". "Che Lan Vien's poem is very special about the image of President Ho Chi Minh with the story of his journey to find a way to save the country, the title itself evokes many great meanings in terms of emotions and very valuable words. It brings me deep emotions, from which I have more creativity in portraying Uncle Ho's portrait", musician Kien Ninh shared.
During the process of writing the song, Kien Ninh carefully selected the beautiful words and the emotionally valuable images of the poem, appearing throughout each section of the song. In addition, the musician also included ideas that further developed the image of Uncle Ho with a message of praise and gratitude for his contributions to the Vietnamese people and Fatherland. In particular, he was very careful in conveying the ideological meaning of the work - something that without a certain understanding of history and philosophical theories, the writer would be hesitant to "touch" - in order to write a song about Uncle Ho that is easy to listen to and easy to absorb, especially for young people.
In a song about Uncle Ho's journey to find a way to save the country, there are many things to convey. Therefore, Kien Ninh chose a structure of 3 single sections, each section has a different contrasting content, in which he applied the technique of changing tone when making the transition.
The first part shows Uncle Ho's deep love for his homeland and tells the context of why he had to leave to find a way to save the country. This is a tragic context of losing his country and home, under the yoke of colonial slavery in the early 20th century. Therefore, Kien Ninh intentionally wrote the music on the pentatonic scale to recreate Vietnam during this period.
The second part is changed to a major key with a bright character. This is the part that talks about the moment when Uncle Ho found the path for the whole nation and his emotions burst into happiness. At that moment of joy, his tears fell on the word Lenin, because he saw the embryonic image of the country, a Vietnam that would soon be "revived" and the "image of the country" would one day "blossom".
The third part is changed to a new rhythm (6/8), the lively, bright, and joyful nature is enhanced. This part is the image of the first steps of Uncle Ho returning to the country. Those steps "cast the rosy sunlight on the mountains and rivers of Vietnam". That is the light of the Party guiding the Vietnamese revolution to success. And the end of the song is like a message of gratitude that the whole nation wants to send to beloved President Ho Chi Minh: He found "the path for the whole nation to follow", He found "the image of the country", "The image of the country flying up on the day of victory" and his name will always shine forever with the mountains and rivers of Vietnam.
The perfect blend of bass Quoc Hung and soprano Dao To Loan
After finishing writing the song, Kien Ninh realized that the performance would be very suitable for a duet version of male and female solos in each section combined with vocals and choir. Therefore, he decided to invite People's Artist Quoc Hung and singer Dao To Loan to participate in the music project Nguoi di tim hinh cua nuoc. "These are 2 leading voices in the revolutionary chamber music genre and have a strong influence on the public. I believe that the 2 artists will convey a lot of energy and emotions to everyone," musician Kien Ninh expressed. He believes that with the duet version, each solo voice can still express their personality and strengths and make the listener feel excited when changing the color, sound range and frequency range of each voice. In the harmony part for the vocals, he also calculated so that the functions of these 2 voices can easily blend and resonate with each other.
Sharing about participating in the project "Nguoi di tim hinh cua nuoc", People's Artist Quoc Hung said: There have been many successful songs written about Uncle Ho by veteran musicians, bringing intense emotions to the singers as well as the audience. The younger generation of musicians have also composed many songs on this topic, but there have not been any works that really left a lasting impression. Therefore, when Kien Ninh told him about composing Che Lan Vien's poem, he was very excited. "If I remember correctly, no one has ever composed music for the poem "Nguoi di tim hinh cua nuoc" before. I was really excited when I held Kien Ninh's music sheet. At first, Kien Ninh had the idea of letting me record it alone, but after discussing, we found it more effective to sing a duet with the support of the choir, and decided to invite Dao To Loan to sing a duet with me."
People's Artist Quoc Hung has a bass voice, while artist Dao To Loan has a soprano voice. The combination of two different voices in a song like Nguoi di tim hinh cua nuoc has brought about unexpected results. Sharing about this, opera singer Dao To Loan said: “In colorful music, I think the combination of different things will become more special than we can imagine. In a symphony orchestra, there are clear violins, warm cellos, and a variety of different instruments to create harmonious music, beautiful, immortal, and timeless melodies. In singing, too, sometimes two soprano and tenor voices singing together may not necessarily create the perfect sound for the work The Man in Search of the Shape of the Country. Uncle Ho's life and his journey to find freedom for the country have too many emotional levels - joy, sadness, happiness, and helplessness... I think the combination of a soprano and a bass will help vividly express Uncle Ho's states and circumstances; sometimes calm, sometimes emotional, sometimes joyful and happy”.
The leading young singer of Vietnamese opera today also added that singing with People's Artist Quoc Hung in a good musical work about Uncle Ho is an honor for her. "I have sung many songs about Uncle Ho, but this is a special time, I felt like crying when recording a song about him. Perhaps the lyrics of the song really touched the heart of an artist like me, really penetrating and filled with indescribable emotions. I am truly grateful to musician Kien Ninh for giving me the opportunity to sing a meaningful song about Uncle Ho, to collaborate with People's Artist Quoc Hung".
Filming MV during the hottest days of the year
When making the MV "Nguoi di tim hinh cua nuoc", director Anh Quan chose to tell the story by interweaving historical documentary images of Uncle Ho and modern filming. His purpose is to help the audience understand more through authentic images of history, of Uncle Ho's journey to find a way to save the country, and at the same time feel how beautiful Vietnam is today. Musician Kien Ninh said that he was very satisfied with the staging of director Anh Quan: "Anh Quan is an experienced director and has a tight grasp of the script's intentions. The artists who film each shot have a clear intention, so everyone doesn't have to film over and over again. When editing, the intention to lead the emotional flow of the content based on documentary images of Uncle Ho is also very tight."
The MV features many scenes taken at important locations such as Uncle Ho's Mausoleum and the Presidential Palace. Filming at these strictly secured locations was not easy. "But fortunately, when presenting the purpose of making an MV with the mission of telling the story of Uncle Ho's journey to find a way to save the country, the crew received support and facilitation from the management board of Uncle Ho's Mausoleum and the Presidential Palace," director Anh Quan revealed.
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