Preserving the southern singing style “Don ca tai tu”

(Cinet)- A seminar to preserve and develop the southern singing style “Don ca tai tu” in Bac Lieu brought the scholars and researchers a view the process of its development on April 27.

The festival focused on analysing the art and reviewing the process of developing it. Known as a musical art that has both scholarly and folk roots,” Don ca tai tu” developed in the southern Vietnam in the late 19th century.

The art is performed at numerous events, such as festivals, ‘death anniversary’ rituals and celebratory occasions. The audience can join in by offering feedback to the singers and suggesting new lyrics for songs.

The music consists of a variety of different instruments, including the kim (moon-shaped lute), co (two-stringed fiddle), tranh (16-string zither), ty ba (pear-shaped lute), song lang (percussion), bau (monochord) and sao (bamboo flute).

Musicians are classified as ‘master instrumentalists’, ‘master lyricists’, ‘master singers’, ‘instrumentalists’ and ‘singers’.

Influenced by other forms of cultural heritage from the central and southern regions of Vietnam, such as “nhac le” (ceremonial music) and “hat boi” (classical theatre and folk song), the music genre was added to the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2012. The festival aids Vietnam’s attempts to preserve the country’s traditional art and culture.

The first event of its kind, the festival has attracted the attention of the domestic and international community and spurred a joint effort to conserve the form.

Preserving the southern singing style “Don ca tai tu” Related image(s)