Drum-gong performance certificated as national intangible cultural heritage

Drum-gong performance certificated as national intangible cultural heritage

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(Cinet)- Drum and gong performance in the southern central province of Phu Yen was recognized as a part of its intangible cultural heritage on February 22.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism listed the art performance among 17 national intangible cultural heritage items.

Provincial People’s Committee Vice Chairman Phan Dinh Phung said the locality plans to enhance preservation of the art performance by collecting its lyrics and performing forms.

Training courses will be conducted with participation from old artisans to ensure the continuity of the art form among younger generations.

The set of drums and gongs creates a traditional symphony depicting the cultural life of the ethnic people of Ba Na and Cham in Xi Thoai hamlet, as well as other ethnic minority groups across the province.

From ancient times, gongs have possessed extremely precious values because they have been intimately linking with ethnic minority compatriots and having a particular role in the spiritual life of the ethnic people in the Central Highland in general and Phu Yen provincial mountainous peoples in particular. Gongs also gather many folk-art forms like dancing, singing, visual arts, architecture, sculpture, especially to music, gongs are sonorous with a completed chord of melody, harmony and polyphony.Gongs and festival have an organic connection, without gongs, festival would fail. In any of the ethnic people’s festivals, gongs always play a key role, attracting people into the festival; stirring festive space full of joy, everyone immerses in frantic dances.

The mountainous ethnic compatriots in Phu Yen province commonly use types of gongs: EDe or BaNa people’s Arab gongs usually use the normal type of 3 gongs with knob and 8 flat-chiengs. A full Arab has from 18 to 20 units – this is the type of gongs with two ends, carried by peoples and played by a musician simultaneously, which is a favorite and popular musical instrument among Phu Yen mountainous peoples. However, to the ethnic peoples of ChamHroi, BaNa in Dong Xuan mountainous district, orchestra instruments most commonly used are gong 3, gong 5, double-drum.

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