Musician Ngoc Chau (Photo: Ngoc Chau’s Facebook page) Hanoi (VNA) – Musician Ngoc Chau took his last breath on the morning of March 17 after a heart failure, but his compositions will live forever in the hearts of music lovers.
Bidding farewell to the talented musician, many people listen to songs that made him famous. Those are gentle, pure, emotional and youthful melodies that kindle in its listeners the love of life and happiness. Artists close to Chau said his music is as soft and gentle as he was.
Melodies of love for life
Chau was born on September 16, 1967, into an artistic family. His father was Pham Ngoc Huong, an artist of ‘dan bau’ – a Vietnamese stringed instrument in the form of a monochord (one-string) zither – and his mother is singer Vu Dau, who was honoured with the noble title of ‘meritorious artist’. The musician was also brother of singer Khanh Linh.
Chau studied at the Vietnam National Academy of Music’s faculty of theory, composition and conduct from 1983-1993. At this time, he played keyboards in a band named Hoa Sua. The band was home to many of his friends who later became famous musicians/artists such as Duc Trinh, Pham Ngoc Khoi, Vu Quang Trung, Luong Minh, Ngoc Hung, and Minh Dao.
In the 1990s, Chau joined singer Bang Kieu in the band Chia Khoa Vang (Golden Key). In the 1990-2000 period, he composed music and produced many famous works from that time.
Chau wrote the song ‘Thi tham mua Xuan’ (whisper of spring) in mid-1990s, which remains among the most favourite melodies for the season in Vietnam today. The musician one revealed that the song was dedicated to his first love. With the performance of singer My Linh, the work earned him a Lan Song Xanh (Green Wave) award, one of the nation’s biggest in music, in 1998.
Chau’s other popular hits included ‘Mua thu vang’ (Yellow Autumn), ‘Neu dieu do xay ra’ (What if it Happens), and ‘Dieu khong the mat’ (Thing that can’t be lost).
Later, he participated in combining instruments and sounds for many projects and albums by famous contemporary artists such as Tran Thu Ha, My Linh, Quoc Trung, and Thanh Lam. In the early 2000s, he opened his own studio, named Ngoc Chau Studios, in Hanoi.
Since 2004, the musician focused more on organising and producing television gameshows. He was the music director of the shows ‘Tro choi am nhac’ (Music Game) and ‘Chinh phuc dinh cao’ (Conquering the Peak).
His last musical product was the 2016 album ‘Mua yeu’ (Season of Love) produced with his sister Khanh Linh. Linh’s first album also had its instruments and sounds arranged by her brother.
‘Dieu khong the mat’ (Thing that can’t be lost)
The composer wrote the soundtracks for two films by director Tran Luc released in 1998 and 2001.
To the director, Chau was an elegant artist, a pure soul, and a lover of life.
Luc said that Chau is very meticulous in composing. The two artists used to stay up all night together to make the soundtrack for Luc’s film ‘Tet nay ai den xong nha’ (Who's the first comer to the house this New Year).
The film was very successful in theaters and its soundtrack by Ngoc Chau titled ‘Qua tang trai tim’ (Gift of the Heart) was played in music halls everywhere for a while.
Young Ngoc Chau and his sister – singer Khanh Linh (Photo: Ngoc Chau’s Facebook page) Talking about the composer, singer Thai Thuy Linh said through tears: “We took our first steps on our profession of art with his ‘nationwide-favourite’ songs – the beautiful and pure melodies that 20 years ago, every young person was singing.”
Linh affirmed that Ngoc Chau and his music will become a ‘Thing that can’t be Lost’ in people’s memories./.
