To southern people, folk melodies have been rooted deep inside their souls (Photo VOV) Soc Trang(VNA) - People have gathered in the central province of Bac Lieu to attend the9th Southern Folk Musicand Songs Festival of the Provinces of Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau.
In hisopening speech at the festival on December 11, Tran Minh Ly, Director of Soc Trangprovince’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, said from the cradle of don ca tai tu (southern folk music andsongs) in Bac Lieu province, the art has developed throughout the southernregion.
“Tosouthern people, folk melodies have been rooted deep inside their souls,” hesaid, “Practising the art has been a popular movement, an indispensablecultural food for the mind and is the pride of the locals.”
Theevent gathers dozens of amateur teams, with singers and traditional instrumentalists, who perform songs with content, praising the country, people andencouraging people to join hands and build a better life.
Theteams are divided into two categories. The first category gathers artistes fromthe three provinces, while the second one gathers only artistes from Soc Trang.
Eachteam sings six songs, featuring the traditional melodies of Nam, Bac, Oan and VongCo, while their accompanying band performs at least three instruments, such as dankim (double stringed lute), dantranh (16-chord zither), danbau (monochord zither) and the ancient guitar.
Theawarding ceremony will be organised on December 16 at the Victory MonumentComplex, Nga Nam town, in the central of Soc Trang.
Consideredas one of the country’s main music genres, donca tai tu originated from Hue court music and folk music of thesouthern region. The genre has been developing since the 19th century, adaptingto local tastes. It thrived in the early 20th century and remains crucial tothe country’s traditional culture.
Themusic is typically performed at festivals, death anniversary rituals andcelebrations by farmer-performers. Instrumentalists and singers express theirfeelings by improvising based on 20 principal songs and 72 classical songs. Theart has been handed down through generations.
Theart was listed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritageof Humanity on December 5, 2013, by the UNESCO.-VNA
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