“Harmony”–The book of poetry and painting

 The “Harmony” by Vo Que and Dang Mau Triet 

The booklet by poet Vo Que and artist Dang Mau Triet rhythmically harmonize. Among the ten Hue folk songs by Vo Que, six songs are written for six instruments: dan tam (fretless lute with snakeskin-covered body and three strings), ty ba (pear-shaped lute with four strings), nhi cam (two-stringed vertical fiddle),nguyet cam (moon-shaped two-string lute), dan tranh (long zither), doc huyen cam (monochord zither), with the elaborate lyrics to praise the musicians. The songs together withthe harmonic instruments help the singers excel themselves in the shows, giving the listeners a great feeling floating on the Perfume river.

Toning with these six songs are the six paintings by painter Dang Mau Triet,featuring six musical instruments of dan tam, nhi cam nguyet cam, dan tranh and doc huyen cam with blended colors to highlight the artistic value of each instrument through a different color gamut. “Harmony” is the first Hue folk song in the book (also chosen as the title of the book) written in tuong tu khuc (a melody of Hue folk song). Only with this song by poet Vo Que, can the audiences think about the six instruments.

In harmony with the lyrics, besides the sound of the instruments, there are paintings next to the songs. Dang Mau Triet painted in Hue’s five colors throughout the theme of Hue folk songs and the instruments played during the performances of Hue songs. With shimmering colors and his metaphysical thoughts, Dang Mau Triet pulled the past back to the present through the images and blocks of a fanciful scene in the painting, including traces of cultural heritages, images of the folklore and the inspiration of Hue folk song artists evoking a poetic beauty.

This is known as a second book co-printed by the two artists, besides the “Con Dao” by these co-authors. Other Hue folk songs are written in the melodies of hanh van, phu luc, pham tiet, ho mai nhi, nam binh, tuong tu khuc, nam xuan... each of which brings forth a different emotion through the lyrics with many images of Hue dancing to the music, such as the Perfume river, moonlight, boats…

By Lam Son