Friday, July 12, 2013

Ru con Nam Bo (Lullaby from South Vietnam) - Thanh Tung đàn bầu 

It couldn't be more beautiful and profound in its simplicity.

Update:  OK, you know how I feel about using Wikipedia for research but I've listened to all of Nguyen Thanh Tung's YouTubes playing the đàn bầu and wanted to find found out more about him:


Nguyễn Thanh Tùng was born on October 20, 1979, in Hanoi, Vietnam. Affected by Agent Orange or dioxin inherited from his father, a Vietnam War soldier, Tùng was born with one blind eye. His other eye was very weak. However, since an early age, he has shown his musical talent. In a talent competition for children held in 1986-1987, he earned the Special Award.

When Thanh Tùng turned 12, he became totally blind. Nevertheless, his love for music has never died. He applied to a special two-year music course in the Vietnam National Music Academy. There he proceeded to study Vietnamese traditional music, majoring in Monochord Performance. Despite his illness, in 1997, Nguyen Thanh Tung continued to study Music composition and piano as well.
Thanh Tùng went through much hardship in his years at the Vietnam National Music Academy. He received great support from friends and professors such as Prof. Đặng Xuân Khải, music composer Đỗ Hồng Quân, Prof. Minh Khang, etc. and many philanthropists 

I googled him up after listening to this piece:

Song Trang (River and Moon) 


About which the wiki bio said:

Thanh Tùng's mother is a devoted and loving wife and mother. Her love and sacrifice for the family gives Thanh Tùng more strength to get over the difficulties and pursue his dream as a musician. The piece "Moon and River" was composed by Thanh Tùng to honor his mother, who has spent her whole life caring for him and his sister. In 2005, she received the Sofia Kovalevskaya Award.

He's quite a musician, quite a profound composer and performer.

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