Xẩm - a Vietnamese classical form of music - Xam - a Vietnamese classical form of music

Tradition & Culture » Traditional music and instruments

Source: vietnam-beauty - 2009/12/29, 04:52 GMT+7 - Total view: 859

Xẩm - a Vietnamese classical form of music

Xam singing, a Vietnamese form of art aged centuries, has always been preserved as the nation’s delicate piece of culture to be admired by numerous tourists.

A show performed by old artists

Let’s turn back time to the old days to the legend attached to this special kind of art. The legend, which has been handed down from generation to generation, tells that Xam singing was invented by Tran Quoc Dinh- achildren of King Tran Thanh Tong around 700 years ago. According tothis legend, the King was humane and upright and had the goodrelationships with the poor. He taught them how to play the instrument,and how to sing in order to milden hardships in life.

Main traits. “Hat Xam” or “Xam singing”has been mainly found in the countryside, and, expressed the optimismand love for life of the blind. They were mostly settling in in NinhBinh, Nam Dinh, Hai Duong, Bac Giang, Ha Noi… In the past, Xam singing was performed during leisure period of time after the harvest crops. The farmers used to invite Xam troupes to come and perform in their village so that their families could enjoy their repertoire of music. In the wartime or poor crops, Xamsingers could not earn enough locally to earn for a living, thus theytraveled to many places to sing for a better income. Many of themflocked to big cities, including Hanoi. Crowded trams, car stations,markets and street corners were the stages for these singers, orsomehow, artists. In Xam singing, one plays drum, oneplays castanets, one plays Nhi/Co fiddle, one plays Bau mono chord andall sing together with Southern or Northern accent. To thank andencourage Xam singers for their well performing, the audiences, bothmen and women; children and adults gather for enjoyment and then handthem some money.

Youmay wonder if there is any difference between a band in the past andthat of today. There’s almost no big difference. The only note is thatthe new style of Xam singing developed on the basis of the traditional forerunner in rural areas,

.. and performed by street artists

but it had quick and ornate rhythms, which differ the traditional Xam played in the countryside, suitable for the busy atmosphere of the city and high educated people.

Where to catch a show in Hanoi?If you have special interest in Vietnam’s traditional art, we suggestthat you wandered along Hanoi’s Old Quarter, such as Hang Ngang, HangDao. On your way, you can find and have chances to enjoy a Xam singing show. Popular poems, particularly those full of folk characteristics by poet Nguyen Binh, such as Lo buoc sang ngang (A Girl’s Anxiety before Marriage), Giang sang vuon che (Moonlight on Tea Garden), Em di tinh ve (A Girl’s Return after a Province Trip), are used in a certain shows.

In fact, Xamwas not only performed at stations and markets, but also appeared infolk performances, lullabies, music for funerals, Ca tru (ceremonialsongs), etc. Together with the clanging rhythms of the trams which wereonce a common means of transport in Hanoi, Xam singing became familiar to the city dwellers.

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