The influence of Vietnamese traditional music on Japanese court music

Vietnamese traditional music, or folk music, was born very early. Since ancient times, Vietnamese residents have been very passionate about music, for them music is an indispensable part of life. Therefore, in the process of historical development, residents here have constantly created many musical instruments and music genres to express their emotions, to gain strength, work spirit or to to escape from the entanglements of everyday life.

We can hear the melodies of lullabies, nursery rhymes, and musical genres in rituals, funerals, or in responses between members of the community, in entertainment, and in meetings. Competing with quiz songs, answering songs to compete with boys and girls, singing tunes when playing cards or reciting epic poems, musical verses of buskers, and groups of "amateurs" together. traditional musical genres...

Vietnamese traditional music is rich because of the accumulation of genres from many different eras and because of its ethnic diversity. The same musical genre, but each ethnic group has its own method of expression, performance and melody. Vietnamese lullabies are different from Thai lullabies, Dao lullabies, Muong lullabies... Some tribes use lyrics to put children to sleep. Some tribes lull their children to sleep with the soft sound of a guitar or flute.

The country of Vietnam has 54 ethnic groups, which means that there are 54 different traditional musics. So in this article, we would like to mention the traditional music of the Kinh people. There are many ways to classify traditional music of the Kinh people:

If divided by genre, we have: Royal music, Cheo, Tuong, Hat Xam, Don ca tai tu, folk songs, Ca tru...

If divided by region, we have: Southern traditional music; Central region, Central Highlands, Northern region... or smaller division according to each cultural region

If classified by type, it can be: Solo singing, duo singing, group singing...

There are many ways to classify, depending on the purpose and criteria, there will be a reasonable division

In traditional music, people also use many types of musical instruments such as monochord, erhu, stork, dan day, pliers... There are musical instruments specialized for one type of music, some are used for for many types of music. For example, the bottom, drum, and adoring drums are specialized for Ca Tru, while the two are specialized for Xam...

Among the eight dances taught by Buddha Triet, Ca-lan-tan-gia is a particularly outstanding dance, imbued with Buddhist characteristics. This dance is usually performed by 4 women or children, wearing costumes shaped like tails and wings with colorful feathers, holding tarpaulins in their hands and moving with gentle, flexible movements but still maintaining elegant nature for a dance originally performed in Buddhist rituals. The dancers' costumes are also intended to represent the image of the Calan-tan-gi, a precious bird in the Pure Land, whose magical song is often mentioned in Mahayana scriptures. This bird often appears to sing as offerings while the Buddha preaches. According to Dr. Shine Toshihiko, the system of musical instruments used to perform this dance is almost similar to the Cham musical instruments still used today such as the Ginang drum, Paranung drum, Saranai trumpet, ... as well as the dance movements of standing straight and reaching out in the Ca-Lang-tan-gia dance and the Cham dance also have similarities. 

Regarding timbre, Mr. Shine Toshihiko commented that if you are observant, when listening to the performance of Lam Ap bowl music, you can feel the difference compared to the rest of Japanese gagaku, giving the listener the feeling that Lam Ap Bat music is a type of music imported from far away places. At the same time, when studying Lam Ap bowl music, we can discover the close relationship between other musical traditions, specifically Vietnam and Japan. Besides, the influence of the Mongols' Yuan Khuc on the Vietnamese performance stage under the Tran dynasty still has its mark to this day. This also reflects the tradition of "favoring the West" that has taken place in both Vietnam and Japan. Also in the program, listeners will also enjoy 5 performances of Cham dance music performed by artists of the Kawon Khik Nam Krung Dance Orchestra, inheriting the traditions of the Cham people of Phan Rang.

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