Project of “Xam singing preservation” and the restoration of “Xam Que”

With desire of contributing to preserve Xam singing, on March 7th, project members associated with Vietnam Musical Development Center and Vietnam Digital Television VTC10 to restore Xam songs at Hung Ha District, Thai Binh province – the place considered as”the cradle of Xam”.

Xam show was performed at Tran Thu Do temple in Hung Ha District, Thai Binh province. This place has a solemn religious architecture as well as countryside scenes such as: old trees, rice fields, pond, etc. which are suitable for the casting scene.
Musical instruments for Xam  includes many types, but the indispensable ones which project member have prepared were: mono-chord, erhu, ho, drum, dyad,etc.

For the costumes, Mr Tran Hung – Vietnam Musical Development Center prepared quite thoroughly such as: “vay đup”, “chiec quan nau”, “ao nau”, “nhieu đen đau” and small accessories as: “non me”, “ao toi”,  “kinh đen”, “guoc moc”.

When asked “Why are the dresses in Hanoi “ao dai” with braces, scarf, but here they are “ao ba ba” and “vay dup”?”, Hung said: “This is the difference between Xam Ha Thanh and Xam Que, Xam Ha Thanh is more aristocratic, whereas Xam Que is simple so the costumes are different.”

When the artists performed, the lyrics and the expression were also edited by musician Thao Giang to get the best performance.

During the trip, the group also visited the Tran Temple. The musician Thao Giang – Vietnam Music Art Development Center also shared information about the origin of Xam. In addition, every melody, whether primary or secondary comes together with the certain system of musical instruments and literary genre. Along with folk instruments, the artists composed the Xam songs expressing their mood of life with a particular accent, with characteristic feel through their ears. “Because of their own creative way and standards regulations in Xam singing, Xam is affirmed  as professional folk art”, Mr. Thao Giang said.