Pham Duy: "the great tree" of Vietnamese music, a close friend of musician Van Cao

Pham Duy is known as Vietnam's most famous musician, instrumentalist, singer and music researcher. He is also considered to be the person with the greatest merit in building and shaping Vietnamese New Music (the 1940s and later).

He left behind a huge volume of compositions, diverse in genres, including many songs that have become familiar in the minds of Vietnamese people. Some works can be mentioned such as: Anh Chi's Ao Dai Shows Ta Ta, Boat Vien Xue, Ever Know Mutual Love... And especially the song Autumn Dead - a song he wrote for his ex-daughter-in-law - Singer Julie Quang.

In general, he mainly writes about love songs - love for the motherland, love for people and especially love for the country. Many people appreciate that his music is a combination between the fundamental elements of Vietnamese traditional music and the techniques and structures of Western academic music.

This combination creates a unique style with many groundbreaking and influential works for musicians of many generations. He is also considered as the originator and orientation of many new trends and styles for Vietnamese new music.

Pham Duy's full name is Pham Duy Can, he was born on October 5, 1921, from Hang Cot Street, Hanoi. He comes from an intellectual family, his father is a social writer Pham Duy Ton, the eldest is a professor/master of French - Pham Duy Khiem.

It is known that from an early age, he was a clever boy, hyperactive and loved music. Although he was young, he knew how to play the guitar and mandolin, besides that, he also had the opportunity to absorb Hue songs and approach French literature through his father.

In 1936, he entered the key school - Thang Long. Some prominent figures have taught here, such as Vo Nguyen Giap, Tran Van Tuyen, Phan Anh, Khuat Duy Tien... During a year of studying at the school, he has absorbed many interesting things. beauty related to French literature.

In 1940, he studied painting at the Indochina Fine Arts College. But after studying for a while, he realized that he was not suitable for painting, so he also decided to drop out from here.

To make a living, he went through many different jobs from circus assistant, radio repairman, to farm care... in many provinces. Perhaps it is these difficulties that have helped him gain many experiences, thereby getting more inspiration for his music.

Around 1935 - 1940, he gradually realized his passion for music. From there, he studied classical music on his own, and gradually began to practice composing - without going through any music training school.

In 1941, he officially became a singer singing new music at Duc Huy - Charlot Mieu troupe. This is an opportunity to help him get acquainted with many big names such as Luu Trong Lu, Le Thuong, Le Xuan Ai, Van Dong,... Especially the closest friend in life - musician Van Cao.

Pham Duy possesses an inspirational voice full of internal strength and Vietnamese character, so his name is quickly known to domestic and foreign audiences.

In 1942, he published his first work called "She picked apricots", a spectrum from Nguyen Binh's poetry. At the end of the 1940s, when he joined the audience, he wrote many articles promoting patriotism and enthusiasm for work, typically Nuong Chieu, Remembering the Departed, Remembering the Invalids, Ganh Lua, Poor Country. , Mother Gio Linh...

From the early 1950s, musician Pham Duy began to compose vigorously, especially when he arrived in Saigon in 1952, the most typical of this period were Tinh Ca, Tinh Hoai Huong, Mother Mother, Que Baby, Hometown Husband and Wife, Faraway Boat, Returning Day, Returning Person...

In 1953, he went to France to study music for two years. He then returned to Vietnam and continued his musical career in the South. During this time, he also participated in writing musicals, writing music for films...

In 1965, he joined the Du Ca movement with some famous names such as Nguyen Duc Quang, Giang Chau, Ngo Manh Thu,... In 1966, he was invited by Channel 13 to participate in Pete Seeger's folk song program. in the United States.

In addition to the mentioned country music, national love songs and love songs, musician Pham Duy also composes children's music, youth music, epic music, Dao ca, Zen ca, heart ca... Regarding music genres popular gold, he also appeared with famous songs such as The Day I Was Twenty Years Old, You Come Back...

Composer Pham Duy is also one of the most popular poets, typically Cung Tram Tuong, Nguyen Tat Nhien, Pham Thien Thu, Minh Duc Hoai Trinh. In addition, Pham Duy was also one of the first people to write Vietnamese lyrics for foreign music, from the 1940s he wrote lyrics for classical music, until the 1960s-1970s wrote lyrics for many contemporary American songs. grand.

In addition to composing and performing, musician Pham Duy also has valuable research works on Vietnamese music. He used to hold the position of professor of music at the Saigon National School of Music. In 1990, he began writing his memoirs and divided them into four books. This work is also appreciated for its literary and historical value.

With more than 70 years of career, going through many important historical periods of the country, he is considered the "big tree" of Vietnamese music. In January 2013, he passed away. His passing left many audiences as well as artists and artists in pain.

Musician Duy Cuong - the son of musician Pham Duy once shared with the public: "My father is always optimistic. He said that he has lived a full, complete and very satisfied life. He also instructed to bury you near my mother. That I will do...".

Ngoc Chanh: first leader of the band "Shotguns", whose ability to evaluate music is at the highest level Hàn Di13:44:04 11/08/2023Musician Ngoc Chanh is known as one of the talented and popular musicians once in the Vietnamese music industry. He used to work with talented musician Pham Duy to compose the song - Hate on a wild horse, Never know the same and the age of sadness.