Pham Phao is a peaceful Catholic diocese in Hai Minh commune. The village name contains the surname of a majority of the villagers – Pham. The Pham clan is one of the four clans credited with having reclaimed Hai Hau district. From above, the village resembles a cannon, or phao, hence the name Pham Phao. In the early 16th century, Catholicism was introduced to the village. When Pham Phao Cathedral was built in 1908, a brass orchestra was established. Ever since that date, the orchestra has been maintained to perform at church services and village events. At first all the orchestra’s brass instruments were imported. If they broke, it was expensive and took a long time to send them abroad to be repaired. Villager Nguyen Xuan Phat told VOV: “The Western brass orchestra played music for religious and social events. This led to a need to have their brass instruments repaired. Eventually, the villagers learned how to fix the broken instruments themselves and then how to make new instruments.” Today, Pham Phao villagers are masters of repairing and making brass instruments as well as playing them. Initially no more than ten families in the village were involved in brass instrument making. As playing brass instruments became more popular in Nam Dinh and neighboring provinces, as many as 70% of the local families took up the trade. The family of Nguyen Van Cuong has practiced the craft for decades now. Cuong says karma binds him to the craft, adding that, “The brass… [Read full story]
A village in northern Vietnam's Nam Dinh Province has long been known for its villagers' skills in playing and crafting the trumpet since the early 1900s. , the majority of villagers have followed Christianity since the early 20th century. The adoption of the religion was accompanied by the advent of the trumpet, which is also called the Western brass musical instrument. Locals play the trumpet in most of their ceremonies, including baptism, other important Christian observances, funerals, and farewell parties to conscripted youth before they serve in the army. Pham Phao Village artisans can perform certain phases manually, such as…... [read more]
Dao Xa Village in Dong Lo Commune, Hanoi is the unique village in Vietnam keeping their tradition of making traditional musical instruments. Around 20 households there are creating a diversity of traditional musical instruments, such as monochord, Vietnamese two-chord fiddle, zither with 36 brass strings, Vietnamese two-chord guitar, four-chord lute, "ho" and "liu". To make such an instrument, skilful craftsmen have to carefully choose suitable wood, then dry the wood, and shine and perfect the product. All steps of making these instruments are handmade and passed from generation to generation. Dao Xa Trade Village's products have been popular among Vietnamese…... [read more]
On June 13th, in Hanoi, the Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam will host a brass instrument concert with the participation of Hanoi Brass Band. This is the sixth performance in the series of outdoor concerts at the center. And on this occasion, the band will use brass instruments to play some popular songs of the world. Hanoi Brass Band was established in 1998 when the original members were students of the Hanoi Conservatory of Music (Vietnam National Academy of Music as present). In 2008, the band was officially named as Hanoi Brass Band with some changes of…... [read more]
A group of rural women from the northern part of Vietnam, including several nearing their 60s, have amazed audiences while playing Western-style brass instruments, a practice traditionally exclusive to men. Over the past few years, an all-female troupe playing trumpets, saxophones, trombones and cornets have become a fixture at funerals, processions and other ceremonial get-togethers in Trong Quan Commune, located in Dong Hung District of Thai Binh Province. Apart from haunting melodies performed with traditional musical instruments, tunes on such Western-style brass instruments are also generally played at funerals, particularly when accompanying the deceased to their final resting place. Most…... [read more]
A passion for making musical instruments Thu Huong By Thu Huong - The Saigon Times Daily Cao Van Cuong left his hometown in the northern province of Hung Yen for Hanoi over a decade ago to start everything from scratch. Leaving in an old apartment in Thanh Cong area, Ba Dinh District, the 58-year-old and his wife earn a living by selling breakfast. However, Cuong is also known as a talented artist who can make and play around 20 types of traditional and modern musical instrument. These instruments include dan bau (one-stringed Vietnamese zither), dan tranh (Vietnamese 16-chord zither), dan…... [read more]
