Dan Tranh Music of Vietnam: Traditions and Innovations

This book presents a study of the musical and social history of the Vietnamese zither dan tranh , with a strong focus on the traditional and contemporary genres in the twentieth century. Analyses of musical and extra-musical features of the main genres of dan tranh music are presented in conjunction with examinations of social and cultural factors behind their developments. Even though this is only the study of the music of one instrument, it covers the history of some of the most important musical genres in Vietnam in the twentieth century. Readers will, therefore, find useful information on distinctive features of Vietnamese traditional music and the history of Vietnamese music in the twentieth century in general.

Chapter One
The Dan Tranh in Vietnamese Music History

• The Instrument
• The Symbolic Meaning of the Dan Tranh's Shape and Its Decoration
• A Hypothesis on the Origin of the Dan Tranh
• The Dan Tranh in Vietnamese Music History
  • Musical Functions and Ensemble Formats
  • Changes in the Design of the Dan Tranh
• Summary

Chapter Two
Hue and Tai Tu Music: Concept of Music and Social Organisation of Musicians

• Indigenous Concept of Music in the Hue and Tai Tu Traditions
• Social Organisation of Musicians
• Chinese Extra-Musical Features in Hue and Tai Tu Music
• Summary

Chapter Three
Hue and Tai Tu Music: Analysis of Modes

• Modes in Hue and Tai Tu Music
• Musical Characteristics of Modes
  • Hue Music
  • Tai Tu Music

Chapter Four
Hue and Tai Tu Music: Composition, Performing Process and Notations

• Introduction
• The Construction of Hue and Tai Tu Compositions
• The Elaboration of the Melodic Framework
• Improvisation and Reproduction of Pre-existing Versions in Performances
• Phrasal Expansion in Pieces of Hue and Tai Tu Music
• Dan Tranh Notations

Chapter Five
The Dan Tranh in Ngam Tho

• Introduction
• Musical Characteristics
• Styles and Modes

Chapter Six
Music in the Age of Nationalism and Modernisation (1920-1975):
Changes in Hue and Tai Tu Music & The Development of Cai Luong and National Music

• Social and Cultural Environment
• Changes in Hue and Tai Tu Music
• Cai Luong Music in Southern Vietnam (c.1920-1975)
• Cai Luong Repertory and New Modes
• New Modes and the Practice of Mixing Modes
• Performance Style
• Social Organisation of Musicians
• National Music in South Vietnam (1954-1975)
• Summary

Chapter Seven
Dan Tranh Music and The Socialist Revolution:
The Development of Modern National Music

• The Socialist Revolution (1954-1986)
• Traditional Music and the Cultural and Ideological Revolution
• Modern National Music
  • Reformed Traditional Music
  • Instrumental Arrangements of Political Songs
  • Modern National Compositions
  • Adaptation of Foreign Music
• The Training of Modern National Musicians
• Social Organisation of Modern National Music
• Pre-existing Dan Tranh Music during the Socialist Revolution
  • Hue and Tai Tu Music
  • Cai Luong Music
  • South Vietnamese Popular Music
• Dan Tranh Music in the Doi Moi Era
• Summary

Chapter Eight
Dan Tranh Music Outside Vietnam

• Introduction
• The Preservation of Pre-existing Traditions
• The De-Westernisation of National Music
• Modal Improvisation
• Experimental Music
• Folk Fusion
• New Conventional Compositions
• Changes in the Social Organisation of Ðàn Tranh Musicians and Their Teaching Mode
• Summary

Chapter Nine
Conclusion

Appendix One
The Classification of Principal Pieces in the Classical Repertory of Hue and Tai Tu Music

Appendix Two
Biography of Musicians

Bibliography

Discography