Veteran composer to be honoured

HA NOI — Bai Ca Hy Vong (Song of Hope), a song by veteran composer Van Ky, will highlight a music show to be broadcast on VTV tomorrow, reviewing the composer's long career.

Ky, who is 83 and has 400 songs to his credit, has written quite a few about the capital city. He said he loved Ha Noi because it had a hidden beauty, was full of poetry and contained the country's soul.

Born in 1928, in the northern province of Nam Dinh, Ky's first work came out of a broken heart. He'd fallen in love with a girl from Ha Noi who'd been evacuated to his district in 1946 during the resistance war against the French. After she returned to the city, Ky enshrined his love in his first song Trang Xua (Old Moon), although he didn't yet know how to write a single note of music.

Ky fought as a soldier in the resistance war, but was subsequently recognised for his musical talent and sent to study music. He began his music career in Ha Noi in 1955, with significant songs like Bai Ca Hy Vong (Song of Hope) and Troi Ha Noi Xanh (Blue Sky of Ha Noi).

Over 50 years after composing Song of Hope, the composer's complete faith in the nation's victory still strikes a chord in listeners, while Blue Sky of Ha Noi has long been used as the theme song for the Ha Noi Television and Radio.

Ky has also successfully composed symphonic works, with his 1984 Suite for Symphony Ko Nhi performed in the former Soviet Union and East Germany. He was one of the founders of the Viet Nam Musicians Association in 1957 and won its Music Prize in 2001.

Last year, Ky wrote a new song, Bay Len Viet Nam (Viet Nam, Let's Fly) to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Ha Noi.

"When I begin to write a new song about Ha Noi, I write so fast because my love for the city fills my soul," Ky said. "I want to travel more and compose more."

Tomorrow's broadcast, at 8pm on VTV3, will also honour other well-known and developing composers who are drawing the music map in Viet Nam. — VNS