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Volumes 1.1 and 1.2 concentrate on an ensemble of 15 musicians who are among the most respected in Vietnam. They are professors at the conservatories and well-known artists and performers. They present modern "folk" music on traditional and adapted instruments; lutes, one string fiddles, flutes, and percussion dominate the tracks presented, with solo pieces and soloists backed by larger ensembles. Most are theatrical works, carefully arranged and presented, rather than raw field recordings. The western influences are subtle but obvious throughout. One of the standout sounds of Volume 1.1 is the dan bau and an electric cousin. It's a single string attached to a soundboard and a flexible neck. The neck is pulled to create the notes and a glissandi ornamentation, giving the distinct feeling of a slide guitar playing some ancient precursor to the blues. Volume 2 is a major undertaking--one of the few high quality recordings made of the Imperial ceremonial music of the ancient city of Hue. It is a distinctive mix of folk instruments and courtly formality--a highly disciplined and richly ornamented music originally conceived for moments of importance and ceremony. The focus is on the voices and the stories they tell. David Parsons went to Hanoi and Hue to record the music for this set, and he created excellent ambiance as well as choosing wonderful artists and musical selections. Each of the three CDs is also available separately. --Louis Gibson
The Music of Vietnam 3 CD Boxed Set Reviews
The Music of Vietnam 3 CD Boxed Set Reviews
| 10 of 10 people found the following review helpful  The Complex Tones of Traditional Music, By A Customer This review is from: The Music of Vietnam 3 CD Boxed Set (Audio CD) Viet Nam is most often identified with communism and with war, which is a pity, because the music of Viet Nam is as expressive and as complex as pieces written by Bach or Beethoven. This title is wonderful, with highlights coming by way of Cung Dan Dat Nuoc (Track 1) and Qua Cau Gio Bay (Track 7). Wonderful music for meditation, for dinner or just as background for great conversation. Great sound, great music, By Eliminator Man (Plymouth, MN) - See all my reviews Amazon Verified Purchase This review is from: The Music of Vietnam 3 CD Boxed Set (Audio CD) This is a wonderful set. There are two discs of traditional music and one of ceremonial music. The ceremonial music is interesting and enjoyable but the other two are just great. The music is complex, very well played. The lead voices and arrangements vary from track to track. There are excellent books, one for the ceremonial and another for the other two discs. That book(s) for the traditional discs share the same background material and then have notes on the individual selections. There is a lot of background written my Vietnamese experts and well translated to English. The sound quality is excellent. I've had this cranked up on my large car stereo and the sound is clean with good separation. This isn't just background music. It has the challenging, interesting qualities of western classical music. The musicians are very highly skilled.This looked pretty nondescript on the Amazon web site but fortunately there were track samples and those samples sold me on... Read more |
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