MUSIC Music is dear to the people of Hue, playing an intimate role in their lives from birth to the grave. There are three kinds: royal, chamber and popular music. As regards popular music, in Hue and the rest of the province of Binh Tri Thien there are some dozen worksongs (ho), such as Ho Cay Lua (Transplanting Rice), Ho Tac Nuoc (Carrying Water), Ho Gia Gao (Pounding Rice), Ho Cheo Thuyen (Rowing Boat), Ho Chan Trau (Tending Buffalo) and Ho Dap Dat (Beating the Soil). There are also about the same number of Ly, or romantic songs, which express emotion and love. These include: Ly Hoai Nam (Nostalgia for the South), Ly Ngua O (Black Horse), Ly Hoai Xuan (Waiting for Spring), Ly Muoi Thuong (Ten Reasons for Love), Ly Con Sao (The Magpie), Ly Mong Chong (Waiting for the Husband) and Ly Tinh Tang (Love). Some of these songs have been sung and appreciated all over the world. In the Summer of 1982, when the General Director of international Concerts came to HaNoi, the two songs which was chosen to be sung in Europe were Ly Hoai Nam and Quan Ho. Ly Hoai Nam was composed in the year 1307 by unknown musician who accompanied the princess Tran Huyen to the south. The song expressed hid sorrow after the farewell. Popular music also includes the improvisations of the boatmen and women, and the passengers on the River of Perfumes... "Who's that sitting on the jetty at Van Lau, fishing, heart heavy with sorrow ? Whose is that boat that appears and disappears near the other bank ?" These are popular poems, or Ve, and other tunes from other regions. At Dong Ba market place or Thuong Nhau railway station near the river, people throng to hear a 3000 verse satire about the 'surrender of the Imperial City', sung by a wandering artist to the accompaniment of a single-stringed zither, dan bau.
