The Music of Vietnam, Vol. 2: Imperial Court Music

• Artist: Various Artists
• Release Date: 1995
• Total Time: 59:46
• Type: Collection (various artists)
• Genre: World

Review

While Celestial Harmonies is possibly the most commercialized label for ethnic musics, they have lived up to their own standards on the Music of Vietnam. To begin, in the liner notes, they don't actually have the Vietnamese names for any of the instruments, calling them only guitar, violin, flute, clarinet (meaning, presumably, plucked chordophone, bowed chordophone, reedless aerophone, single-reeded aerophone). The music on the album is worthy, regardless of the label's ignorance. There is ceremonial music from the Hue Palace, as well as dance music. In truth, the music seems a cross breed of Japanese Gagaku and Chinese silk and bamboo music (with maybe a touch of Sri Lankan temple circumambulation music). The "clarinets" sound much like the stereotypical oboes of southern India, with the style of the Orient used in the playing. The quality of the music is definitely good, as the performers did a good job on the compositions. Though the album is very definitely formatted for Western audiences (liner notes actually state that editorial policy is to omit accent marks used in Vietnamese names for pronunciation "which are not easily understood by non-Vietnamese speaking readers"), the performance is still decent, if perhaps a little more stereotypical of Chinese silk and bamboo that Westerners may have heard before. ~ Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Ceremonial Music in Hue Imperial Palace and Court: Mua Quat (Fan Dance)			(7:15)
Cermonial Music in the Hue Imperial Palace and Court: Tam Luan Cuu ...			(6:38)
Dance Music: Phung Vu (Dance of the Phoenix)			(5:04)
Dance Music: Luc Cung Hoa Dang (Six Floral Lamp Worshipful Offerings)			(8:54)
Ceremonial Music in Hue Imperial Palace and Court: Ma Vu Bong Man (Me)			(4:52)
Ceremonial Music in Hue Imperial Palace and Court: Ngu Doi Ha, ...			(3:46)
Ceremonial Music in Hue Imperial Palace and Court: Dang Dan Cung, Dang			(4:36)
Ceremonial Music in Hue Imperial Palace and Court: Luu Thuy ...			(2:45)
Ceremonial Music in Hue Imperial Palace and Court: Nam Ai, Ken Bop			(6:48)
Ceremonial Music in Hue Imperial Palace and Court: Phu Luc (Meaning N)			(6:19)
Ceremonial Music in Hue Imperial Palace and Court: Nam Bang, Ken Chien			(5:07)
Dance Music: Nu Tuong Xuat Quan (Female Generals Dispatching Their T)			(5:27)

Credits

Nguyen Xuan Hoa (Commentary), Tran Dai Dung (Flute), Eckart Rahn (Liner Notes), La Thi Cam Van (Artistic Director), Tran Thi Nguyet Nga (Zither), Nguyen Quoc Ngu (Drums), Eckart Rahn (Concept), Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh (Monochord), Tran Dai Dung (Bamboo Flute), Tran Thi Thu Van (Castanets), Huynh Anh Tuan (?), Huynh Anh Tuan (Wood Block), Ulrich Kraus (Remastering), La Thi Cam Van (Commentary), Bo Tran (Bass), Phan Thi Bach Hoa (Castanets), Giau Cao Chanh (?), Le Thi Dieu Hy (Castanets), La Thi Cam Van (Liner Notes), David Parsons (Engineer), Thanh Vo Minh (Guitar), Phan Thi Bach Hac (Castanets), La Thi Cam Van (Director), La Nguyen (Gong), Nguyen Ngoc Binh (Zither), David Parsons (Producer), Giau Cao Chanh (Cymbals), Huynh Anh Tuan (Blocks), Duong Van Lan (Guitar), La Nguyen (Drums), Kay Parsons (Engineer), Nguyen Xuan Hoa (Liner Notes), Huynh Anh Tuan (Gong), Eckart Rahn (Art Direction), Nguyen Tan Hong (Clarinet), Tran Dai Dung (Clarinet), Kay Parsons (Producer), Bo Tran (Clarinet), Kay Parsons (Photography), Phan Thi Thu Thuy (Castanets), Nguyen Tan Hong (?)