The 'fateful relationship' between poetry and music: Complementary or antagonistic?

In the framework of celebrating the 22nd Vietnam Poetry Day, the Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association and Music Association organized the workshop "Poetry & Music, compatible or incompatible".

During the workshop, poet Bui Phan Thao shared information that the children of musician Chau Ky, the heirs and copyright holders of the musician's songs, receive more than 800 million VND in royalties each quarter. Each month, the musician's 4 children receive more than 200 million VND, an average of 70 million VND/month.

According to him, the legacy that musician Chau Ky left for his descendants is enormous. He is also a rare composer of old songs who has such a large amount of royalties.

Among the more than 400 songs of musician Chau Ky, there are more than 200 songs released to the audience, many of which have entered the hearts of the public such as: Welcoming this spring, remembering the old spring, Hearing that you are getting married, Don't say goodbye, Tears of a beautiful palace, Why haven't I seen an answer yet, Half a moon, Winter sadness... Among them, there are quite a few songs by this musician that were set to poetry.

The poet believes that music set to poetry is like a bridge. The song brings the poem to the listener. In turn, the lyrics make the song more profound. There are solid bridges, there are shaky bridges. Solid bridges are successful music set to poetry, reaching the listener's heart and remaining in their mind.

The shaky bridge is a set of songs set to poetry that were not very successful, or for other reasons, did not reach the public, gradually falling into oblivion.

According to poet Bui Phan Thao, poems rich in melody, beautiful images, and good music are often set to music by many musicians. Musicians often choose the most favorable places in the poem to create their own works.

In addition, poet Bui Phan Thao also gave the example of the poem Mau tim hoa sim by Huu Loan, written in free verse, with the story of loss and pain of a soldier of the National Guard, set to music by 3 musicians. Pham Duy composed the song Ao anh sut chi duong ta, which followed the original the most, almost telling the story through music.

Or Dung Chinh popularized the song "Sim Flower Hills" which is loved by many people because of its beautiful bolero melody and elegant, touching lyrics, fully conveying the meaning of the poem.

Anh Bang also popularized the song Chuyen hoa sim into a bolero style and conveyed the original story with simple, approachable lyrics. All three works are examples of successful poetry set to music.

Also in the free verse poems of Phan Vu, Duong Tuong, even some very long poems of Phan Vu, musician Phu Quang still chose passages to make the public fall in love with Em oi, Ha Noi pho, with Duong Tuong were Duong cam lanh, Tinh khuc 24...

The most prominent is musician Phu Quang who successfully composed 3 poems by Pham Thi Ngoc Lien: Silent Night of Hanoi, Wandering, Autumn Song and with poet Thao Phuong, he has a wonderful, poignant piece of music about Hanoi called Nostalgia for Winter - a work with beautiful lyrics, beautiful melody, touching the deep emotions of the listener, full of love, nostalgia...

The poet commented: “When a poem is set to music, the music gives wings to the poem, the poem becomes the background for the music to flourish. The fate of poetry and music can sometimes be spontaneous and coincidental, sometimes strong.

The poetic and musical charm in everyday life, in my opinion, is rare and bright. When reading the poem “First Lesson for Children” by poet Do Trung Quan in the newspaper, musician Giap Van Thach in Binh Duong composed the song “Homeland”, making the name of musician “Canh hoa dau” fly across all parts of the country.

Poet Bui Phan Thao said the first principle when composing music is that the musician must stick to the original, if there is any change, it must not lose the soul of the poem, must retain the poetic meaning. The musician plays a co-creative role with the poet, depending on the nature of the poem and also depending on the musician's feelings and inspiration, the song is formed.

Just like when composing the poem Mau tim hoa sim by Huu Loan, musician Pham Duy kept almost the same lyrics of the poem Con chut gi de nho by Vu Huu Dinh when composing it into a song. The poem is full of music, the music is as beautiful as the poem. The relationship between music and poetry is endless.

Trinh Trang

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