An Evening of Poetry and Music – Traces of Previous Lives and Love Songs for the Homeland, Part 20 of a Multi-part Series

The “đàn T’rưng,” a bamboo xylophone, is made and used by the Bahnar people, who also inhabit the central mountains of Vietnam. Originally, the instrument was made with only five hollow bamboo sticks held at one end by one person, with the other end being held and played by another person. (Nguyễn Đình) Nghĩa has made improvements to the “đàn T’rưng” (bamboo xylophone) by providing a resonating chamber or a soundbox in each tube to sustain and amplify the sound. He has also extended the number and arrangement of bamboo tubes or bars to produce the notes of the Western chromatic scale and the Japanese soft scale, in addition to the original Bahnar scale. Struck with two headed mallets – soft on one end and hard on the other – this delicate instrument can produce the sound impressions of a drop of water or the birds in the forest.

Đoan Trang and Nam Phương will play two selections for us: the first, “Celebration of the Building of the Village,” composed by their father, and “Come Back to Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands),” a traditional Bahnar folk tune. It has taken over five years for (Nguyễn Đình) Nghĩa to construct a base “đàn T’rưng” (bamboo xylophone) – three months alone in tuning the instruments’ individual notes. Tonight is the premiere performance of the bass “đàn T’rưng” (bamboo xylophone) played by Hoà as he accompanies his father playing the “đàn T’rưng” and Đoan Trang on the 36-string zither as we hear a serenade by Franz Schubert. “Ladies and gentlemen, when moving the bamboo xylophone instrument from Washington, DC to here, unfortunately, one of its bamboo tubes was broken, but I already fixed it with some glue. But today, maybe Đoan Trang, with the enthusiastic support from you, beat the instrument a little harder, so the tube broke again. Therefore, in this piece, the bamboo xylophone will be missing one note. And when you listen, I believe it will... The sound from the broken tube will be compromised. Nevertheless, I will try my best to play the music as beautifully as possible.”