Composer Nguyen Quang Long (right) and artists are seen in the music video Blaming the God of Marriage. Photo courtesy of the artist

He officially launched Trách Ông Nguyệt Lão (Blaming the God of Marriage) in Hanoi on Saturday to welcome the new year and celebrate the 1010th anniversary of Hanoi.

It features the story of a photographer from Hanoi who attended the spring festival in the northern province of Bac Ninh, a cradle of quan họ, and fell in love with a songstress.

All day and night he dreamed of her beautiful voice and silhouette. He returned to Bac Ninh to find her and was informed that she had gone to Hanoi. The young man continued looking for her, but to no avail. It’s a beautiful but sad love story that is often mentioned in quan họ songs.

The video reflects the remarkable landscape of Bac Ninh’s Tieu Pagoda and Hanoi’s Old Quarter thanks to photographer Le Duc and director Nhat Giang.

“It’s a meaningful gift for Hanoi on its 1010th birthday. Personally, I want to pay tribute to Bac Ninh where I was born and Hanoi where I currently live,” Long said.

Tieu Pagoda is a significant spot of Bac Ninh where monk Ly Van Hanh (938 – 1025) meditated. He taught and raised Ly Cong Uan (974 – 1028), who then became Ly Thai To, the founder of the Ly Dynasty. The King established the capital in Thang Long (former name of Hanoi) in 1010.

Long composed the song based on old lyrics. The video features Long as the main singer as well as Mai Tuyet Hoa and Nguyen Shan as instrumentalists.

Long said that xẩm and quan họ have many similarities and can be performed in harmony in one musical work.

“This is the first time the two forms have combined in one video,” he said.

“Audiences will enjoy the xẩm singing and some rhythms from quan họ.”

“After more than 20 years working in the field of traditional music, I discovered that xẩm and quan họ songs share many lyrics, but just have different music and rhythms.”

The video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/8_ti795JGZY. VNS

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