VietNamNet – The northern province of Bac Ninh has approved a project on preserving the ancient Quan ho folk singing style for the coming generations, budgeting more than VND800 million for the project.

Quan ho Bac Ninh singers. (Photo: VNN)

The project will collect, study, document and classify ancient songs, and provide information about Quan ho Bac Ninh singers for archiving, popularizing and teaching this art.

During the implementation of the project, images and voices will be recorded to preserve and promote the values of Bac Ninh’s quan ho folk singing, according to the commitment with UNESCO.

In the northern provinces of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang, many of the villages are twinned, reinforcing their relationship through social customs such as Quan ho Bac Ninh folk songs. The songs are performed as alternating verses between two women from one village who sing in harmony, and two men from another village who respond with similar melodies, but with different lyrics.

The more than 400 song lyrics, sung with 213 different melody variations, express people’s emotional states of longing and sadness upon separation, and the happiness of the meeting of lovers, but custom forbids marrying a singing partner.

Source: CPV