Nguyễn Thanh Tùng
Encyclopedia
Nguyễn Thanh Tùng (born on October 20, 1979) is a famous Vietnamese
monochord
music
performer and composer. He is well-known not only for his moving monochord performances and compositions, but also for his inner strength and perseverance as a blind
Agent Orange
victim.
Thanh Tùng has performed Vietnamese traditional music and masterpieces by Brahms, Chopin, etc., in many countries, such as France
and Belgium
, and received worldwide notice.
, Vietnam
. Affected by Agent Orange
or dioxin
inherited from his father, a Vietnam War soldier, Tùng was born with one blind eye. His other eye was very weak. However, since an early age, he has shown his musical talent. In a talent competition for children held in 1986-1987, he earned the Special Award.
When Thanh Tùng turned 12, he became totally blind. Nevertheless, his love for music has never died. He applied to a special two-year music course in the Vietnam National Music Academy. There he proceeded to study Vietnamese traditional music, majoring in Monochord Performance. Despite his illness, in 1997, Nguyen Thanh Tung continued to study Music composition and piano as well.
Thanh Tùng went through much hardship in his years at the Vietnam National Music Academy. He received great support from friends and professors such as Prof. Đặng Xuân Khải, music composer Đỗ Hồng Quân, Prof. Minh Khang, etc. and many philanthropists
Thanh Tùng was born to Nguyen Thanh Son, a Vietnam War
veteran and currently a photographer, and Pham Thi Duc Hoa, a tailor.
In 1972, Mr.Son's squad was deployed in Quảng Trị
and he got affected by Agent Orange
ever since. His two children are inherently affected by the poisonous dioxin
. Thanh Tung's older sister, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thuy is more severely affected than him. She is totally paralyzed, epileptic, blind, deaf and dumb. After the end of the Vietnam War, Mr.Son has been working as a photographer to make ends meet. He is an example of determination and perseverance for his son, Thanh Tung.
Thanh Tùng's mother is a devoted and loving wife and mother. Her love and sacrifice for the family gives Thanh Tùng more strength to get over the difficulties and pursue his dream as a musician. The piece "Moon and River" was composed by Thanh Tùng to honor his mother, who has spent her whole life caring for him and his sister. In 2005, she received the Sofia Kovalevskaya Award
.
Another important person behind the success of Thanh Tùng is his grandfather - Nguyen Te Do. He brought him up and introduced him to music. Finding his grandson interested in monochord
melodies, but not affording a monochord at that time, he made a monochord
for Thanh Tùng by himself. Simple as it is, this monochord is a part of Thanh Tùng's childhood and afterwards involves in his entire life and career.
. Particularly, he had the chance to perform in the 2006 APEC Summit held in Hanoi
.
In 2005, the organization Vietnam les enfants de la dioxin invited him to perform in France in a campaign for Agent Orange victims.
Thanh Tùng performed in several French cities, including Paris
, Marseille
, Roan
, and then Belgium
. He received standing ovations wherever he performed. The French media took notice of him. When he performed in a Christian church, people cried and said, "Thank God for sending you here!"
In Belgium, Thanh Tùng had the honor to perform with Prof. Phi Deli of the Brussels Academy of Music. She let him sit in a higher place, claiming, "I love Vietnam very much. You are a special musician from Vietnam, so I want everyone to see you more clearly and honor your will and determination."
Thanh Tùng usually performs three music genres, viz. Vietnamese folk music, monochord compositions by Vietnamese composers, and classical pieces by Mozart, Brahms, Schubert, and Beethoven transcribed for the monochord.
To date, Nguyễn Thanh Tùng continues to compose music, teach and perform the monochord, and mix music.
Many documentary movies about his life and career have been shot, such as The little Taxaceae (1991), Overcome the Fate (2008), The message of hope and belief (2010) - one series of "The Hanoians", broadcast on the National Television of Vietnam, and so on.
The song "Hanoi's season without rain" transcribed by Nguyễn Thanh Tùng for piano solo became the theme song of the documentary movie Overcome the Fate about his life and career.
compositions.
"Moon and River", composed for monochord, zither and percussion, won the Special Award in the Composition Competition held by the Vietnam National Music Academy. The piece was composed after a sleepless painful night of nostalgia. Thanh Tùng recalled his childhood days walking on the riverside with his grandfather in the moonlight. He thought his life was like a river, turning peaceful only after storms.
to move up or down several octaves currently popular with many Vietnamese musicians.
Thanh Tùng usually develops complex melodies in his composition where there is no leading instrument. This can be seen in his composition "Moon and river." In general, Thanh Tùng’s works are mixed between pure emotions and philosophy of life. The melodies are clearly contrasted with each other, resembling his struggle in music.
Vietnamese people
The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
monochord
Monochord
A monochord is an ancient musical and scientific laboratory instrument. The word "monochord" comes from the Greek and means literally "one string." A misconception of the term lies within its name. Often a monochord has more than one string, most of the time two, one open string and a second string...
music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
performer and composer. He is well-known not only for his moving monochord performances and compositions, but also for his inner strength and perseverance as a blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
Agent Orange
Agent Orange
Agent Orange is the code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth...
victim.
Thanh Tùng has performed Vietnamese traditional music and masterpieces by Brahms, Chopin, etc., in many countries, such as France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and received worldwide notice.
Early life
Nguyễn Thanh Tùng was born on October 20, 1979, in HanoiHanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. Affected by Agent Orange
Agent Orange
Agent Orange is the code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth...
or dioxin
Dioxin
Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins , or simply dioxins, are a group of organic polyhalogenated compounds that are significant environmental pollutants. They are commonly but inaccurately referred to as dioxins for simplicity, because every PCDD molecule contains a dioxin skeletal structure as the...
inherited from his father, a Vietnam War soldier, Tùng was born with one blind eye. His other eye was very weak. However, since an early age, he has shown his musical talent. In a talent competition for children held in 1986-1987, he earned the Special Award.
When Thanh Tùng turned 12, he became totally blind. Nevertheless, his love for music has never died. He applied to a special two-year music course in the Vietnam National Music Academy. There he proceeded to study Vietnamese traditional music, majoring in Monochord Performance. Despite his illness, in 1997, Nguyen Thanh Tung continued to study Music composition and piano as well.
Thanh Tùng went through much hardship in his years at the Vietnam National Music Academy. He received great support from friends and professors such as Prof. Đặng Xuân Khải, music composer Đỗ Hồng Quân, Prof. Minh Khang, etc. and many philanthropists
Personal life
Nguyễn Thanh Tùng's family plays an important part in his performance and composition career.Thanh Tùng was born to Nguyen Thanh Son, a Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veteran and currently a photographer, and Pham Thi Duc Hoa, a tailor.
In 1972, Mr.Son's squad was deployed in Quảng Trị
Quang Tri
Quảng Trị is a town district of Quang Tri province in the North Central Coastal region of Vietnam. Significantly, it was the only South Vietnamese provincial capital to be captured by the North Vietnamese forces for a limited period in the 1972 offensive....
and he got affected by Agent Orange
Agent Orange
Agent Orange is the code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth...
ever since. His two children are inherently affected by the poisonous dioxin
Dioxin
Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins , or simply dioxins, are a group of organic polyhalogenated compounds that are significant environmental pollutants. They are commonly but inaccurately referred to as dioxins for simplicity, because every PCDD molecule contains a dioxin skeletal structure as the...
. Thanh Tung's older sister, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thuy is more severely affected than him. She is totally paralyzed, epileptic, blind, deaf and dumb. After the end of the Vietnam War, Mr.Son has been working as a photographer to make ends meet. He is an example of determination and perseverance for his son, Thanh Tung.
Thanh Tùng's mother is a devoted and loving wife and mother. Her love and sacrifice for the family gives Thanh Tùng more strength to get over the difficulties and pursue his dream as a musician. The piece "Moon and River" was composed by Thanh Tùng to honor his mother, who has spent her whole life caring for him and his sister. In 2005, she received the Sofia Kovalevskaya Award
Sofia Kovalevskaya Award
The Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation of Germany bestows the Sofia Kovalevskaya Award every two years. Sofia Kovalevskaya was the first major Russian female mathematician, who made important contributions to mathematical analysis, differential equations and mechanics, and the first woman...
.
Another important person behind the success of Thanh Tùng is his grandfather - Nguyen Te Do. He brought him up and introduced him to music. Finding his grandson interested in monochord
Monochord
A monochord is an ancient musical and scientific laboratory instrument. The word "monochord" comes from the Greek and means literally "one string." A misconception of the term lies within its name. Often a monochord has more than one string, most of the time two, one open string and a second string...
melodies, but not affording a monochord at that time, he made a monochord
Monochord
A monochord is an ancient musical and scientific laboratory instrument. The word "monochord" comes from the Greek and means literally "one string." A misconception of the term lies within its name. Often a monochord has more than one string, most of the time two, one open string and a second string...
for Thanh Tùng by himself. Simple as it is, this monochord is a part of Thanh Tùng's childhood and afterwards involves in his entire life and career.
Career
An honor graduate, Thanh Tùng receives many invitations to perform in= and outside VietnamVietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. Particularly, he had the chance to perform in the 2006 APEC Summit held in Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
.
In 2005, the organization Vietnam les enfants de la dioxin invited him to perform in France in a campaign for Agent Orange victims.
Thanh Tùng performed in several French cities, including Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, Roan
Roan
Roan may refer to:*a roan, a valley that curves upward.*Battle of Roan's Tan Yard, an action during the American Civil War*John Roan school, a comprehensive secondary school in Blackheath, South-East London...
, and then Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. He received standing ovations wherever he performed. The French media took notice of him. When he performed in a Christian church, people cried and said, "Thank God for sending you here!"
In Belgium, Thanh Tùng had the honor to perform with Prof. Phi Deli of the Brussels Academy of Music. She let him sit in a higher place, claiming, "I love Vietnam very much. You are a special musician from Vietnam, so I want everyone to see you more clearly and honor your will and determination."
Thanh Tùng usually performs three music genres, viz. Vietnamese folk music, monochord compositions by Vietnamese composers, and classical pieces by Mozart, Brahms, Schubert, and Beethoven transcribed for the monochord.
To date, Nguyễn Thanh Tùng continues to compose music, teach and perform the monochord, and mix music.
Many documentary movies about his life and career have been shot, such as The little Taxaceae (1991), Overcome the Fate (2008), The message of hope and belief (2010) - one series of "The Hanoians", broadcast on the National Television of Vietnam, and so on.
Performance
Nguyễn Thanh Tùng performs successfully many of Vietnam's noted pieces such as Lullaby from South Vietnam, To the woods, Please stay, etc.The song "Hanoi's season without rain" transcribed by Nguyễn Thanh Tùng for piano solo became the theme song of the documentary movie Overcome the Fate about his life and career.
Composition
"Narrative" (composed for violin) and "Spring's color" (for violin and piano) are some of Nguyễn Thanh Tùng’scompositions.
"Moon and River", composed for monochord, zither and percussion, won the Special Award in the Composition Competition held by the Vietnam National Music Academy. The piece was composed after a sleepless painful night of nostalgia. Thanh Tùng recalled his childhood days walking on the riverside with his grandfather in the moonlight. He thought his life was like a river, turning peaceful only after storms.
Style
Thanh Tùng’s monochord performances are purely moving, expressing love and his own difficult life experience. He enjoys improvising and usually improvises traditional melodies. However, he dislikes modern techniques applied to the monochord performance such as using the pedalPedal
The word pedal comes from the Latin and relates to the foot.A pedal is a lever activated by one's foot. The term "foot pedal" is redundant, and should be avoided...
to move up or down several octaves currently popular with many Vietnamese musicians.
Thanh Tùng usually develops complex melodies in his composition where there is no leading instrument. This can be seen in his composition "Moon and river." In general, Thanh Tùng’s works are mixed between pure emotions and philosophy of life. The melodies are clearly contrasted with each other, resembling his struggle in music.