composed songs. Following
is his introduction of Supreme Master
Ching Hai's poetry and the two songs at
the concert "Evening of Music and
Poetry."
Since the
beginning of modern music about half a
century ago, Aulacese people have held
many different kinds of concerts, both
in Au Lac and abroad. First, there were
concerts for love songs where we can praise
the sentimental, passionate and sensual
aspects of love. Then, there were concerts
for heroic music in which we can express
our patriotism for our homeland and fellow
citizens. If there were ever a solemn
concert about our country's history, then
there would also be a concert with humorous
music. Evidently, we know how to use music
to nourish humankind through the depiction
of emotions like happiness, anger, love
and hatred.
However,
up to now, we've rarely had the kind of
concert with the main theme being spiritual,
just like the one we had today. As a person
who often composes spiritual music, as
well as love songs and popular music,
I sincerely thank the organizers for inviting
me to participate in this concert and
to say a few words about the journey of
those who have guided us in the search
for the land of eternity...
Today,
I am glad to enter the world of Supreme
Master Ching Hai's poetry. I'm not going
to repeat what my friend Tran Van An already
highlighted. Supreme Master Ching Hai's
poetry represents a mixture between worldly
love and the purity of spiritual practice.
For me, Her poetry is not just a breaking
of preconceived ideas of a spiritual practitioner;
it's also the poetry of the spiritual
journey, the journey of human life on
the river of the spiritual path. The belonging
is an open heart, the destiny is the realization
of Self and inner peace. It is turning
away with no binding; it is turning back,
still very carefree. It is the kind of
poem that is called "re-listening
to our life."
I
believe that Supreme Master Ching Hai's
poems are very worldly and yet also very
spiritual, such as "I Love You,"
"Like the Clouds High Above,"
"Passing by Your House," "The
Man Who Recreated Eden," et cetera.
My colleagues, composers like Le Dinh,
Nhat Ngan, and Phuong Vu have carefully
set these to music, and these poems in
the form of music will be presented to
you through the magnificent voices of
Khanh Ly, Mai Huong, Le Thu, Duy Khanh,
and so on.
For
myself, I've chosen one of Supreme Master
Ching Hai's traditional spiritual poems
from "Traces of Previous Lives,"
called "A Lonesome Night" to
compose music:
“Lonely
like I’ve never been so lonely...
Sad like I’ve never been so sad...
Like a bird looking for a cozy nest,
Lost in the midst of a vast firmament!”
We Aulacese
people who have been away from our homeland
for over twenty years are the "birds"
who have twice been "lost in the
midst of a vast firmament" because
not only are we lonely in our fate as
human beings, but we are also very lonely
beings – "strangers in a foreign
land." Supreme Master Ching Hai has
extended Her open arms, and I'm really
not surprised at all to learn that She
has disciples all over the world. Indeed,
in this assembly such as tonight, in this
musical gathering, although She has not
preached anything, She is already with
us on the journey back to our youth, back
to the land of legends as mentioned in
the poems.
You have
heard Kieu Loan reciting this poem in
the beautiful traditional style. Now,
you are going to hear Duy Quang’s
musical interpretation of this poem.
Modern
music has the advantage over traditional
poem recital in the sense that modern
musical melody is more flexible than the
fixed form of poetry recital. It can transform
the atmosphere from "lost in the
midst of a vast firmament" to "hands
extending, longer than the night"
much easier. Ladies and gentlemen, on
this last day of the year, and in the
warm atmosphere of this "Evening
of Spiritual Music Performance,"
I would like to invite you to listen to
the song "A Lonesome Night,"
poem written by Supreme Master Ching Hai,
music by Pham Duy, and performed by Duy
Quang.
Ladies
and gentlemen: Duy Quang!...
I
used to think that a human life is an
endless journey, but with every departure
there is a return. With Supreme Master
Ching Hai, Nirvana is not a place of refuge.
As with Luu and Nguyen, paradise cannot
make them forget their way home; therefore:
“One step forward is to arrive at
the Origin,
One inch back is to return to the suffering
world!”
For me,
Supreme Master Ching Hai is always "a
turning away with no binding," and
always "a turning back, still very
carefree.". With the ideal of harmonizing
society and the individual, I have written
music for the poem "Existence and
Nothingness" by Supreme Master Ching
Hai.
Ladies and gentlemen, once again, Duy
Quang!...
|