Nhã Nhạc, Vietnamese Court Music
Also known as Vietnamese Court Music, Huế Court Music, Hue Court Music, Nhã Nhạc Cung Đình Huế
Vietnam's elegant court music transformed ceremony into a precisely ordered sound world of drums, winds, strings and royal dance.
Origins and context
Nhã Nhạc developed as court music serving Vietnamese royal ritual rather than as a community folk genre. Although its development predates the Nguyễn capital at Huế, the Huế court became the principal setting in which the surviving tradition was formalized.
The sound
Characteristics
- Kèn bầu oboe
- đàn tỳ bà lute
- đàn nguyệt lute
- đàn tam lute
- đàn nhị fiddle
- Sáo bamboo flute
- Large ceremonial drums
- Gongs and percussion
- Formal court dance
History
Nhã Nhạc, literally 'elegant music', refers to musical and dance traditions performed at Vietnamese royal courts from approximately the fifteenth century onward. UNESCO identifies the Lê dynasty period, beginning in 1427, as an important phase in its development. The music accompanied coronations, anniversaries, religious observances, funerals, receptions and other ceremonies associated with the monarchy. Nhã Nhạc became especially institutionalized and codified under the Nguyễn dynasty, which ruled from Huế between 1802 and 1945. Court ensembles included numerous percussion, wind and string instruments, while musicians and dancers followed carefully defined ritual procedures. The abolition of the monarchy and decades of warfare severely weakened the tradition, but former court musicians and cultural institutions in Huế preserved important repertories. UNESCO proclaimed Nhã Nhạc a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003 and incorporated it into the Representative List in 2008.
Notable artists
- HTHue Traditional Art Troupe
- TKTran Kich
Essential listening
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