Appendix 6 - International Music Council

iii. As I have said, in the conditions of recent society, all most traditional
musical genres lost own former inherent social “environment” from which they
were born and for which they have existed and developed. The young
generations, therefore, have not opportunaties to practise traditional music
in its living forms and social contexts
8. Bring to light those good practices and actions that need to be
strengthened and widely practised in this field.
RESPONSE: I am sorry
that I have not such international view. I can give only
some events in my country:
i. There is in the curriculum of musical educational institutions a section
for the traditional music of Asian countries.
ii. We send teachers of Vietnamese traditional music to teach in
conservatories of some countries such as Thailand, Laos, Sweden.
iii. I have presented the traditional music of Vietnam’s ethnic
groups in
som e international musical workshops held in Thailand, Japan, Southern Korea,
China, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, India, USA and mainly held by ICM, ICTM,
APSE (Asian-Pacific Society for Ethnomusicologists) and participated in long
term (1989-1997) Music Program held by the ACCU (Asian-Pacific Cultural
Centre for UNESCO-Japan) .
iv. Now Vietnam’s Government subsidises the “Comparing Musical
Program” between Vietnam and Laos for collection, comparing studies on
traditional musics of ethnic minorities living on each side of the borders of our
two countries.
In order to overcome this chalenge, we applied some solutions as follow:
+ Restore and turn into recent life some selected available cultural
activities or expressions in which musical genre is unseparated component to
create socio-musical environment .For example: Restore the competitional
boat race
by rowing which before was a cultural activity in village’s springtime
cerem ony for praying prosperity. At rowing the rowers which are the young
people sing traditional rowing song cycle. By that manner, the traditional
rowing song was revitalized and came to the young people not only like an
artistic-musical item performed on the stage but also appeared as a real image
of a living tradition. Other example: In the past, the courtship love song
alternating
singing between girls and boys was often used in springtime
ceremonies
as a symbol of combination between male and female
elements
made as a magical action. Now we restore the springtime ceremony
which we realize mainly as a cultural festivity (before this was sacred-religious
action to pray for prosperity). And the alternating competitional
singing
between girls and boys also takes place. In our experiences these forms of
activity attracted the young people and create them the excitement.
+ Using the artistic nature of traditional
musical genres as an attractive
factor to encourage the young people learn and take part into the competitions
of traditional musics organized annually in the village, between two neibouring
villages, in distric and provincial levels.The Union
of Vietnames Women has
organized a campaign among its members to use lullaby in lulling own baby to
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