Ong Giong (Suite in Six Chapters)

Annotation — North Vietnamese Songs

Recorded on the Dihavina record label (# NDS 0002) in 1969 (unknown release date), originally the state label of North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) before reunification in 1975. Produced and issued in Former Czechoslovakia. It contained a couple songs focussing on South Vietnam: "To Remember the South" and "For the South". The first track featured a suite telling a story, split into six chapters, starting out in the Phu Dong Village, followed by the "invaders". It then notes "Fighting Against Invaders", followed by "Triumph".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Notes

Dihavina NDS 0002, stereo, 33 rpm, black-and-silver labels "Nhà Xuất Bản Văn Hóa – Hà Nội Việt Nam", "Made in Czechoslovakia". The front cover ("Cánh chim và ánh sáng mặt trời – Hòa tấu nhạc dân tộc / Bird-Wing and Sunshine – Concert of Traditional Music") is a painting of a magenta sun among clouds above radiating red, pink and yellow diamonds, signed and dated 1979. Side A opens with the suite "Ong Giong" (Tổ khúc Ông Gióng) in six chapters – Phu Dong Village, An Invaders, Mother and Son, Forge, Fighting against Invaders, Triumph – composed by Nguyễn Xuân Khoát and conducted by Trần Quý, followed by "The Clear Canal" (Hoàng Đạm) and the title piece (Xuân Hòa), conducted by Nguyễn Chính; side B has "To Remember to the South", "The Dawn on the Mountainous Region", "Suite of Folk-Music: Lưu Thủy – Kim Tiền", "Crop Tale" and "For the South", with soloists Đinh Thìn (bamboo flute), Phương…

About the artist

The central orchestra of traditional Vietnamese music, Hanoi.

Themes

Vietnamese Perspective · Vietnamese Patriotic

In collections

North Vietnamese Songs