Vietnam Travel – Quan Ho Love Songs

Quan Ho, a style of traditional singing in which men and women perform duets, is an artform unique to Kinh Bac province in northern Vietnam. Performers who are members of the same Quan Ho band often form lifelong friendships, as they spend a lot of time practicing together. members of different bands only sing together during singing contests, which take place each year during the spring festival.

Being a professional Quan Ho singer, or “traditional music artist”, requires total dedication to this art, Remarkably, according to an age-old custom, couples united in friendship by this art are not permitted to marry. Viet Vision Travel provides wide range of Vietnam Travel Deals for your trips.

This taboo stems from common since. When people fall in love they experience a time of great passion. But marriage is another story, as couples are suddenly faced with the trails of real life, from earning a living to raising small children. There are thousands of possible sources of conflict and o couple that is bickering will not sing convincingly about love. Unlike other forms of traditional singing in Vietnam, Quan Ho depends on improvisation. The best performers are those who engage in witty and passionate banter.

It is a sad fact of life that familiarity can lead to boredom. By preventing Quan Ho singing partners from marrying their friendships remains fresh. As artists, they are more likely to feel inspired.

Naturally, since marriage between members of the same Quan Ho band was forbidden, so was sexual love. Traditional Quan Ho Love song should be great cultural supplement for your Vietnam Travel trips.

Since romantic love is not an option, Quan Ho singers tend to have unique relationships. It could be said that these men and women are united by a sacred “artistic love”, which allows them to create passionate new verses. This accounts for the great variety of Quan Ho songs, with artists constantly adapting and expanding their repertoire. To date, about 300 of these romantic ditties have recorded.

The Lim Festival has always been celebrated through many traditional games, such as swinging, human chess, wrestling, cock fighting and even a rice-cooking competition. But the quan ho folk song performances remain the most striking feature of the festival.
Quan ho singers from 26 villages sang songs about love and desire while atop the hills, indoors or floating along the village waterways.
Female singers wore colourful tu than (four-lapped dresses), while the men donned traditional costumes of their own.
Originating in Bac Ninh Province around the 13th century, quan ho is an antiphonal singing tradition in which men and women take turns singing in a call and response pattern.
The quan ho style of singing is currently being reviewed by UNESCO for consideration as a Humanitarian Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage.

Since late August, we have adjusted the content, especially after we received the National Heritage Council’s opinions. The adjustment is not simply the change from “Quan Ho cultural space” to “Quan Ho folk singing”. We made adjustments a long time ago when we learned about UNESCO’s new standards and new form of recognition.
In the past, UNESCO recognised intangible and unwritten cultural heritages of mankind. Accordingly, UNESCO could recognise sets of cultural elements in a space, but now they ask for submissions of specific heritages to avoid submissions for sets of cultural elements in an overly-large geographical region.
The National Heritage Council didn’t say much about the name of the documents, but focused on what we should call it, Quan Ho Bac Ninh or only Quan ho. If we call the heritage Quan Ho Bac Ninh it will be difficult for the agency that considers the documents because Quan Ho is also in Bac Giang.

The one-day festival, which takes place on the 13th day of the first lunar month which falls on March 1 this year on Lim Hill, 30km north of Hanoi, embraces Quan Ho singing, processions and folk games.
Quan ho ringers from 26 villages will sing songs about love and desire at four camps on the hill. Female singers will wear colourful Tu Than (four-lapped dress) while men will don their own traditional costumes.
Three days before the Lim festival the province’s Culture and Information Department hosted a Quan Ho singing contest to choose the best singers to perform on the festival’s centre stage. The competition drew more than 100 amateur and professional vocalists.
Originating in Bac Ninh around the 13th century, Quan Ho is an antiphonal singing tradition in which men and women take turns singing in a call and response pattern.
According to the director of the Lim festival’s steering committee, Nguyen Minh Hai, there are more folk games planned than previous festivals.
Apart from familiar games such as freestyle wrestling and cock fighting, festival goers can enjoy writing by young calligraphers from Hanoi and take part in tug of war, a rice-cooking contest, human chess and blindman’s buff.
This year modern games and food stalls will be barred from the festival centre and the main road leading to Lim Hill.