Artists’ Expressions

Ba Quan Mời Trầu
a Folk song of Quan họ, Bắc Ninh Province

Ba quan một chiếc là chiếc thuyền nan
Có về là về với hội
có gái ngoan, gái ngoan tầm chồng ố mới dẫu tình rằng
anh cả anh hai đây đấy ơi
cô cả cô hai đây đấy ơi …
[Verses: Three kwan get you a small boat,
If you plan to go to the Lim festival,
there are sweet damsels with no companions… if romance is fated
Oh big lads and young lads…
Ah big girls and young gals …]

Western notation is not ENOUGH!

Western well-tempered musical notation is inadequate to represent most world folk music. Playing Vietnamese folk music on a piano does not sound satisfying.

And what makes each artist unique:

We compare phrase by phrase of a song which are sung by two groups of artists.