Late composer Huy Du

 “When a leaf falls off. It’s not green anymore. But when you leave me, life remains blue…” The beautiful song “Your love” is embedded in the minds of generations of Vietnamese people. But not many people know that composer Huy Du wrote it in the fiercest days of the anti-US war. The song reflects the inner voice of a soldier to his lover in the rear. Talking about Huy Du, people can recall several heroic and romantic songs, including “Our way”, “We sing on the summit of the Truong Son range” and “Truong Son by night”. Composer Nguyen Thuy Kha said: “Huy Du successfully combined romance and heroism in his music. He set music for one of my poem “An evening without you”. It’s a beautiful song which received compliments from other musicians.”

Born in Bac Ninh province, which is famous for call and response singing, Huy Du grew up with sweet folk songs. He wrote in his memoirs that his home village has the most influence on his songs. With his love for music and the fatherland, Huy Du’s songs inspire an optimistic and passionate spirit. Associate Professor, Doctor Vu Tu Lan shares his feeling: “Huy Du’s legacy is romantic songs and many of them have left a deep impression on the hearts of Vietnamese people. Romanticism is an outstanding character of Huy Du’s music.”

Once being a soldier, Huy Du’s songs were written with his own experience of national resistance wars and life in peace time. He was at the battlefields in Quang Tri province, on the Truong Son range, and on remote islands. Many of his songs, such as “Be Van Dan lives forever”, “Marching with you on the long path”, “Bach Long Vi” island”, and “We are on remote islands”, were spiritual encouragement for soldiers and ordinary people to fight and win. Cao Ngoc Anh from the Youth Theater says: “The slogan “we’ll not return home if there’s an enemy” becomes a persuasive appeal in Huy Du’s song. We freely promote our creativity with his songs. For example the song “He continues marching” has been instrumented with thunderous and boisterous tunes. But it recalls in me the image of soldiers lying on hammocks in Truong Son forests during operations.”

Anyone who knows Huy Du agrees that he is an affectionate and righteous person. His heroic songs also reflect his characteristics. Chairman of the Vietnam Composers’ Association, composer Do Hong Quan says: “His songs are about diverse topics. In the 1960s he had a famous song about Vietnam-China relations. He also had several love songs about the capital city Hanoi.”

Huy Du wrote about 400 songs and symphonies which have had deep impact on the musical and cultural life of Vietnamese people.