Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
00:06 I. Farewells
04:47 II. The Wait
08:43 III. Village Festival
Pham Truong Son, violin 1; Vu Thi Khanh Linh, violin 2; Do Huong Tra My, viola; Dao Tuyet Trinh, cello
Live performance in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2019; recording courtesy of Song Hong chamber music
Original audio from youtube.com/watch?v=05-bntlVlas, posted by the quartet's first violinist @sonviolin : do take a look at his channel for more performances, including another recording of this quartet. Apologies if you hear the occasional camera clicking noise, as I wasn't able to take it out while cleaning up the audio.
Đỗ Nhuận (1922-1991) was the first formally trained Vietnamese composer of "Western" classical music. He was known for his operas, which included "Cô Sao" ("Miss Sao", 1965/1976), the first opera written by a Vietnamese composer, as well as for his support of the communist independence coalition Việt Minh - many of his works had a particularly patriotic orientation.
This string quartet, named after a highland region of south-central Vietnam, was written in 1964, the year after the composer concluded his three years of study at the Moscow Conservatory. While not a particularly innovative work in the broader context of its time, it is eminently listenable and represents one of the first attempts to synthesize Vietnamese folk music with the "Western" classical tradition. It also certainly deserves historical recognition as one of the first string quartets written in Vietnamese music (if not *the* first.)
There are a few mistakes in the recording (at least compared to what is in my score), but I suspect these may just be due to the parts used, as the overall performance is of quite good quality.
00:06 I. Farewells
04:47 II. The Wait
08:43 III. Village Festival
Pham Truong Son, violin 1; Vu Thi Khanh Linh, violin 2; Do Huong Tra My, viola; Dao Tuyet Trinh, cello
Live performance in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2019; recording courtesy of Song Hong chamber music
Original audio from youtube.com/watch?v=05-bntlVlas, posted by the quartet's first violinist @sonviolin : do take a look at his channel for more performances, including another recording of this quartet. Apologies if you hear the occasional camera clicking noise, as I wasn't able to take it out while cleaning up the audio.
Đỗ Nhuận (1922-1991) was the first formally trained Vietnamese composer of "Western" classical music. He was known for his operas, which included "Cô Sao" ("Miss Sao", 1965/1976), the first opera written by a Vietnamese composer, as well as for his support of the communist independence coalition Việt Minh - many of his works had a particularly patriotic orientation.
This string quartet, named after a highland region of south-central Vietnam, was written in 1964, the year after the composer concluded his three years of study at the Moscow Conservatory. While not a particularly innovative work in the broader context of its time, it is eminently listenable and represents one of the first attempts to synthesize Vietnamese folk music with the "Western" classical tradition. It also certainly deserves historical recognition as one of the first string quartets written in Vietnamese music (if not *the* first.)
There are a few mistakes in the recording (at least compared to what is in my score), but I suspect these may just be due to the parts used, as the overall performance is of quite good quality.
