Vietnamese Composer: Anh Việt Thu

Anh Việt Thu [1940-1974/1975] was born as Huỳnh Hữu Kim Sang in Mỹ Tho, Vietnam.  A couple of sources claimed that he passed away in 1975, while a few others claimed 1974 as the year of death.  Thus, the exact date is not known, but it was prior to the ending of the Vietnam War. It could also be that he passed away in late 1974, not very long before the Vietnam War ended. Due to this historical event, this talented songwriter and his name didn't receive the recognition and fame that he should be entitled to and well-deserved.  A true talent in Vietnam music who was taken from us too soon. If any of my AMP friends who happen to know the exact date of Anh Việt Thu's departure, please share with me.  Anh Việt Thu was married to Trần Nữ Hiệp. They had one son, Việt Bằng.

The origin of Anh Việt Thu's pseudonym is interesting to me.  Anh Việt Thu had a younger  brother by the name of Việt Thu, whom he loved dearly and took well care of. "Anh" in Vietnamese means "older brother." Thus,  "Anh Việt Thu," in this sense, means Việt Thu's older brother.  Anh Việt Thu came up with this pseudonym as a reminder to himself that he is the responsible older brother of Việt Thu. And that is according to Vũ Anh Sương, Anh Việt Thu's poetry friend.

Most of Anh Việt Thu's folk/country songs are not complicated to comprehend.  The lyrics are tender, very "down-to-earth" and full of love and affection for his war-torn country, Vietnam.  I featured a very beautiful song from this young composer, "Tám Điệp Khúc," on my YouTube channel.  It just happens to be one of his "harder to comprehend" songs, well, to me it is, but "Tám Điệp Khúc" is indeed one of my all-time favorite Vietnamese folk/country songs.  Anh Việt Thu wrote less than 20 songs, a combination of love songs and folk/country songs; however, most of them were well-received and recorded by many well-known artists of yesterday and today, i. e. Duy Khánh, Nhật Trường (Trần Thiện Thanh), Thanh Tuyền, Hoàng Oanh, and Lệ Thu, etc., particularly the featured song, which was recorded by all these famous Vietnamese artists (of my parents' generation).

Before I did my research on this songwriter, whenever I listened to this song, there's one sentence in it: "Anh nhớ thương em từng giờ" (or "I miss you every hour of the day") that I kept wondering where did it come from because the entire song, he seemed to praise his love for the Mother of Vietnam or Vietnam the Country itself.  However, this one sentence is indicating how he missed his "lover/sweetheart" every hour of the day. After completing my research, I then learned that this song originally started out as a love song, based on his own love story, but because his love for his country/the Mother of Vietnam was so strong that he ended up combining the two together and came up with such beautiful melody and heart-warming lyrics for this song.

"Giòng An Giang," written in his late teens, is another masterpiece from Anh Việt Thu. It's also one of my favorite songs from this beloved songwriter [See the attached Video Response by daulao on YouTube]. Anh Việt Thu's other well-known and well-loved songs include "Đa Tạ," "Hai Vì Sao Lạc," "Người Đi Ngoài Phố," and "Như Giọt Sầu Rơi."

To watch my upload of "Tám Điệp Khúc," click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjnq73HZBTE

To watch daulao's upload of "Giòng An Giang" (performed by Ánh Tuyết), click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZAmxIL1SZ0

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