Hue is not famous for only royal tombs, temples and fascinating dishes. Hue also owning a sweet melody of the art form has been recognized as a World Heritage, which is Hue Royal Court Music.
Long time ago, Hue was known as a favorite destination of Vietnam. Moreover, Hue was also one of the most attractive destinations in Vietnam according to the international friends’ evaluation. Hue Royal Court music is a Royal music genre, previously only been performing for royalty. Following to archived documents, Nha Nhac (Vietnam Royal Court music) appeared firstly from the 13th century, but only reached the level of virtuosity under the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945). Nguyen Imperial regulated seven types of music, similar to the category of the Le Dynasty, including: “Giao” music, “Mieu” music, “ Ngu tu” music, “Đai trieu” music, “Thuong trieu” musical, “Yen” music, “Cung trung” music.
Under Nguyen Dynasty, Court music is used twice a month in the Great ceremonies and four times a month in Annual ceremonies, including Nam Giao, Tich Dien, Birthday of King and Queen as well as unusual ceremonies, namely coronation, the funeral of the king and queen, welcoming the ambassador. Depending on the offerings, different genres of Court music was performed, such as “Dai trieu” music often used during the Lunar New Year Ceremony.The first theatre opened to perform Court Music is Duyet Thi Duong. This space was built approximately 200 years ago, under the Nguyen Dynasty. In late 2003 , when the Hue Royal Court Music was recognized as an UNESCO ‘s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Duyet Thi Duong became an interesting destination for ancient music lovers.So far, the theater has held thousands of concerts, collected and restored 8 out of 11 ancient dances, and more 40 pieces of Court music.A show usually does not last too long, only about 30-40 minutes, enough to introduce visitors to the sweet melody of court music.
