Mai Van Chung (Van Chung, 1914-1984)

Musician Mai Van Chung, whose pen name was Van Chung, was born in 1914 in Hanoi. His native land was Cong Van, Tan Hung commune in Tien Lu district.

Van Chung was one of typical composers of Vietnam’s modern music. His first work - “Tieng sao chan trau” (The flute of herdsman) in 1935 was one of the first works of Vietnam’s modern music.

From 1935 to August 1945, he composed about 30 songs and pieces of music for traditional music instruments such as “Ben ho lieu” (Near the lake with willow trees in 1936), “Bong ai qua them” (Someone passing by in 1937) and “Ho xuan va thieu nu” (Lake in the spring and girl in 1939), etc…

By self-learning, he mastered music instruments and composed modern songs. He was also one of founders of TRICEA publishing house, which printed and distributed Vietnam’s new songs to avoid the influence of foreign music and key artists of the theatre company established by The Lu (1943). 

After the August Revolution, he worked in the Vietnam Radio Station (the Voice of Vietnam). During the resistance war, he joined the artist group in the base, then was in charge of the army entertainment and singing group and then moved to the Politburo’s cultural and artistic troupe. Some of his well-known songs in the duration of the resistance war against French invaders were “Ho dan cong” (The song of labor in 1947) and “An no danh thang” (Yielding and victory in 1954).

He made a great contribution to set a poem to music for the song “Doi anh ve” (Wait for me - Poem of Ximonop and translated by To Huu).

After the Northern Liberation year of 1954, he worked for the Ministry of Culture and composed a number of songs on the socialist construction cause, including “Ba co gai dam” (Three capable girls in 1963), “Cay lua thang hang” (Cultivating rice in rows in 1966), “Cay lua xuan (Cultivating Spring rice in 1971), “Bai ca tren duong thong nhat” (Reunification song), “Tung buoc di vung chac” (Steady steps) and “Bac Ho doi doi song mai” (Uncle Ho will live forever), etc. Moreover, he also composed songs for children such as “Ly and Sao”. In 1964, he was the director of National Opera and Symphony Theater. He died on 27^th August 1984 in Hanoi at the age of 70. After 50 years of artistic creation, musician Van Chung left us a number of songs for children and symphonies.