(19 94 ) for discussion o f 'Chinese revolutionary folk song' (gem in g m inge) and Slobin (19 96 ) for analysis o f the effects o f com m unism on musical practice in the form er 'East bloc'.
An ex tract from Chu Van's poem The M oon Rem embers Uncle Hb illu strates the rev eren ce to Ho Chi Minh a n d th e p atrio tism evident in m any
re v o lu tio n a ry chau van song texts:
Looking a t th e m o o n I rem em b er th e sm iling face o f uncle Ho, Seeing th e clouds rem in d s me of his grey hair,
The w ind is like his young h an d s stroking the b e ard o f th e re v e red a n d loved uncle Hb.
The young m oon comes o u t early, in th e afternoon. The m oon has w aited for the n ig h t so m any times. Do n o t be sad moon!
Moon, people are busy on th e m ilitary train in g ground, Visit th e com passionate soldiers,
Visit th e villages of th e hom eland,
W here th e people are, the m oon will follow.
Follow th e footsteps o f uncle Hb a n d w rite a people's poem; A h a p p y poem full of th e sentim ents o f uncle Hb.
Like chau van b an d s a t len dong, the in stru m en tal ensem bles u sed for re v o lu tio n ary chau van usually include th e m oon lute a n d a set o f chau van p ercu ssio n (phach, thanh la, canh, trong). Occasionally, o th e r p itc h e d
in stru m e n ts - such as th e tw o-stringed fiddle (dan nhi) a n d m o n o ch o rd (dan bau) - an d a d d itio n al percussion in stru m ents are also used. The only
sig n ificant difference in in stru m e n ta tio n co m p ared w ith chau van b an d s th a t p e rfo rm a t len dong ritu als is the use, in some rev o lu tio n ary chau van ensem bles, o f a group o f fem ale singers who sing in unison.
The m ain m usical differences betw een chau van p erfo rm ed a t len dong ritu als a n d re v o lu tio n a ry chau van are in the following th re e areas:
1) R epertoire
Only a lim ited n u m b e r o f th e m ain chau van songs are in clu d ed as p a rt o f re v o lu tio n a ry chau van songscapes. The songs used m ost freq u en tly are BT, Doc, Cdn (Day Lech), Cheo Do, Nhjp Mot, Xa (Thifdng) an d Phu (Binh). D ifferences betw een songs o f th e sam e m elody group (e.g. Cdn Day Lech a n d Cdn Luy§n Tam Tang) are ig n o red by rev o lu tio n ary chau van, w hich usually uses a single in v a ria n t m elody for each group. The revo lutio n ary chau van piece Nam Djnh, My Home Town (CD#13), for instance, consists of a suite of songs, Bi, Doc, Com, a n d Xa. The im p o v e rish m e n t of the chau van rep erto ire is in p a rt d u e to th e lim ited know ledge of some rev o lu tion ary chbu van m usicians. But it is also p a rt of th e ethos o f refo rm ed trad itio n al musics, like rev o lu tio n ary chau van, to co n cen trate on a few o u tstan d in g features th a t identify th e genre, ra th e r th a n its subtleties. In such a way 'precious h eritag e' (von quy) is red efin ed to su it th e rev o lu tio n ary socialist agenda. A dvocates o f
re v o lu tio n a ry chau van p o in t o u t the "lyrical11 a n d "gracious" n a tu re o f Cc/n, th e "confidence" o f the Phu melodies, the "happiness" a n d "liveliness" of Nhip Mot a n d Xa ThUdng a n d the "danceable rhythm s" of Cheo Do (Bui Dinh Thao a n d Nguyln Quang Hai 1996:198). This is n o t so m uch a t odds w ith m eanings th a t m ay be assigned to th e chau van rep ertoire, ra th e r it is lim ited a n d selective. In keeping w ith the rev o lu tio n ary spirit, the p a lette o f chau van songs is c o n strain e d a n d in te rp re te d in a one-sided m a n n er so as to bring o u t positive a n d h a p p y elem ents. In contrast, m ore am biguous o r negative aspects o f chau van are re -in te rp re te d o r excluded. For instance, 'sa d ' songs such as Phu Giau an d Ccm Oan are n ev er in clu d ed in th e re v o lu tio n ary chau van rep erto ire, a n d th e only Phti m elody th a t is norm ally in clu d ed as p a rt of re v o lu tio n a ry chau van, Phu Binh, no longer conveys th e strictn ess a n d sev erity of feu d al au th o rity .
2) S tru ctu re o f rev o lu tio n ary chau van suites
The songs u sed in rev o lu tion ary chau van suites are n o t o rd e re d according to th e id e n tity of spirits a n d the actions o f m edium s. R evolutionary chau van suites th erefo re ignore th e ways o f constructing chau van songscapes as they o ccu r in len dong. For instance, Cdn a n d X& melodies, w hich w ould n ev er be h e a rd in th e sam e songscape du rin g a l§n dong, are o ften p e rfo rm ed in the sam e suite.
The c o n stru ctio n o f rev o lu tio n ary chau van suites is d riv en by p u rely m usical factors, ra th e r th a n ritu a l practice (p.c. Nguyln The Tuyen, May
1998). This is ev id en t in two ways. First, th e suites a tte m p t to en cap su late th e 'essence' a n d 'd iv ersity ' o f chau van by in co rp o rating a c o n tra stin g ran g e o f chau van songs (bearing in m ind the im p o v erish m ent o f th e re p e rto ire discussed above). T herefore, m any o f th e pieces of th e rev o lu tio n a ry chau van re p e rto ire are play ed in every suite. Second, stru c tu ra l p a tte rn s w hich build to a 'climax' are favoured.21 Nam Dinh, My Home Town (CD#13), fo r instance, begins w ith th e u n m e tre d BT m elody a n d g radually increases in tem po du rin g th e Doc, Cdn a n d X£ m elodies. As th e Xa m elodies are am ong th e m ost 'lively' chau van melodies, they are o ften u sed as a 'ro u sin g ' finale to suites. D uring th e final p hrase o f Nam Dinh, My Home Town, th e re is a d ram atic rita rd a n d o w hich m arks the e n d o f th e suite. This
21 In som e revolutionary chau van suites the structural pattern o f building to a climax