It can be said that Xoan singing is still engraved in the memory of folk artists who up to now can perform it in the communal house whenever having the festival. Previously, the Xoan singing belonged to fourvillages , An Thái, Thét, Phù Đức and Kim Đái of Hạc Trì district, Phú Thọ province. After the innovation, An Thái village belongs to Phượng Lâu, Việt Trì city, and Thét, Phú Đức and Kim Đáivillages belong to Kim Đức, Phù Ninh district, Phú Thọ province. According to folk artists, of those fourvillages , the singing style of Xoan accompany of An Thái village is similar to that of Thét village and Phù Đức village similar to Kim Đái. However, it is the difference of order of repertoire, words and the number of dancer, etc, that also creates the own style of each village.

In 1998, together with the establishment of the club of Xoan singing in Kim Đức communes and An Thái village, Phượng Lâu commune brought about new vitality for Xoan singing. The generation of elderly folk artists in the old days always tried their best to hand down offspring compositions in the old style ofsinging in the activity of Club. On the last August 18th, People’s Committee of Kim Đức commune opened a festival of Xoan singing competition to rise up the passion and pride of villagers to the special art of the locality. When we coming, villagers of each Xoan village were actively practicing and perfecting compositions to be able to found Xoan accompany of each village according to the policy of the Department of Culture and Information of Phú Phọ province. The concern of authority and enthusiastic contribution of the villagers are good news of art of Xoansinging in today’s life.

Scenes are elaborate and are changed frequently throughout the play. Cai luong is similar to the Western operettas and more easily depicts the inner feelings of the characters. Songs of the Cai luong are based on variations of a limited number, perhaps 20, of tunes with different tempos for particular emotions – this convention permits a composer to choose among 20 variations to express anger, and as many to portray joy.

The principal supporting songs in Cai Luong is the Vong Co (literally, nostalgia for the past). Cai luong owes much of its success to the sweet voices of the cast, much appreciated by the audience. Upon hearing the first bars of the well-loved Vong Co, the audience reacts with gasps of recognition and applause.

The Cai luong performance includes dances, songs, and music; the music originally drew its influences from southern folk music. Since then, the music of Cai luong has been enriched with hundreds of new tunes. A Cai luong orchestra consists mainly of guitars with concave frets, and danakim.

Over the years, Cai luong has experienced a number of changes to become a type of stage performance highly appreciated by the Vietnamese people as well as foreign visitors.

It consists of folk songs with pantomime, intrumental music and dances, combined with instructive or interpretive sketches dealing with stories from legends, poetry, history or even daily life. Also brought into play are acrobatic scenes and magic. Cheo tells tales of chiefs, heroes and lovely maidens and offers an eclectic mix of romance, tragedy and comedy.

Traditionally Cheo was composed orally by anonymous authors. Today’s playwrights compose cheo operas along traditional lines : the characters in the plays sing time-tested popular melodies with words suited to modern circumstances.

The costomes, makeup, gestures and language create typical characters familiar to every member of the audience. The props are simple. As a result, there is a close interchange between the performers and the spectators.

A Cheo play could be put on stage in a large theater, but it could also be performed successfully on one or two bed mats spread in the middle of a communal house with a cast of only three: a hero, a heroine and a clown.

The sound of the Cheo drum has a magical power and upon hearing it, villagers cannot resist coming to see the play. The clown in a cheo play seems to be a supporting role, but actually he or she is very important to the performance. The clowns present a comic portrayal of social life, with ridiculous, satirical words and gestures, they reduce the audience to tears of laughter.

The national Cheo repertoire includes among others Truong Vien, Kim Nhan, Luu Binh – Duong Le, and Quan Am Thi Kinh, which are considered treasures of the traditional stage.

Cheo opera is an integral part of Vietnamese theater and is well-enjoyed by people in both country and town, and by foreign spectators as well. It is particularly relished by foreign tourists and overseas Vietnamese on a visit to their country of origin.

Rarely do the songs express direct feelings towards the child the singer may hold in her arms.

o au o. The lights in Sai Gon are green and red,
The lamps in My Tho are bright and dim,
May you go home to read your books,
I shall wait nine months, I shall wait ten autumns,….

Vietnamese lullabies often consist of two or four six-to-eight meter lines. They are usually based upon a characteristic frame of melody, and use slow, free rhythms. They also contain many inseted words such as “au a”, “o”, “hoi”…

au o. The wooden bridge is bound with nails,
The bamboo bridge is rough and difficult to cross…

As the function of a lullaby song is to make the child slowly fall into sleep, the song is quiet, the tones stretched and melodious. Perhaps that is the reason why there is little dialogue between the mother and the child.

In the autumn wind Mum will lull you to sleep
I sit up during all the five watches of the night…