Recorded by the Popebama Duo at Florida State University (FSU) in 2023. Elected final selection of SCI Super Regional Summer Mixtape 2023.
I composed The Boat and the Sea as a celebration of my first love. This piece is inspired by a poem by Xuân Quỳnh (1942–88), one of the most well-known female poets in Vietnam since the twentieth century. Her poem, “Thuyền và Biển” [The Boat and the Sea], is a love letter that describes a woman’s heart through several stages of love. At first, she is a mysterious sea, so enticing yet far away. Then, as her heart grows fonder, she is like gentle ripples, but some other times, she becomes vehement waves that push the boat for no reason. And if she is ever separated from her love, all that remains in her are tumultuous storms.
Below is the original poem by Xuân Quỳnh and my English translation.
Thuyền và Biển
Em sẽ kể anh nghe
Chuyện con thuyền và biển:
“Từ ngày nào chẳng biết
Thuyền nghe lời biển khơi
Cánh hải âu, sóng biếc
Đưa thuyền đi muôn nơi
Lòng thuyền nhiều khát vọng
Và tình biển bao la
Thuyền đi hoài không mỏi
Biển vẫn xa… còn xa
Những đêm trăng hiền từ
Biển như cô gái nhỏ
Thầm thì gửi tâm tư
Quanh mạn thuyền sóng vỗ
Cũng có khi vô cớ
Biển ào ạt xô thuyền
(Vì tình yêu muôn thuở
Có bao giờ đứng yên?)
Chỉ có thuyền mới hiểu
Biển mênh mông nhường nào
Chỉ có biển mới biết
Thuyền đi đâu, về đâu
Những ngày không gặp nhau
Biển bạc đầu thương nhớ
Những ngày không gặp nhau
Lòng thuyền đau – rạn vỡ
Nếu từ giã thuyền rồi
Biển chỉ còn sóng gió”
Nếu phải cách xa anh
Em chỉ còn bão tố.
The Boat and the Sea
I will tell you a story
About the Boat and the Sea:
“Since an unknown time,
The Boat listened to the Sea
The seagulls and blue waves
Guided the Boat to many places.
The Boat’s heart brimmed with passion,
And the Sea’s love was immense.
Tirelessly the Boat sailed on,
Yet the Sea remained so far, far beyond.
On gentle moonlit nights,
The Sea was a little girl,
Whispering out her heart and soul
Like lulling waves that lapped the Boat.
Sometimes, without reasons,
The Sea vehemently swept the Boat
(Because, since ancient times of old,
Has Love ever stood still?)
Only the Boat could see
How tremendous was the Sea
Only the Sea could know
Where the Boat would go.
The days they were apart,
The Sea’s hair turned silver with longing.
The days they were apart,
The Boat’s heart broken with aching.
If the Sea were apart from the Boat,
All she would have left is storms.”
If I were ever torn from you,
Only tempests within me would brew.
In the performers’ score, I quote several lines from the poem at the beginning of each musical section to suggest the desired characteristics of the music. Several extended techniques for the alto saxophone and percussion imitate sounds from the ocean, such as winds, storms, moving sand, the seagulls’ chirping, and whales’ vocalization. For the electronic percussion, I use the recordings from A Collection of Sounds from the Sea on the website of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) as the sound samples.
Here’s the perusal score, which is slightly adjusted to better suit the video format.