The Nine Dragons for Vietnamese Zither (Đàn Tranh) or Fixed Media and Orchestra

I composed The Nine Dragons as an homage to the Mekong River and other all suffering rivers of our time.

The Mekong River flows through Tibet, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and reaches the sea through the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. In the Delta, the river is separated into nine estuaries, which the Vietnamese reverently refer to as “the Nine Dragons.”

Centuries ago, when the Mekong Delta was still an untamed and mysterious jungle, the earliest settlers from North and Central Vietnam, along with other adventurers from distant lands, courageously came to reclaim this uncharted territory. They faced the dangerous crocodiles, snakes, and tigers, struggling to build a new life on the treacherous waters of the Mekong River. This arduous journey taught them to foster diverse cultures. Gradually, the Nine Dragons bless these pioneers with a new life of prosperity and liberty.

However, during the last decades, the Nine Dragons endure unprecedented droughts and salinity intrusion, inflicted by climate change and upstream hydropower dams. Our cherished rice and fruits wither. The glorious past of the Delta seems to be fading as the current misery deepens. With a heavy heart, I composed this work.

This orchestral work begins with the beautiful sounds of the Đàn Tranh (Vietnamese zither) that plays fragments from “Tứ Đại Oán” (The Four Great Resentments), a renowned repertoire from the South Vietnamese chamber music tradition, Đờn Ca Tài Tử [Music of the Talented]. Then, with allusions to the pentatonic Oán mode, the orchestra sets the backdrop for a land untamed and fraught with danger, as described by this poignant folk poem:

Tới đây xứ sở lạ lùng,

Con chim kêu cũng sợ, con cá vùng cũng kinh.

[We] came to this unknown land,

Frightened by a trilling bird and terrified of a leaping fish.

The piece then features a lively rhythm, reminiscent of a Mekong Delta folk wedding song, “Lý Ngựa Ô” (Song about a Black Horse). Here, the excitement of a groom preparing a robust black horse to bring his bride home is entwined with the gentle flows of the Mekong. As the composition reaches its climax, it revisits previous musical themes in a reverse, relatively symmetrical order, guiding us back to the fragments of “Tứ Đại Oán” played by the Đàn Tranh, now joined by the poignant clarinet. This composition juxtaposes the lament for the river’s decline, the proud history of our ancestors who bravely reclaimed this land with optimism, and the memories of the Nine Dragons when they were most generous and nurturing.