Teachers love their homeland through songs

Mr. Tran Ngoc Du shared that he never thought he would pursue a musical career in the true sense. After graduating from high school, he decided to do military service. This period of time helped him feel more clearly about his interests and strengths. In 2001, the first thing he did after being discharged from the army was to apply for the Music Department of Hai Duong Pedagogical College. The new environment gave him more conditions to pursue his passion. With the guidance and instruction of his teachers, he gradually "fell in love" with a career in composing. In 2002, he started composing with a song titled "For you".

After graduating, due to a difficult life, Mr. Du had to put aside his passion to focus on working to stabilize his life. In 2017, he returned from Hai Duong City to Thanh Tung Primary School to teach. During this time, he had more time to research and compose. His songs are mainly about love for his homeland, country and humanity. In which, the theme of homeland is always a source of pride, encouragement and endless inspiration for his compositions. Mr. Tran Ngoc Du often depicts his homeland through typical landmarks, images of people, and landscapes that are real, close and full of emotions: The place where I was born, the homeland of storks / Listening to the song, lullaby in my mother's lullaby / The place where I was born, the homeland of rivers / The clear green Cuu An River flows with my childhood ...

Each song composed by Du contains its own story. Among them, the song that brings him the most emotions is "Homeland of the Storks". Du said: "A friend and I have the same musical interests, so we are quite in tune with each other. However, due to a serious illness, he had to stop his passion at a very young age. The lyrics of the song "Homeland of the Storks" are also a poem composed by that friend. To preserve the beautiful memories, I composed, arranged and performed this song myself".

As a teacher, Mr. Du also has special feelings for students and schools. Some of his compositions are liked by many students such as: "Happy School", "I - the teacher", "You are a team member"... Regarding these topics, Mr. Du often uses gentle, emotional melodies. The simple, rustic lyrics clearly express the spirit of "Respecting teachers and valuing education", the role of youth in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland. More specifically, "Happy School" has been used by Thanh Tung Primary School as the school's traditional song: I remember in my heart, the teachings of teachers/ Study hard and be polite, know how to love friends/ Thousands of flowers are good deeds for today to be worthy of being a good student/ Uncle Ho's 5 teachings, I try to practice hard today...

With a deep love for his homeland and country, before major events, Mr. Du spends a lot of time finding inspiration for his compositions. In 2020, when the Covid-19 epidemic broke out, he composed the song "For a safe Hai Duong". This song truly reflects the difficulties and hardships of the forces participating in the fight against the epidemic as well as the dangers of the Covid-19 pandemic. Or before the great sacrifice and loss of his comrades and teammates at Rao Trang 3 Hydropower Plant, Mr. Du wrote the song "Sacred call of the mountains and rivers". With a soulful and profound melody, the song conveys the special feelings of the Vietnamese people to the comrades who heroically sacrificed in the cause of protecting their homeland and the Fatherland.

According to Mr. Du, every time he composes, he often ponders and thinks a lot to come up with good melodies. The lyrics are not only polished and smooth, but also convey the message to the listener. There are songs that he has to revise dozens of times. After completing, Mr. Du consults his colleagues for feedback before mixing and arranging.

To date, Mr. Du has composed about 15 songs. After composing a song, he records it, shoots a video, and releases it on his personal YouTube channel. Thanks to that, the songs are known and loved by many people.

In 2021, at the Campaign for Literary and Artistic Composition on the Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Police Force organized by Hanoi City, the song "Proud to be a Firefighter" by Mr. Du won third prize in the music category, with beautiful lyrics such as: How proud I am to be a firefighter / Calm, positive, brave as Uncle Ho taught / Never back down in difficulty / Danger does not scare us... This is a great encouragement and motivation to help Mr. Du continue to write new compositions.