Landscapes of Time

Contemporary sound art of Vietnam: evocative images and haunting effects that stay with the listener. New directions in sound art with Vietnamese colour, drawn from poems, ideas and spirituality.

Lê Tuấn Hùng dan tranh (vietnamese zither), suling (balinese flute), electronic crickets, voice, bells, mo (temple block), dan nguyet (vietnamese moon-lute), wind chimes, plastic wind roarer, ocarina
Dang Kim Hien dan tranh (vietnamese zither), electronic crickets, voice, dan bau (vietnamese monochord), amplified throat voice, phach tre (bamboo block), dua tre (bamboo chopsticks)

Lê Tuấn Hùng composer
Dang Kim Hien composer

Landscapes of Time gathers works that open new paths in contemporary sound art while keeping a clear Vietnamese musical colour. Modes, traditional instruments and improvisation carry that tradition openly. At the same time the music presses outward: new techniques on familiar instruments, fresh ideas of structure and texture, and borrowed means such as Balinese flute, Latin American rain stick, Tibetan and Mongolian harmonic singing, and new technologies. Even throat-voice singing without opening the mouth appears among the performing methods. The feelings and ideas in each piece shaped which sounds the composers chose.

Lê Tuấn Hùng and Dang Kim Hien join virtuoso performance and scholarly work in Vietnamese folk and classical music with a strong interest in contemporary forms. Their pieces, which stretch the edges of sound while retaining Vietnamese colour, mark a distinct line in contemporary sound art. All works were recorded in Melbourne in 1996.

Reviews

... the prize (is) 'Webs of Life' which wanders gently through many different sonic areas

— Experimental Musical Instruments

Artists

Lê Tuấn Hùng

Lê Tuấn Hùng is a composer, performer and author, specialising in Vietnamese music and the experimental music of contemporary Australia. He has written widely on Vietnamese performing arts and is regarded as an international authority in Vietnamese musicology.

Dang Kim Hien

Dang Kim Hien is a composer and virtuoso performer of both traditional and contemporary Vietnamese music. She taught for fourteen years at the Department of Traditional Music of the Conservatory of Music in Saigon.

Audio preview

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Tracks

Calm Water Lê Tuấn Hùng 7:16
Longing for the Wind Lê Tuấn Hùng 7:22
Improvisation on Sa Mac Mode Lê Tuấn Hùng Dang Kim Hien 6:48
Inspiration on a South Vietnamese Folk Melody Dang Kim Hien 9:54
Silent Tears Dang Kim Hien 10:34
Webs of Life Lê Tuấn Hùng Dang Kim Hien 15:20

Performers

Lê Tuấn Hùng · dan tranh (vietnamese zither), suling (balinese flute), electronic crickets, voice, bells, mo (temple block), dan nguyet (vietnamese moon-lute), wind chimes, plastic wind roarer, ocarina
Dang Kim Hien · dan tranh (vietnamese zither), electronic crickets, voice, dan bau (vietnamese monochord), amplified throat voice, phach tre (bamboo block), dua tre (bamboo chopsticks)

Where to listen

Landscapes of Time is available for streaming through Spotify and Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.

Landscapes of Time is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.