Emeritus Ha Thi Cau sang her composition "Theo Dang tron doi" (Following the Party for the whole life)

In her last years, Cau was still sound in mind and was regularly invited to perform Xam. Her face was seamed with winkles by old age and hardship, but when she sang and played the monochord, her voice seemed unaffected by time.

Emeritus artist Ha Thi Cau was born in 1921 to an extremely poor family in Nam Dinh province. At an early age, she followed her parents as they wandered from town to town singing for money. Xam lyrics and the music of her parents’ generation was absorbed in her heart and mind. Mrs. Cau’s performance reflected her love for her homeland and family, her views and experience of life, and her passion for Xam singing. She didn’t know how to read and write but she remembered the lyrics of hundreds of songs.

Listening to her parents singing, she tried her best to remember scores of folk songs. Musician Thao Giang says: “We often think a talent should enter international competitions. She never competed in any contest, but she was popular with the public over a long period. Mrs. Cau could sing, play the monochord, and write songs. Her performances were welcomed anywhere she went. She could bring out the essence of Xam singing.”

Lương Đình Dũng, director of a documentary film about Mrs. Cau’s life, said that Mrs. Cau’s Xam singing had huge value in times of war, trouble, sadness, and poverty. The 35-minute film cannot fully capture Cau’s life or all the artistic values of Xam singing Cau accumulated throughout her life.

During the years spent collecting material for the film and meeting with Mrs. Cau, Dung listened to her singing and gained an insight into Xam songs. He realized that the deep feeling in her singing derived from her witness of life’s upheavals. “Xam is a precious musical genre. Cau experienced many ups and downs over nearly a century. She reflected all of this in her music. Her life reflects one historical period of the nation and shows us, for example, how Xam singers were regarded in the old regime.” Dung says.

Folklorists say Vietnam’s northern delta has three traditional musical genres: Ca Tru – ceremonial singing, Cheo – popular opera, and Xam. Mrs. Cau influenced the development of all three genres. Ha Thi Cau was granted the honorary titles of People’s Artist and Emeritus Artist in 1993, and received VOV’s Certificate of Merit and the special prize for “Cheo artist of Ninh Binh province” at the national festival of Tuong and Cheo singing. In 2008, she was given the Dao Tan award for her contributions to preserving folklore art.