The quiet night of Chanh Thon village in Van Nhan commune, former Ha Tay province was roused by the sounds of the dan day, trong chau, etc. For a long time, villagers have been familiar with these sounds, which come from the ca tru class held at the village communal house by old craftsmen.

Phuong, 7, was trying to sing a ca tru melody named Bac phan, which requires a high vocal range. Phuong and Oanh are the smallest singsong girls of the ca tru class in Chanh Thon, which is run by three ca tru craftsmen, Nguyen Thi Khuou, 82, Nguyen Thi Vuon, 84, and Nguyen Van Khoai, 83.

The craftsmen learnt ca tru from their elders and now they teach their descendants in the same way. The class gathers both children and adults of up to 50 years old.

“Our class has both old and young learners so we have to organise class in the evening, from 8-10pm,” said Mrs. Vuon.

The three craftsmen teach learners the words, then the melody and finally put everything together to music.

When the class just opened, villages didn’t understand ca tru songs so they didn’t like it, but gradually, villagers have come to understand and love ca tru. Ca tru performances have become an indispensable part of Chanh Thon’s festivals and offerings.

“It is very lucky that my village has three people who still preserve ca tru. If only I was alive now, this reputed profession would have been lost,” said Mrs. Khuou.

Mrs. Khuou learned her first ca tru melodies from her grandmother. When she started the career of a singsong girl, the war broke out and nobody paid attention to ca tru.

The craftsman showed a quire of old, smeared papers and said: “These papers record tens of ca tru songs. I and Vuon have preserved them for nearly 70 years like treasures.”

There were some songs that weren’t written down, but the three craftsmen have tried to remember them and write them down for posterity.

“Ca tru melodies are engrained on my mind so I’m not afraid of losing them. I consider them as my own treasures,” she said.

Before they opened the ca tru class, sometimes these craftsmen gathered to sing for each other and recorded songs on cassettes as a way to lessen their occupational wistfulness.

But Mrs. Khuou’s most valuable treasure at present is her ca tru learners, including her two paternal grandchildren.

“In the past, ca tru was only transferred to descendants but it is different now. I teach ca tru to everyone. I’m trying to pass everything I know to them,” Mrs. Khuou said.

She says she wants to live for three years more to give all of her knowledge of ca tru to the young. She said: “This art requires careful teaching method. I had to learn it for at least three years to be able to sing fairly well. Ca tru is different from cheo and is not as simple as hat xam.”

Ca tru is a strong hope to revive in Chanh Thon carpentry village.