According to music composer Dang Hoanh Loan, project team leader, to recognise an art form as a masterpiece of humankind, it must meet the three criteria. First, it must have a long and distinguished history, but is now on the brink of extinction. Second, it must have real value as a masterpiece. And third, the nation of the art form must love and want to preserve and develop it.

“Researchers have said that Ca Tru deserves to be a masterpiece of the intangible cultural heritage of humankind,” said Mr Loan. “The art form is said to have appeared in the country in the 15^th century, marked by Ca Tru singing contests. Some other research projects showed that it began to flourish in the Ly Dynasty, or about 1,000 years ago, when the King decided to establish first ensembles, including Ca Tru performances. Later, the art was performed at ceremonies from north to south.”

Ca Tru requires at least three performers. The singer is always a woman and plays the phach, an instrument made of wood or bamboo that is beaten with two wooden sticks. To accompany the singer, a musician plays the dan day, a long-necked lute with three silk strings and 10 frets. There is also a drummer or trong chau. The drummer shows his approval of the singer or the songs depending on how he hits the drum. If he likes the song he might hit the side of the drum several times. If he is disappointed with the singer, he hits the drum twice.

“To prepare documents, we have collected ancient calligraphy, books and newspapers, particularly approximately 4,000 pages of documents on Ca Tru written in Han Nom (Chinese-Vietnamese) scripts,” said Mr Loan. “We planned to conduct a fact-finding tour of 15 cities and provinces across the country.”

Over the past seven months, team members have travelled to 10 cities and provinces, found and recorded audio and visual tapes to be used as valuable materials to justify the Vietnamese case.

Mr Loan said team members will travel to the last five cities and provinces this year to explore more findings about the art form and complete visual files illustrating the performing skills of performers. They will organise an international conference for researchers and leaders to share experiences and reach a consensus on this form of Vietnamese chamber music genre.

In addition, audiences will have a chance to enjoy a gala night featuring 30 melodies of Ca Tru performances, which have been preserved.

In 2005, Cong Chieng (Gong) of the Central Highlands was recognised by UNESCO as a masterpiece of the oral and intangible cultural heritage of humankind. The Ministry of Culture and Information is finalising dossiers to request Quan Ho folksongs of the northern province of Bac Ninh be recognised as a World Cultural Heritage.