Cao Văn Lầu (22 December 1892 – 13 August 1976), also known as Sáu Lầu (''Lầu the Sixth'' in Vietnamese), was a Vietnamese musician. He was the original composer of the song

vọng cổ Vọng cổ (, chữ Hán: , "nostalgia") is a Vietnamese song and musical structure used primarily in the ''cải lương'' theater music and ''nhạc tài tử'' chamber music of southern Vietnam. It was composed sometime between 1917 and 1919 by ...

which started a new genre of

cải lương ''Tuồng cải lương'' (, Hán-Nôm: 從改良) often referred to as ''Cải lương'' (Chữ Hán: 改良), roughly "reformed theater") is a form of modern folk opera in Vietnam. It blends southern Vietnamese folk songs, classical music, ''h ...

music in the 1920s. He was born on 22 December 1892 in Long An province,

French Cochinchina French Cochinchina (sometimes spelled ''Cochin-China''; ; , chữ Hán: ) was a colony of French Indochina from 1862 to 1949, encompassing what is now Southern Vietnam. The French operated a plantation economy whose primary strategic product wa ...

. At the age of 4, he moved to

Bạc Liêu Bạc Liêu () is a provincial city and capital of the Bạc Liêu Province in the Mekong Delta region in southern Vietnam. It is a medium-sized town with a population of 156,110 in 2019. The former name of the city is Vĩnh Lợi. History The ...

and spent all his life there. In Bạc Liêu, he studied

chữ Hán ( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vietnam, Literary Chinese (; ) and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, Vietnamese. They were officially used in Vietnam after the Red River Delta region ...

with a monk and then attended a French primary school. In 1907, Lầu stopped schooling because of his

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

. In 1908, he began learning music from local musician Lê Tài Khí and began his music career four year later. In 1913, he married a woman named Trần Thị Tấn. Because Tấn was not pregnant after three year of marriage, Lầu was forced to send his wife back to her family due to local custom. This separation was inspired Cao Văn Lầu in comprising his best known love-song Dạ cổ hoài lang (Night Drum Beats Cause Longing for Absent Husband), a song that have a great influence in

music. He died on August 13, 1976, in

References

External links

Ca Mau club spreads music rooted in native soil
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cao, Van Lau Vietnamese musicians 1892 births 1976 deaths People from Bạc Liêu province People from Long An province