Ca tru artisan Pham Thi Hue and her teacher – dan day player Nguyen Phu De, 88, have released ca tru album, entitled “Ca tru – Singing house”.

This is the first album shared by Hue and De, the two top names of ca tru art in Vietnam at present.
 
The CD includes six songs, Thet Nhac and Gui Thu (based on ancient poem), Chu Nhan (poem by Nguyen Cong Tru, 1778 - 1858), Giai Nhan Nan Tai Dac, Phan Hong Nhan and Trang An Hoai Co (poems by Cao Ba Quat – 1808-1855).
 
Hue’s idea to release the album flashed five years ago, when her teachers, two famous ca tru artisans Nguyen Thi Chuc and Nguyen Phu De permitted her to become a professional ca tru singer.
 
However, Hue had to temporarily neglect the idea to focus her mind on developing the Thang Long ca tru club.
 
Nguyen Phu De was granted the title “Folk Artisan” by the Vietnam Folk Art Association in 2006. He is the most senior and top musical instrumentalist in Vietnam.
 
In May 5 2009, Hue and De began to record the album. They spent one year to learn the different techniques used in the recording room and stage techniques to have good records, according to Hue.
 
Ca Tru – Singing House are the fruits of the talent and efforts of ca tru singer Pham Thi Hue in six years.
 
“I had to abstain from food to have money for this album. I took vegetarian food for good health,” Hue joked.
 
Ca tru is a unique musical art form of Vietnam, recognized in 2009 by the United Nations Educationa, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as the world intangible cultural heritage in urgent need of preservation.

Ca tru, like many ancient and highly developed arts, has many forms. However, the most widely known and widely performed type of ca trù involves only three performers: the female vocalist, lute player and a spectator (who also takes part in the performance).
 
The female singer provides the vocals whilst playing her phách (small wooden sticks beaten on a small bamboo platform to serve as percussion). She is accompanied by a man who plays the đàn đáy, a long-necked, 3-string lute used almost exclusively for the ca trù genre. Last is the spectator (often a scholar or connoisseur of the art) who strikes a trống chầu (praise drum) in praise (or disapproval) of the singer's performance, usually with every passage of the song. The way in which he strikes the drum shows whether he likes or dislikes the performance, but he always does it according to the beat provided by the vocalists' phách percussion.
 
New observers to the art often comment on how strikingly odd the vocal technique sounds, but it is the vocals themselves that are essential in defining ca tru.
 
Ca tru literally translates as "tally card songs." This refers to the bamboo cards men bought when they visited ca tru inns, where this music was most often performed in the past. Men would give the bamboo cards they purchased to the woman of choice after her performance, and she would collect money based upon how many cards she was given.
 
Scholar-bureaucrats and other members of the elite most enjoyed this genre. They often visited these inns to be entertained by the talented young women, who did not only sing, but with their knowledge of poetry and the arts could strike up a witty conversation along with serving food and drink.
 
Besides these inns, ca tru was also commonly performed in communal houses or private homes.
 
There are three ca tru inns in Hanoi now: Bich Cau Dao Quan Club, founded in 1992, now has 90 members, 30 or 40 of whom gather on a given Saturday evenings. The oldest artist is 88 years old.
 
Ca tru Thang Long: Nguyen Thi Chuc (voice; b. 1930), Nguyen Phu De (đàn đáy, b. 1923), Pham Thi Hue (the first female ca tru singer in Vietnam who learned to play the đàn đáy) and her daughter Nguyen Hue Phuong (voice, b. 1999), her students Nguyen Thu Thuy (đàn đáy, b. 1986) and Nguyen Thuy Chi (voice, b. 1992)
 
Ca tru Thai Ha: Nguyen Van Mui (the director, based in Hanoi; drum) and his daughters Nguyen Thuy Hoa (voice; b. 1974), Nguyen Thi Ha Vy (voice), and his sons Nguyen Manh Tien (đàn đáy; b. 1970) and Nguyen Manh Khue (đàn đáy; b. 1962). Mui’s granddaughters, Nguyen Kieu Anh and Nguyen Thu Thao (both b. 1994) are also ca trù vocalists. Hoa was taught by Ms. Quach Thi Ho, a renowned performer who began recording in 1955.