Cao Văn Lầu

Cao Văn Lầu (1892–1976), also known as Sáu Lầu (Lầu the Sixth in Vietnamese), was a Vietnamese musician. He was the original composer of the song vong co which started a new genre of cai luong music in the 1920s.[1][2]

In this Vietnamese name, the surname is Cao. In accordance with Vietnamese custom, this person should be referred to by the given name, Văn Lầu.
Vietnamese musician Cao Văn Lầu playing a Đàn nguyệt.

He was born on 22 December 1892 in Long An province, French Cochinchina. At the age of 4, he moved to Bac Lieu and spent all his life there. In Bac Lieu, he studied Hán tự with a monk and then attended a French primary school. In 1907, Lau stopped schooling because of his poverty. 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, Lau was forced to send his wife back to her family due to local custom. This separation was inspired Cao Van Lau in comprising his best known love-song Dạ cổ hoài lang (Night Drum Beats Cause Longing for Absent Husband),[3] a song that have a great influence in cải lương music.[4] He died on August 13, 1976 in Bac Lieu.[3]

References
  1. Dance of Life: Popular Music and Politics in Southeast Asia - Page 19 Craig A. Lockard - 1998 "The song that originated vong co was first composed by Cao Van Lau between 1917 and 1920, during the formative ...
  2. Songs of the Caged, Songs of the Free: Music and the Vietnamese ... - Page 187 Adelaida Reyes - 1999 Vgng co ("longing for the past" or "nostalgia for the past") was originally an individual composition by Cao Van Lau (Sau Lau). It became part of cai ...
  3. Nguyễn Tý. ""Nam bộ đất và người" – hay câu chuyện về Cao Văn Lầu" (in Vietnamese). Viet Nam Net. Archived from the original on 2008-05-01. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
  4. Barker, Clive. New Theatre Quarterly 52. vol. 13 part 4. Cambridge University Press. p. 379. ISBN 0-521-59729-3.
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