For ease o f com parison a n d analysis, each p h rase of Hung's b ackbone (HB) an d a b strac te d backbone (HAB), an d Ty's ab stracted backbone (TAB) has b een tak en from the original synoptic score (Ex. 4) a n d w ritten so th a t all th e b a c k b o n e /a b stra c te d backbone p h rases can be seen on one sh ee t (Ex. 6). Each p h ra se of Hung's backbone an d th e ab stracted backbones have the sam e rising m o tif (labelled m otif x) of a glissando from a sh o rt c' to a long d'. M otif x is th erefo re a p o in t a t w hich every p h rase converges. The only m in o r variatio n to m o tif x ap p ears in TAB3 (i.e. Ty's a b strac te d backbone, p h ra se 3) w here th e re is no glissando betw een the two pitches.
M otif x is som etim es p reced ed by o th e r pitches (see TAB2, HAB2, HB3, HAB3, HB4, TAB6, HB6 a n d HAB6). Comparing Ty an d Hung's ab strac te d backbones, th e pitches p rio r to m otif x are the same for p h ra se 6 a n d only slightly d ifferen t fo r p h rases 2 a n d 3. T here are g reater differences betw een the p itches p rio r to m otif x betw een Hung's backbone a n d
ab strac te d backbone. For instance, HB2 a n d HAB4 have no pitch es p rio r to m o tif x, w hereas HAB2 has a glissando from p itch c' to p itch f a n d HB4 includes th e pitches a a n d d.
11 W hen there is an extended melisma, there is usually a change from the syllable to a vocable so it is clear when the pronunciation o f the syllable finishes. There are som e cases, however, where there is am biguity as to where the m elism a o f a syllable
term inates. This is particularly the case with words that end with vow el sounds, m ost notably i, w hich is frequently used as a vocable. For exam ple, during Hung's
perform ance o f Phu Binh (p .l, v .l, b.3) it is difficult to assess w hether the vow el i, indicated in brackets after the syllable noi, is an extension o f the syllable or a vocable. Having discussed the issue with Hung in June 1 9 9 8 , 1 will assum e that the syllable is pronounced over the duration o f the initial m elodic direction and that the m elism a continues with a vocable (see the 'Tonal inflection' section below).
12 A com parison o f the Phu N6i backbones has been om itted to avoid unnecessary length and repetition.
As Hling's backbone is a tra n scrip tio n of one ren d itio n th e re is only one e n d -p a tte rn to each p h rase. For th e a b stracted backbone p h ra ses th a t have two altern ativ e en d -p attern s, e n d -p a tte rn 2 is a tru n c a ted fo rm o f end- p a tte rn 1 (see backbones for p h rases 1, 3, 4 a n d 5). Therefore, a lth o u g h the p h rases of HB only have one en d -p a ttern , th e altern ativ e e n d -p a tte rn s o f TAB a n d HAB are usually b o th encom passed by the HB en d -p attern . The choice o f e n d -p a tte rn is clearly d eterm in ed by the speech tone o f th e final w ord of the p h rase (see below).
T here are differences fo r m ost p h rases in th e m elodic co n to u r o f end- p a tte rn s of Ty a n d Hung's a b stracted backbones (com pare fo r in stan ce, end- p a tte rn '1' o f TAB1 w ith th a t o f HAB1). There are also slight differences in th e e n d -p a ttern s of HAB a n d HB. The rise to c' in HAB2, for exam ple,
replaces th e stepw ise descen t dow n th e p en tato n ic scale in the e n d -p a tte rn of HB2. Note, how ever, th a t th e e n d -p a tte rn o f Hung's re p e a t p e rfo rm an ce of Phu Binh v .l, p erfo rm ed over a y e a r earlier, concurs w ith his backbone.
The e n d -p attern s for phrases 4 a n d 6 (an d for HB2) come im m ediately after m o tif x. But for the o th e r phrases (1, 2, 3 an d 5) th ere are 'linking pitches' (or som etim es ju st one pitch) betw een m otif x a n d th e end-
p a tte r n .13 These linking pitches have been sq u are-b rack eted a n d lab elled w ith a 'y'. The linking pitches o f the backbone a n d a b stracted backbones of p h ra se 1 are very sim ilar, as are those o f p h rase 3. The linking p itch es o f the backbone a n d a b strac te d backbones of phrases 2 an d 5 differ to a
g re a ter extent. HB2 includes no linking pitches, b u t th e p h ra se 2 a b stra c te d backbones do in clud e a t least one linking pitch. The biggest d iscrep an cy occurs betw een HB5 w hich has m ore linking pitches th a n HAB5 a n d TAB5, w hich have ju st o ne linking pitch.
T h ro u g h th e analysis o f a b strac te d backbones it has b een show n th a t th ere is a m elodic c o n to u r w hich is a d h ered to for every verse o f a chau van song. T here is also a high degree o f convergence b o th betw een Ty a n d Hung's a b stracted backbones a n d the a b stracted backbones a n d Hung's backbone. However, th e re are slight differences betw een Ty a n d Hung's a b stra c te d backbones w hich d em o n strates how ind iv id u al m usicians' co n cep tion (an d realisation) o f songs differs to a certain e x te n t.14 The
13 The notion o f 'linking pitches' is not derived from a Vietnam ese term. It sh ould not to be confused with the instrum ental 'linking phrases' (xuyen tarn), discussed in Chapter 1, which are used to link vocal phrases o f songs.
14 Although Ty and Hung did not learn ch&u van from the same group o f m usicians and do not perform together in the sam e chau van bands, they are both Hanoi-based
com parison o f Hung's backbone - as a 'm odel in his m ind' - a n d his
ab strac te d backbone illu strates th a t Hung does n o t always strictly a d h ere to his b a ck b o n e .15
Before discussing how speech tones affect the m elodic c o n to u r o f d ifferen t verses, it is im p o rta n t to n ote th a t some of the differences betw een th e HAB a n d TAB, a n d betw een HAB an d HB (for instance, th e differences in th e m elodic c o n to u r o f en d -p attern s cited above) are n o t th e re su lt o f d iffe re n t speech tones because they occur w hen vocables are su n g .