Echoes from mountains
Morning mist still lingered over the rolling mountain ridges as we reached Ra Looc - A Soc, a village in Hong Bac commune (now A Luoi 2). Through the thin veil of mist, the sound of the khèn (a polyphonic reed instrument used in Pa Co music) rose from the courtyard of artisan Ho Pa Co A Teng’s home, curling and echoing with the early breeze like a melodic welcome for his guests.
Born in 1985, artisan A Teng was heir to a love of music passed down from his father – a war veteran with profound knowledge of his ethnic culture. The elder knew the language of the forest, the voice of gongs and drums, as intimately as he knew the breath of the earth. That love for ancestral culture was handed down to A Teng, who has carried it forward with quiet devotion.
”We Pa Co are born amid the forests, raised by the streams — songs and melodies have become part of our very flesh and blood. Every step we take to the fields, every climb over a mountain or across a stream, music is our companion, the breeze that lifts our weariness,” A Teng said, his eyes glowing like a fire flickering in a stilt house on a winter day.
Even as a child, A Teng had already memorized the village’s traditional songs — Cha (a solemn ode to familial duty), Ca lơi (a tender love ballad), Thun (a lively festival tune), and Xiêng (a song celebrating family reunions). At just 10, he could already sing with passion. He had learned to play the khen and flute so that the sounds rose and fell like the wind gliding over mountaintops. By 15, he had become a familiar face in school performances and a voice that rang out in every village festival.
More than just a skilled performer of traditional instruments like the drum, gong, khèn, and flute, A Teng is also able to transcribe melodies into musical notation, allowing ancient lullabies and folk tunes to be preserved systematically and shared more widely.
A Teng shared that in the old days, Pa Co villagers would bring along their aman (a bamboo flute) whenever they trekked to the fields. When weary, they would sit beneath a tree and let the flute sing gently into the wind, as though conversing with birds and leaves of the forest.
The sound of the a man (a bamboo flute) would, at times, echo across the valley — a silent signal sent to a girl working in a distant field, who might pause to listen, then, drawn by the sweetness of the song and the tenderness of the flute, make her way through the forest to find him. And there were mornings too, when the village still slumbered, that the notes of the khèn and flute would rise again, stirring the mountains awake and calling a new day to life with music.
Passing the flame
For Ho Pa Co A Teng, Pa Co music embodies a dialogue between humans and the mountains, forests, and birds. It is love; it is a vow between the people and their village. The melodies and songs tied to labor, ritual, and communal life have long captivated him, deepening his devotion to his people’s cultural heritage.
From his village at the foot of the Truong Son range, A Teng has brought the songs and melodies of the Pa Co people to stages far and wide. He has actively performed at events ranging from local to national levels — including regional art festivals in the Central Highlands, Da Nang, Quang Nam, and the former Dien Bien — as well as in cultural exchanges with neighboring Laos. His performances of Cha chấp (a folk song honoring a father's responsibility and devotion) and Ba bỏi (a traditional Pa Co folk song with expressive melodies) earned him a provincial silver medal, and he also won third prize in a district-level solo singing competition.
“Traditional music is the spirit of our village; it cannot be lost,” A Teng said. That belief drives him to lead folk music, dance, and singing classes organized by the former A Luoi District, helping pass down Pa Co culture to more people. “These classes bring together people of all ages, but they share one thing: a love for our traditions. Anyone can strike a gong or a drum,” he explained, “but playing in the A Rieu Ping festival is not the same as in A Da. You have to understand the rules and meanings of each ritual to play them properly.”
After a full day in the fields, as dusk settles over the village, A Teng gathers once again by the flickering fire in his modest home. There, he patiently teaches traditional music to young people who share his passion for it. Hoang Long, Thuan, and Thai Duy — fresh faces of a new generation — are slowly nurturing their love for Pa Co culture. Night after night, that humble corner fills with the beat of gongs and drums, with voices echoing into the darkness like an unbroken stream of ancestral sound.
Ms. Le Thi Them, former Head of the Department of Culture, Science, and Information of A Luoi District (now Head of the Party Building Section of the A Lưới 1 Commune Party Committee), said that it is thanks to devoted young artisans like Ho Pa Co A Teng that the sounds of the khèn and drums, the songs and melodies of the Pa Co people amid the Truong Son forests, continue to be preserved and spread far beyond.
