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In the years of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty, the musician Liang-Fu Wei heard the local melody of songs (called “Kunshan melody”) near Kunshan, Suzhou. He particularly appreciated the exquisite singing. However, he noticed that the temperament and tone of songs were not precise. Thus, Liang-Fu Wei et al. absorbed the advantages of vocal music in different places and improved Kunshan melody. The melody of Kunqu Opera is exquisite, the lyrics are precise and style is classic. It is also called “watermill tone” (the mochi enjoyed by the people in Jiangnan is made of watermill powder and it is smooth, soft and extremely exquisite). Kunqu Opera turned from local melody into the mainstream in the circles of music and opera. Kunqu Opera is classified into southern and northern styles and the differences are names of tunes and the structure of temperament.
The singers start singing the tunes lightly and end them exquisitely.
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Actors should recognize the lyrics and experience the feelings of the characters. |
Vocal music of Kunqu Opera is divided into southern style kunqu and northern style kunqu. Southern style kunqu only includes the scale of five tones. There are few lyrics and various tones. The rhythm is slow and sentimental. Northern style kunqu is more fluent with the scale of seven notes. There are more lyrics and fewer tones. The musical range is wider. Since the music and expressive skills of Kunqu Opera significantly influenced most of kinds of dramas, it is called the “the origin of drama”. The vocal music of various characters in Beijing Opera is particularly derived from Kunqu Opera. Now let’s watch the vocal music and melody in the remarkable pieces of southern style kunqu and northern style kunqu of Kunqu Opera:
“The Beheading of Dou-e” in southern style kunqu The Injustice to Dou E
Using the popular piece of The Injustice to Dou E “The Beheading of Dou-e”, of northern style kunqu as an example, the name of tune sung by Dou-e was called “Duan Zheng Hao” and the lyrics were “committing the crime for no reason and being arrested, I cried out loud for the grievance”. The character sung when going to the execution ground. The hands were tied and thus the vocal music was extremely important and it should be powerful to show her grief and indignation.
Southern style kunqu of Kunqu Opera “Pursuing the Dream” in northern style kunqu The Peony Pavilion
The typical piece of Southern style kunqu is the first sentence in “Pursuing the Dream”, “it is by the mountain and lake”. It is four-four time with several sections. Thus, it takes one minute to sing the sentence. It is slow and sentimental. Thus, the actors to show the poses, eye expression, steps and fan action which become the performance system combining singing, reading, acting and dancing.
“The Beheading of Dou-e” in southern style kunqu The Injustice to Dou E (Click the picture to play the film) |
Southern style kunqu of Kunqu Opera “Pursuing the Dream” in northern style kunqu The Peony Pavilion (Click the picture to play the film) |
Reference:
Jianguo Engineering Culture and Art Foundationhttps://www.ckarts.org/?post_type=kunqu&p=94
Kunqu Opera Study Clubhttp://www.kunqu.org/bmusic.html
Daily headlineshttps://kknews.cc/zh-tw/culture/omaa256.html
Source of Photos:Daily headlineshttps://kknews.cc/culture/z2lkve3.html:
Film source:
Overseas Kunqu Operahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-34-MkdOxPk
National Taiwan Academy of Chinese Operahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcduIYIxRqk