The Development of Traditional Opera Music in China

Opera music is the music part of China traditional opera, including vocal singing, phonology and instrumental accompaniment, and opening music. Among them, singing is the main form, such as solo, duet, chorus, chorus, etc., and it is the main means to develop the plot and portray the characters. The accompaniment, passing the door and running the strings of the aria played the role of maintaining the key and setting off the performance. Percussion music used in the opening ceremony, cut-outs and martial arts venues is an important factor in rendering the atmosphere and adjusting the stage rhythm and drama structure.

Opera music is an important part of China opera, which integrates drama, music, performance, acrobatics, dance beauty and other artistic means. It can concentrate the content of drama, and it is also the main symbol to distinguish different kinds of drama.

The development of traditional opera music in China has a long history. Folk songs and hundreds of operas in the Han Dynasty, song and dance music in the Tang Dynasty and rap art music in the Song Dynasty are the basis of its development.

The structure of traditional Chinese opera music mainly has two forms:

1。 Qupai style (also called couplet style). That is, according to the needs of vocal music design, various qupai are combined. These include scattered-slow-fast-scattered plate changes;

2。 Plate cavity (also known as plate variant) includes basic plate, subsidiary plate and various accents.

According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 300 kinds of traditional operas in China, which are the precious national cultural heritage of China, and thus rich and colorful traditional opera music is derived.

First, traditional opera music and modern opera music.

China opera music is developed in the soil of China national music garden. Like classical songs, folk songs, folk music and national instrumental music, it has created rich and colorful China national music. Compared with the former, its connotation and extension, form and content, style and color all reflect the highest level of Chinese folk music, and it is a master of all kinds of music in China! Throughout the world, there are folk songs, folk art, dance and national instrumental music, but there is no China traditional opera art which integrates singing, dancing and music and takes singing, reading, doing and playing as the basic means of expression. Therefore, China opera is a unique artistic phenomenon in the world, especially opera music, which has formed a completely different version, style and color from the world, especially European music.

There are 400 to 500 operas in China, and there are more than 30 operas of ethnic minorities alone. This is a huge art group. If we analyze it a little, it is not difficult to see that the biggest difference between the two operas is the difference in musical style. If we compare China's opera music with European opera music, it does not reflect the individual musical styles of composers such as Mozart, Rossini, Strauss and Su Pei, but represents a province, a city, a region and a nation. In other words, it is rooted in the soil of different places, developed according to the musical language characteristics of different places, and has a strong local color (except Beijing Opera in China, other operas are collectively called "local operas"). Therefore, China opera music has the characteristics of group style, local style and national style. Music, as an important part, clearly distinguishes various operas. The same script can be adapted into Beijing Opera, Yue Opera or Henan Opera. But only music cannot replace each other. In the concept of traditional Chinese opera as a comprehensive art, we not only pay attention to various artistic categories such as choreography, performance, costumes and dance beauty, but also pay attention to other means of expression, such as hands, eyes, body, method and steps. It can be said that music is the lifeline and identification symbol to distinguish traditional Chinese opera. There is a folk saying: watching a play is not called "watching" but "listening", which is the reason.

China's traditional drama matured in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. As we all know, both Song Ci and Yuan Qu have music scores. The framework of a epigraph or qupai is fixed, and the playwright either fills in words by sound or by words, thus producing ever-changing operas. For hundreds of years, classic plays such as Dou Eyuan, The Romance of the West Chamber, Pipa and Peach Blossom Fan have emerged one after another, resulting in ten classical comedies and ten classical tragedies in China, which are highly praised by modern people. Unfortunately, there are only scripts left, and no music left. Nevertheless, we can still see some musical tracks and clues from some scattered ancient books, such as Song of the Taoist White Stone, A Wide Record of Shilin in the early Yuan Dynasty, Legacy of Taikoo in the Ming Dynasty, Gongpu in Jiugong Dacheng Nanbei Ci in the Qing Dynasty, Cipu by Duanjin and so on.

Since the formation of Kunqu Opera, Gaoqiang Opera, Bangzi and Pi Huangqiang, they have learned from each other and absorbed from each other. After hundreds of years of vicissitudes, China opera music represented by Beijing Opera, Kunqu Opera, Henan Opera, Yue Opera, Huangmei Opera, Shaanxi Opera, Sichuan Opera and Guangdong Cantonese Opera has been formed, especially Beijing Opera, which is known as the national opera. As we all know, for example, Xipi originated from Shaanxi Qinqiang Opera, Huang Er originated from Yihuang Opera in Jiangxi or Hubei, and some tunes, such as Siping Tune, Gaobazi and Nanbangzi, are all borrowed from other operas. It is said that most of the instrumental music and qupai in Beijing Opera venues originated from Kunqu Opera, while most of the percussion music in martial arts venues originated from Bangzi Opera. Judging from the formation and development of Beijing opera music, it can become a national opera mainly because it is good at eclecticism, as the saying goes, "All rivers run into the sea, and tolerance is great." Can it be said that multi-directional and multi-level absorption is an important reason for the development of traditional Peking Opera?

Since the traditional opera music is "a hundred rivers flow into the sea with great tolerance", who created and edited their vocals and instrumental music? In the past, the writing of the history of traditional Chinese opera was centered on actors, but as for the causes of the genre, it was rarely explained from the perspective of creation. Forgive my ignorance, but Mei, Shang, Cheng and Xun are four famous artists. So far, I haven't seen a monograph discussing the characteristics and differences between Qing schools in terms of melody, rhythm, timbre, range and accompaniment. In the history of China's traditional operas, such as Wei Liangfu, we only know that he reformed the original simple Kunqu opera from the aspects of the arrangement of qupai, the handling of twist, the arrangement of rhythm, the articulation of words and the accompaniment of instrumental music, making Kunqu opera a big drama, but we don't know how he turned the original Kunqu opera material into a new drama. Another example is the formation of Mei School's singing and accompaniment. We only know that piano master Mei Yutian,, and the master Mei * * * are on the same stage with other singers. However, people don't know their specific creative process. It can be seen that most of China's traditional opera music creation is centered on actors, which is formed by repeated consultations and polishing between pianists (or pipers) and drummers without strict score records, and then passed on to the second and third generations of disciples in the form of "oral transmission". Today, this method is still used in most Chinese opera circles. As far as I know, many scores of Beijing Opera vocals were obtained from Mr. Liu Tianhua, a master of Chinese music. Therefore, the creative process of traditional music is probably a mystery forever.

The performance factors of traditional Chinese opera music are composed of (vocal) actors and (instrumental) musicians. From a long-term perspective, I think the forms of solos, duets, duets and chorus used by the actors in the play will not change much in the future, nor will the gongs and drums in the martial arts field, but the instrumental accompaniment of the band will change greatly. Practice has proved that in the early days, every kind of drama had a basic framework of instrumental music, such as: three major pieces of Peking Opera (Jinghu, Yueqin and Beijing Erhu); Three pieces of Hebei Bangzi (Banhu, Bangzi, Sheng); Three heads of Guangdong Cantonese Opera (Gao Hu, dulcimer and Qin Qin); There are three kinds of Yue Opera (main Hu, deputy Hu and pipa). Musicians and drummers who play the main instruments hold the accompaniment of the whole opera. Under this basic combination of civil and military, according to the needs of the plot and singing, instruments such as suona, sheng, pipa, sanxian, zhongruan, Daruan, erhu, zhonghu, (cello) and double bass were gradually added, ranging from 10 to more than 20 people, forming a medium-sized band. For example, the Peking Opera Wild Pig Forest and Wangjiang Pavilion appeared in 1950s and 1960s; Yue operas A Dream of Red Mansions and Rouge Kou; Huangmei Opera "Fairy Couple"; Guangdong Cantonese Opera "Zhaojun Out of the fortress" and so on. As a result, the scale of small and medium-sized national orchestral music composed of wind pipe music, plucked music, percussion music and strings has been formed. The author thinks that from the classification of "Introduction to China National Music", folk songs, folk songs, dances and traditional folk music (such as Jiangnan Sizhu, Hebei Blowing Songs, Xi 'an Drum Music, Cantonese Music, etc.) to court music and temple music do not have the conditions and scale of orchestral music. Only traditional Chinese opera bands can have national orchestral music, whether in the functional configuration of musical instruments, staffing or emotional comparison. As early as May 1987, at the first academic seminar of the Chinese National Orchestral Society, the author made a speech on "On China Opera Music, one of the important foundations for the development of modern China national orchestral music". My argument is: "Opera band is the predecessor of China national orchestral music".

From the late 1950s to the early 1960s, the author thinks that it is an important period for the transition from traditional opera music to modern opera music. Judging from the repertoires of 1964 national opera, it is very common to accompany the opera with a complete band. During this period, the author once watched "Catch the Mountain Carving of the Old Bandits" performed by Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe and "Yangmen Woman" performed by Beijing Peking Opera Theatre in Beijing Tianqiao Theater, and their accompaniment was much more full and heavy than that of the operas in the 1950s. After the Cultural Revolution, "revolutionary model operas" appeared immediately, such as Shajiabang, The Red Lantern, A Journey to the Tiger Mountain, Harbor, Ode to the Dragon River and Dufu Mountain. Without exception, these operas abandoned the original folk music accompaniment and replaced it with western orchestral accompaniment. The traditional Chinese opera accompaniment in this period is the same in terms of musical expression, timbre and range. In addition, new explorations and attempts have been made in composition. Its obvious sign is that the role of composers has been strengthened, while the creative factors of piano players have been weakened. In the aspect of music structure, from the innovation of single disc of traditional opera to complete turntable, from the application of traditional music cards to the creation of independent instrumental music in the creation of pre-curtain music and background music. For example, the prelude to beating tigers up the mountain in "Taking Tiger Mountain by Intelligence", the episode of the tenth ambush and annihilation war in "The Red Lantern", the episode at the end of "Song of the Dragon" and the dance music of "Flying over the Cloud Canyon" for the seventh time in "Dufu Mountain" left a deep impression on people, and these modern music creation factors and expression means undoubtedly provided us. Later, there appeared three-dimensional and symphonic large-scale music works such as the symphony Shajiabang and Taking Tiger Mountain Outside. Let's not talk about the political gains and losses of the above-mentioned "model operas" during the Cultural Revolution, but we must admit that they have reached the domestic first-class level in creation and performance and reached the peak of an era. Can we think that these opera works from the early 1960s to the late Cultural Revolution belong to modern opera music? From the traditional creative mode of "music design" in which actors, violinists and drummers are trinity, it has been transformed into the second work of composers, actors and bands, and a modern creative mode of trinity has been established.

Second, the multifaceted creation of traditional Chinese opera music and its rise

The existence of any art needs soil and space. With the development of the times and the diverse needs of the people for art, fewer and fewer people like opera as the highest art (except a few opera fans), and the media role of radio and television has surpassed the theater effect. There are more and more kinds of traditional opera music in China. In recent years, there are two striking music varieties: one is the emergence of traditional Chinese opera songs, and the other is that many jinghu qinists are unwilling to be lonely in the "Kowloon Mouth" and have held concerts in jinghu solo. The emergence of the above two phenomena, the author believes that this is by no means "inaction" or "unwilling to be lonely", but the historical necessity of the multi-faceted development of modern opera. Opera marks the composer's in-depth exploration of the highest achievement of China folk music. Jinghu solo Concert is the inevitable result of musicians' solo ability from the backstage to the foreground on the basis of hundreds of traditional China opera tunes. These two varieties have undoubtedly added many new colors to China modern opera music.

Modern opera is different from traditional opera music, and its display has three stage spaces: theater, concert hall and radio and television. Therefore, for composers engaged in opera music, their creative activities have produced a multi-directional trend: first, composing music for opera; The second is to sing oratorios for opera, including opera songs; Is to compose music for China traditional operas and instrumental music, including concerts. Especially the third item gives composers unlimited creative space, so they can create the following forms of works:

1. Major musical instruments (such as solos, duets and concertos of Jinghu, Banhu, Bang Qu Di, Pipa and Guzheng).

2. Independent orchestral and national orchestral works.

3. Large symphonic divertimento music works.

4. Opera oratorio.

5. Music and dance or ballet in China traditional opera style.

To sum up, these new varieties of traditional Chinese opera music were not invented by the author, but excellent operas harvested by musicians after more than 40 years of efforts. Now the author lists the famous works as follows:

Instrumental solo works include: flute solo Bangzi, 357 and Blue Bridge Club; Banhu solo Qin Opera Paizi, Hebei Flower Bangzi, and Red Army brothers return; Erhu solo "Capriccio on the Theme of Shaanxi Opera", "Shadow", "Baoyu Cry" and "Henan Xiaoqu"; Yang Qin solo "Lin Chong Running at Night"; Guzheng solo Wen Xi Gui Han; Jing Hu's solo "Late Night" and so on.

Folk music ensembles include: Beijing dialect, wedding people, purple bamboo tune, Wujiang song, complaints from tea things and Zhao Jun, your legend, etc.

The large-scale symphony suite includes: violin concerto "Butterfly Lovers"; Symphony "Shajiabang" and "Outwit Tiger Mountain"; Symphony suite "Su San", symphony "Young Women" and so on.

Third, the creation and performance practice of "Music Soul of Liyuan"

From 1982, the author spent 20 years creating a series of symphonic concertos entitled Soul of Music in the Pear Garden. The author will describe the creation and performance of "Soul of Music in Liyuan" as follows:

1, A Dream of Red Mansions, National Orchestral Yue Opera, written in 1982.

1, Daiyu entered the mansion 2, * * * read The West Chamber 3, Daiyu buried flowers 4, Daiyu burned manuscripts 5, Jade and Marriage 6, and left crying.

1983 was recorded by china national radio, performed by Hongqi Yue Opera Troupe and conducted by Wu Hua.

2. The suite Young Beauty by Jinghu and Peking Opera Band was written in 1983.

1, the dispute between Chu and Han 2, the sadness 3, the smell of Chu songs 4, the advice to you 5, the night 6, the hate in Kyrgyzstan.

1984 was recorded by china national radio and premiered by China Opera in Beijing Concert Hall in the same year, directed by Li Zhigong.

1987 was recorded and distributed by Shanghai Recording Society, played by Shanghai National Orchestra, solo by Zhang Suying and conducted by Qu Chunquan.

199 1 and 1997 were selected for the CCTV Spring Festival Gala twice, which was performed by China Radio and National Orchestra, with solos conducted by Wu Hua and Wu.

3. Banhu and the band Qin Opera "Yang Guifei" Suite, written in 1990.

1, the Yang family has a daughter 2, a dress and a feather 3, and Yuyang goes out of the valley.

4, before Mawei Slope 5, illusory

1998 was recorded by china national radio, accompanied by the National Orchestra of China Conservatory of Music, solo by Shen Cheng and conducted by Huang Xiaofei. In the same year, it premiered at Beijing Theatre.

4. Concerto for the Great Suona, the Legend of Bao Longtou and Henan Opera, written in 1990.

1, sitting in Kaifeng, 2, dreaming for the underworld, 3, trying for the first time.

1994 was recorded by china national radio, accompanied by the Central National Orchestra, with Feng Xiaoquan as soloist and Wang Fujian as conductor.

1995 The Central National Orchestra performed in Hongkong, Taiwan Province and Hu Bingxu.

1998 The Singapore Chinese Orchestra performed at the Victoria Concert Hall, conducted by Hu Bingxu.

5. Beijing Opera "Legend of White Snake", a symphony suite of Jinghu and the band, was written in 1992.

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1992 The Central Orchestra premiered at the Beijing Palace Theatre, with Ai Bing as soloist and Hu Bingxu as conductor.

1994 participated in the first China Opera Music Competition, won the first prize, played by the Central Ballet Symphony Orchestra, solo by Zhang Suying and conducted by Hu Bingxu.

200 1, selected for CCTV Spring Festival Evening, with Wang Caiyun and Ai Bing solo.

6. Guzheng and Band Cantonese Opera "Lin Zexu's Thoughts" Suite, written in 1993.

1, imperial envoy 2, Lingnan complained 3, Humen destroyed opium 4, Haikou resisted the enemy 5, dismissed and exiled.

1999 premiered in Beijing Jinfan Concert Hall, performed by the National Orchestra of China Conservatory of Music, with Sun Xin as soloist and Liu Shun as conductor. In the same year, it was broadcast by CCTV's "National Music Fragrance" column.

In April, 2000, he performed in Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore, with Singapore Orchestra as conductor, Xu Solo and Lan as conductor.

7. Suite for flute and Kunqu Opera Peony Pavilion, written in 1995.

1, Garden 2, Mourning 3, Drawing 4, Cursing 5, Resurrection

1998 premiered in Victoria Concert Hall and Singapore Chinese Orchestra, with Yu Xunfa as soloist and Hu Bingxu as conductor.

8. Erhu Concerto for Two, Fantasia of Huangmei Opera "Fairy Couple", written in 1995.

1, Lu Yu 2, home 3, goodbye.

1996 premiered in the Auditorium of Tainan Cultural Center in Taiwan Province Province, performed by Kaohsiung Orchestra, with Xin Xiaohong, Luo Jun and soloist, and conducted by Yan Huichang.

1999 performed in the Concert Hall of Hong Kong Cultural Centre, performed by Kaohsiung Chinese Orchestra, with Yang and Jiang Mingkun performing solo and Yan Huichang conducting.

1999 premiered in Macau in May, performed by the Macau Chinese Orchestra, soloed by Jiang Kemei, Yuri and Asda Hof, and conducted by Huang Jianwei.

In April, 2000, it was performed in Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore, by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, with Xu Jingwen and Zhang Bin as soloists and Hu Bingxu as conductor.

9. Symphonic Concerto by Jinghu, Erhu and the band Young Woman, written in 1998.

1, Women's Love 2, Knife Mazan 3, Lonely 4, Ode to War

In 2002, the Hong Kong Cultural Center Concert Hall was performed by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, with Xin Xiaohong and Xin Xiaoling performing solo and Yan Huichang conducting.

10, Hu Si (erhu) Concerto performed by Tangshan shadow play "Random Thoughts on the Shadow of Han Palace", 200 1 (not performed).

1, Love Shadow 2, Fear Shadow 3, Phantom