The structural characteristics of theater music

The structure of theater music has two main forms: 1. Songs (also known as the body). That is to say, a variety of song plates according to the needs of the singing design of the set form. It includes loose-slow-fast-scattered plate changes; 2. plate cavity body (also called plate change body), including the basic plate, subsidiary plate and a variety of cadences.

China's opera is very rich, according to incomplete statistics as many as 300 kinds of opera, is China's valuable national cultural heritage, so also derived from the rich and colorful opera music.

As a combination of music and opera, the difference between Chinese opera music and other forms of music and art lies in the fact that it embodies and adapts to the requirements of theatricality, serving to express the dramatic characters, promote the development of the plot, and create the atmosphere of the situation. It is a kind of dramatized music. This kind of theater music has its own unique structural form, expressive techniques, artistic skills, with a strong national artistic style. From the point of view of music production, opera belongs to Chinese music theater. It is distinctly different from the musical tradition of Western opera and its composers' individual professional creation.

Chinese opera music belongs to folk music in nature. The composition of opera music is still of the nature of folk composition and retains to a large extent several characteristics of folk music. Firstly, opera music is rooted in folklore and has a deep mass foundation. It is extremely closely connected with the square sounds of various places, the folk songs and rap music of various places. Secondly, the music of each type of opera is not created by an individual composer, but is the product of the long-term development of folk music, and is the result of the collective creation of generations, condensing the artistic wisdom of generations of people. Thirdly, the music of the historical opera has been constantly evolving through oral transmission and singing. Due to the different conditions of each person and the different dialects and phonetics, the accent of oral singing will undergo a number of changes. This variability allows the same tune to evolve into a tune with different styles or regional voices; and different genres of singing in the same genre can be formed with different characteristics. Traditional opera music has evolved in this way of folk music. Fourthly, in the creation of opera music in history, the singer is also the composer, and the process of singing (playing) is also the process of composing. In other words, the process of composing and the process of singing (playing) are one and the same. Therefore, the methods and techniques of singing or playing in opera often include compositional methods. The above characteristics of folklore are present in almost all vocal styles and opera genres, including ethnic minority opera genres. Only the Kun Opera, the only one, is from the folk and then Wei Liangfu (life and death unknown) and other innovations to the literati Qingqu singing to standardized, by the literati, the composer fixed cavity fixed score of the opera. But it is also different from Western opera and its composition. In the artist's singing, there is still a certain degree of flexibility, with localized derivation.

Another characteristic of opera music is its program. The program of opera music is as large as the musical structure that runs through the performance of the drama, the form of the singing system (singing the North-South song of the tune or singing all the tunes of the panchas), and as small as the structure of the tune, the panchas, the gongs and drums and the use of the structure, technology and its application, which is all-pervasive and very rich. The singing, reciting, acting and playing of any drama are inseparable from the combination and use of musical programs. This way of creation is not to throw away the tradition, but to realize a new synthesis and creation on the basis of the traditional forms and means of expression. There are certain rules for the use of programs. There are different musical programs for different voices and styles. Based on the logic of music, the requirements of the program are strict, but the strictly regulated program can be flexibly and freely mastered in the specific application. In the long-term practice has proved the performance function of the opera music program, which is an important means to carry out the creation of the stage image of the opera. The Chinese opera music group has its own unique professional level, national characteristics and aesthetic significance due to its folk and programmatic nature. This characteristic, until today, is still retained in the creation of opera music.