Asian Musical Theater: Kabuki, Peking Opera

Musical Theater and Festivals of Asia

• Musical characteristics of selected Asian musical theater can be identified from video films or live performances.
• Kabuki, Wayang Kulit, and Peking Opera instruments can be described.
• Music communicates ideas or stories in Asian musical theater.
• Sound, music, gestures, movements, props, and costumes can be improvised for a chosen Asian traditional musical and theatrical performance.
• Selections can be performed from chosen Asian musical theater.
• Music and music performances can be evaluated using guided rubrics with knowledge of musical elements and style.

Japanese Theater

• Japan's cultural beauty is represented by Ikebana and cherry blossoms.
• A popular tradition is a traditional theater form that began in the late 16th century.
• Noh and kabuki are considered essential Japanese contributions to world theater.
• Noh and kabuki are unique expressions of Japanese spirit and culture, reflecting the tastes and ideals of different social classes.
• Sakura, translated as Cherry Blossoms in English, is a popular traditional song in Japan that uses the pentatonic scale.
• The pentatonic scale is mainly developed from Chinese styles.
• The pentatonic style is used in noh and kabuki performances.

Japanese Vocal Techniques

• Ipponchoshi is a continuous pattern used in speeches that build to an explosive climax in the aragoto style, requiring breath control.
• Nori is a technique adapted from chanting or joruri that implies riding the rhythms of the shamisen.
• Yakuharai describes the subtle delivery of poetical text using a seven and five syllable pattern.

Vocal and Instrumental Features

• Dances and movements are accompanied by shamisen music, which incorporates aspects of previous Japanese music forms.
• Gagaku influenced shamisen music, a classic court music imported from China during the 18th century.
• Kagura (performed in Shinto shrines) and no (chant from shomyo) also influenced it.
• Nagauta (long song) became popular and reached a golden age in the 19th century.
• Nagauta music is flexible and can be performed by one shamisen or an orchestra of 20 musicians.
• Ensembles include flutes (fue) and drums (kotsuzumi, otsuzumi, taiko).

Chinese Theater

• Chinese theater is traditionally the highest form of art in China.
• Peking Opera is a stylized Chinese opera, in which speech, singing, mime, and acrobatics are performed to instrumental accompaniment.
• Peking Opera became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century and was popular in the Qing Dynasty Court.
• Erh-huang and his-p’l are the two main styles of music.
• His-p’l has a lower sound than erh-huang; the styles are similar, differing only by key.
• The fan-pan technique is commonly used for sorrowful songs and sung by bearded characters.
• A Peking opera orchestra consists of eight musicians sitting on stools.
• Performances begin with ta-lo and siag-lo (small and large gongs and cymbals).
• Some performances start with a single skin drum or kettle drum, played by the conductor.
• Musicians are traditionally in view, dressed as stage assistants, and move freely on and off stage.
• In contemporary China, musicians are often seated in an orchestra pit.
• Music provides an atmospheric background, accompanies sung passages, controls timing, and unifies the performance.
• Theater musicians learn by rote, as Chinese musical notation is imprecise.
• Most music is collaborative and combines existing sources to fit the play.
• Actors' line delivery is controlled by conventions, and roles have prescribed vocal timbre and pitch.
• Syllables are drawn out to maintain rhythm, and there are strict rhythms and tempos.
• Lines are rendered in an extremely stylized manner with chanted and sung passages inserted into spoken monologues or dialogues.

Peking Opera Musical Instruments

• Ti-ts: Cross flutes, usually played along with singing.
• Siao: Recorded flutes, usually played along with singing.
• Sona: Trumpet that announces prosperous occasions.
• Hu-ch'in: Two-stringed instrument that resembles the violin.
• Bu-ch'in: Two-stringed instrument that resembles the guitar.
• Yue-ch'in: Four-stringed instrument that resembles the guitar.
• San-sien: Three-stringed instruments
• Pi-p'a: Similar to the lute but with four strings.
• Ta-lo and Sialo: Gongs that begin the performance.
• Tan-pi-ku: Kettle drum to create the tempo.
• Peking opera is a collection of older forms, the vocal requirements were reduced.
• The CHOU has few singing parts, unlike Kunqu.
• The songs that accompany each play are simplified in coordination with instruments.
• The popularity has been attributed to the simplicity, with few voices and singing patterns, allowing anyone to sing the arias themselves.
• Performers aim to put beauty into every motion.
• The four skills of Peking opera are not separate but combined.
• Tradition is important, and gestures, settings, music, and character types are determined by convention, signaling actions to the audience.

Indonesian Theater

• Shadow Puppet Theater is a well-known Indonesian theater that has spread to other countries.
• Wayang Kulit in Central Java is one of the oldest traditions of storytelling, using puppets and musical accompaniment.
• Wayang is an Indonesian and Malay word for theater, sometimes referring to the puppet itself.
• Kulit means skin, referring to the leather construction of the puppets.
• Puppets are carefully cut and supported with buffalo horn handles.
• Wayang Kulit was performed in royal courts and public religious occasions.
• In Wayang Kulit performances, the audience is the most important.
• The dalang prepares the materials, including the cloth and light for the shadow.
• Puppets on the right side signify good characters, while those on the left signify bad characters.
• The space between them represents the stage.

Dalang Roles

• The puppeteer is called the dalang.
• Skills include being creative, humorous, and flexible.
• The dalang manipulates puppets, sings, taps to signal to the orchestra, and speaks all the character parts.
• The use of voice interchangeably gives life to the characters.

Gamelan Ensemble

• A gamelan is mainly comprised of bronze percussion instruments, strings, and a flute.
• Saron - xylophone of heavy bronze bars.
• Gender - bronze xylophone with resonance chambers beneath.
• Bonang - set of bronze bowls.
• Gong and kempul - hanging gongs.
• Kenong and ketuk - single inverted bronze bowl.
• Gambang - wooden xylophone.
• Rebab - two-stringed fiddle.
• Suling - flute.
• Kendang - horizontal drum played with fingers.
• Tjelempung - a zither of thirteen double strings.