MAPEH Grade 8 - Peking Opera

• Musical Theater and Festivals of Asia from MAPEH Grade 8 Music, 4th Quarter.

Peking Opera

• Chinese theater is traditionally considered the highest art form in China.
• Peking opera theater, according to the Oxford dictionary, is a stylized Chinese opera form dating back to the late 18th century.
• Speech, singing, mime, and acrobatics are performed to an instrumental accompaniment.
• This form became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century.
• It was extremely popular during the Qing Dynasty court.
• It is now regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China.
• Two main styles of music in Peking Opera are Erh-huang and His-p'l.
• These styles are very similar except in the key; his-p'l has a lower sound than Erh-huang.
• They also utilize the fan-pan technique, which is commonly used for sorrowful songs sung by bearded characters.

Peking Opera Orchestra

• It comprises about 8 musicians sitting on stools in the far corner of the stage.
• Each performance begins with the ta-lo and siag-lo, a small and large gong and cymbals, respectively.

Musical Instrument Categories

• Aerophones
• Chordophones
• Idiophones

Aerophones Used

• Ti-ts, a cross flute, usually played along with singing.
• Siao, recorded flutes, usually played along with singing.
• Sona, a trumpet, announces prosperous occasions (victories, good news, etc.).

Chordophones

• Violin-like:
  • Hu-ch'in is a two-stringed violin-like instrument held upright against the knee.
  • Bu-ch'in is also a two-stringed violin-like instrument that has a more graceful sound.
• Guitar-like:
  • Yue-ch'in is a four-stringed moon guitar.
  • San-sien is a three-stringed instrument.
  • Pi-p'a is similar to a lute with four strings.

Idiophones

• Ta-lo and Siao-lo are gongs that signify the beginning of the performance.
• Tan-pi-ku is a kettle drum used to create the tempo of the performance.

Kabuki

• Kabuki is a Japanese theater and a popular tradition until today.
• It became the most successful theater entertainment in the red-light districts of the great cities.
• Kabuki is considered the most important Japanese contribution to the world theater.
• It is a traditional form of theater which began in the end of the 16th century.
• Noh and Kabuki represent unique expressions of the Japanese spirit and culture.
• They mirror different social classes tastes and ideals in different environments and periods.
• The pentatonic scale is mostly used in the performance of Noh and Kabuki.

Vocal Techniques in Kabuki

• Ipponchōshi is a continuous pattern used in speeches building up to an explosive climax in the aragoto style.
  • It requires extraordinary breath control that only a few experts achieve.
• Nori is a technique adapted from the chanting or joruri.
  • It implies sensitive capacity of riding the rhythms of the shamisen, declaiming each accompaniment.
• Yakuharai describes the subtle delivery of poetical text written in the Japanese metrical form of alternating seven and five syllables.

Shamisen Music

• Dances and movements are accompanied by this music.
• This music collected and popularized aspects from previous forms of Japanese music.
• Gagaku is a classic court music imported from China during the 18th century.
• Kagura is performed in Shinto shrines.
• Nō chant derives from shomyo, which is the rich tradition of Buddhist chanting.
• Nagauta (long song) reached a golden age in the first half of the 19th century as dance music for the henge mono.
  • Nagauta music can be performed either by one shamisen or by an orchestra of 20 musicians (10 are shamisen players, others play flutes and drums).

Wayang Kulit

• Wayang Kulit in Central Java represents one of the oldest continuous traditions of storytelling in the world.
• It includes the use of puppet materials and background musical accompaniment to make it interesting to the audience.
• Shadow Puppet is a well-known Indonesian theatre.
• This unique musical theatre is popular not only in their own country but also spread in several countries around the world.
• Wayang means "theater" in Indonesian and Malay. When referring to Puppet Theater types, the puppet itself is called Wayang.
• Kulit means "skin" and refers to the leather construction of the puppets.
• These puppets are made from Water Buffalo leathers.
• The stories are usually drawn from the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.
  • Also from Serat Menak is the story about the heroism of Amir Hamza.
• Wayang Kulit was performed in the royal court and in public on religious occasions.
• The audience is the most important aspect of these forms of musical performance.

Wayang Kulit Performance

• The Dalang prepares all the materials. The materials include things like the cloth and the light used to create a shadow.
• The puppet on the right side represents good, with the left side reserved for bad characters.
• The space between the puppets of about 2 meters represents the stage.
• The puppeteer is called the dalang; he is creative, humorous, and flexible.
• The dalang is capable of voice acting, singing, rapping and dance
• The Dalang
  • Manipulates puppets.
  • Sings
  • Taps out signals to the orchestra.
  • Speaks the parts of all the characters using voice interchangeably to differentiate.
• Dalang performs mood songs (Suluk) at regular intervals during performance.
  • 50–60 songs, and each show lasts approximately 9 hours.
• Suluk are never accompanied by the full Gamelan ensemble.
  • Often, a single instrument accompanies the singer, with no more than 3 or 4.
• Gamelan music's primary goal is to accompany stage action.

Gamelan Ensemble

• The Gamelan ensemble typically comes composed mainly by bronze percussion instruments.
• It is commonly augmented by other percussion instruments, strings, and a flute.
• A full Javanese Gamelan ensemble typically follows this instrumentation.
• Saron is a xylophone of heavy bronze bars.
• Gender is a bronze xylophone with resonance chambers beneath.
• Bonang is essentially a set of bronze bowls.
• Gongs and Kempul are hanging gongs.
• Kenong and Ketuk are single inverted bronze bowls.
• Gambang is a wooden Xylophone.
• Rebab is a two-stringed fiddle.
• Suling is a flute.
• Kendang are horizontal drums beat with the fingers on both ends.
• Tjelempung is essentially a zither of thirteen double strings but does have some variation.

Theater Arts

• Theater arts are ancient traditions in Asia, with a specialization in Japan, Indonesia, and China.
• This art form was transmitted through generations.
• The presentation's message reflects everyday life.
• Selectivity is a key principle of theater.
• Clarity, order, and beauty rarely found in ordinary life is achived via theater art.