The Artistic Features of Kunqu Opera
Kunqu opera, as a kind of drama that once had a great influence in the whole country, can be miraculously revived after suffering, which is closely related to its superb artistic charm, and its artistic achievements are first manifested in its music.
Kunqu opera has beautiful lines and melodies, and is good at touching and feminine. In singing skills, we pay attention to the control of sound, the ups and downs of rhythm and speed, the articulation and pronunciation, and the complete accompaniment of the scene.
"Water mill cavity". This new tune has established the singing characteristics of Kunqu opera, which is fully reflected in the slow tune (that is, the "fine tune") of Nanqu. It is embodied in slowing down the beat and delaying the rhythm in order to use more decorative coloratura in the melody. In addition to the usual one-sided and one-sided approach, there is also a kind of "free board tune", that is, the tune of 4/4 beat is slowed down to 8/4, and the tone is soft and euphemistic. Pay attention to the head, abdomen and tail of articulation, that is, enunciation, over-cavity and radio reception, which increases the space and diversity of music layout, and its lingering and soft characteristics become more and more prominent.
Relatively speaking, the voice and emotion of Beiqu tend to be ups and downs and bold, with strong jumping ability. It uses a seven-tone scale, which is different from the five-tone scale used in Nanqu (basically no semitone). However, during the long-term absorption of Beiqu, Kunshan Opera gradually merged the characteristics of the original Beiqu into a "Nanqu" singing style. Therefore, in Kunqu opera, Beiqu is used as a complete set, and there are also singles and "the combination of North and South".
The application of "North-South Combination" is very distinctive: generally speaking, the Northern Song Dynasty is sung by one role, while the Southern Song Dynasty is sung by several different roles. The combination of these songs is entirely based on the plot, so that music can obey the needs of drama as perfectly as possible.
According to the changes of the North-South songs themselves, there are many techniques such as "borrowing the palace", "breaking the tune" and "picking songs". The original set of songs, regardless of the North and South songs, has the problem of songs belonging to that palace tune. When singing songs needs to obviously change the mood, the songs in the same palace tune are not competent, so you can borrow suitable songs in other palace tunes. For example, in Peony Pavilion, the qupai used successively are "Goat" (up-regulated), "Peach Blossom" (out-of-tune), "Bao Lao Cui" (Huang Zhonggong) and "No-beating" (out-of-tune).
In singing skills, Kunqu pays attention to the control of sound, rhythm and pronunciation speed, with the distinction of "gap", "overlap", "sigh" and "wow" and the individual singing methods of various roles. In addition to the slow beat of four beats, the slow beat of music is slowed down by two beats by the "gift board" in Nanqu, and it also includes the three-eye board, one-eye board, running board and scattered board commonly used in Nanqu and Nanqu. There are many changes in their actual singing, and everything is subject to the plot and the emotions that the role should have.
The instruments of Kunqu Opera are relatively complete, generally composed of wind instruments, stringed instruments and percussion instruments. The main musical instruments are flutes, as well as sheng, xiao, sanxian and pipa. Due to the soft-voiced flute as the main accompaniment instrument, the extensive use of gift boards, the way of pronouncing words at the abdomen and tail, and its own "beautiful" characteristics influenced by Wuzhong folk songs, Kunqu music has been crowned as the "graceful charm, singing and sighing" pear garden for hundreds of years. Accompaniment has many playing cards, which are suitable for different occasions and later used by many operas.
The music of Kunqu Opera belongs to the antithetical couplet structure, referred to as "Qupai Style". There are more than 1000 kinds of qupai used in it. The sources of North and South Qupai include not only ancient song and dance music, Daqu and Ci tune in Tang and Song Dynasties, singing and earning in Song Dynasty, but also folk songs and ethnic songs. Based on Nanqu, it composes music by means of "breaking the tune", "borrowing the palace" and "picking songs" with the number of sets of Beiqu. In addition, there are many religious songs.
The Cultural Value of Kunqu Opera
The cultural value of Kunqu opera is mainly manifested in three aspects: script, music and performance.
First, Kunqu opera script
The script of Kunqu Opera adopts the structure of the legend of Zaju in Song and Yuan Dynasties. Generally, each drama has 24 folds, each fold is a self-contained unit, and there is a relatively complete plot running through the total plot, so many single-fold dramas can be staged independently. In literary language, it inherits the advantages and advantages of ancient poetry and Yuanqu, adopts the style of long and short sentences, and uses gorgeous and elegant words. Many plays in Kunqu Opera, such as Peony Pavilion, Palace of Eternal Life and Peach Blossom Fan, are immortal works of ancient opera literature. Wen Qu, a Kunqu opera, has a literary tradition of Tang poetry, Song poetry and Yuan music. Liang Chenyu, Tang Xianzu, Hongyi, Kong, Li Yu, Li Yu, Ye Ya and other Kunqu playwrights and musicians are all genius representatives in the history of China opera and literature.
Second, the music of Kunqu Opera
Kunqu music belongs to Qupai style, with more than 1000 Qupai. There are not only ancient song and dance music, Daqu and Ci tune in Tang and Song Dynasties, Zhu Gong tune in Song Dynasty, but also folk songs and national songs. Based on Nanqu, it composes music by means of "breaking the tune", "borrowing the palace" and "picking songs" with the number of sets of Beiqu. The singing is euphemistic and delicate, and the spit is delicate. Accompaniment instruments are mainly sheng, xiao, suona, sanxian and pipa.
Third, the performance of Kunqu Opera
The performance of Kunqu Opera vividly shows the picture of ancient life. Its performance has its own unique system and style, and its biggest characteristics are strong lyricism, delicate movements, clever and harmonious combination of singing and dancing, and high degree of dancing and stylization. Because the language of Kunqu Opera is too elegant, it is often accompanied by dance movements in the aria to express the inner feelings of the characters, which greatly increases the difficulty of performance.
Kunqu Opera, which integrates poetry, music, song, dance and drama, occupies an important position in the history of China literature, opera, music and dance, and has a far-reaching and direct influence on various operas. Known as "the quintessence of China", Peking Opera once drew nutrition from Kunqu Opera, not only in singing and movements, but sometimes the whole plays such as Stopping Horse, Running at Night and Zhaojun Dike were completely transplanted and processed from Kunqu Opera.
The expression means of China traditional opera is the combination of singing, reading, doing and playing (dancing), and these four aspects and their combination are the most demanding in Kunqu opera. Kunqu opera actors must have all these aspects. Actors of other operas should learn Kunqu opera to improve their acting skills. For example, Mei Lanfang, a Peking Opera actor, has a deep knowledge of Kunqu Opera and can perform Kunqu Opera. Pei Yanling's masterpiece "Lin Chong Running at Night" was performed in the form of Kunqu Opera.
The famous Kunqu Opera Peony Pavilion
Peony Pavilion was written by Tang Xianzu in the Ming Dynasty. Write about the resurrection of Du Liniang. * * * Fifty-five.
Plot: During the Southern Song Dynasty, Du Bao, the magistrate of Nan 'an, gave birth to only one daughter, named Li Niang, who was sixteen years old and had not yet been betrothed. Du Bao invited Chen Zui Liang, a 60-year-old scholar, to become a model for girls' middle schools. Because Shang Chen's "The Book of Songs" aroused Li Niang's feelings. Chunxiang, Bandu's maid, occasionally found the garden behind Du Fu and led Li Niang to sneak around in the garden. Li Niang, who has been trapped in the boudoir for a long time, moved the idea of visiting spring under the inspiration of good spring. After Li Niang returned to the house, she suddenly had a dream. I dreamed that a scholar asked her to write a poem with a willow branch in her hand, and was later carried to the Peony Pavilion by that scholar to have sex. After Li Niang woke up, she felt sleepy and went to the garden to find a dream the next day. Disappointed, acacia became a disease, and the description became thinner and thinner. One day, when I looked in the mirror, I saw that I was so thin. I asked Chunxiang to bring a painter and Su Bo, draw a picture of Chunrong by herself, and write a poem on it. She also told Chunxiang about the dream mirror and asked Chunxiang to find a painter to frame the painting. Du Bao and his wife heard that their daughter was seriously ill, so they called Chen Zuliang to get medicine and asked Shi to chant Buddhist scripture, but it was useless.
On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, Li Niang died. Before she died, she asked Chunxiang to put Chunrong in a rosewood box and hide it under the Taihu stone in the garden, and asked her mother to bury her under the plum tree next to the peony pavilion in the garden. At this time, Li Quan, the thief who surrendered, led the troops around Huai Yang. The court promoted Du Bao to Huai Yang Anfu and set out immediately. Du Bao had to bury his daughter in a hurry, built a plum blossom temple to worship Li Niang, and entrusted Shi He with custody. Du Bao immediately took his wife and Chunxiang to Huai 'an. Due to the military crisis, Du Bao let his wife and Chunxiang return to Lin 'an by boat on the way.
Liu Mengmei, the champion of Guangzhou Fuzhong, was originally named. One day, she dreamed that a woman stood under a plum tree in a garden and said that she had married him, so she changed her name to Liu Mengmei. Liu Mengmei went to Lin 'an to catch the exam, and Lu got Miao Shunbin's help. When I went to Nan 'an, Liu was ill and lived in Meihua Temple. When Liu's illness gradually improved, I occasionally strolled around the garden, next to the Taihu Stone, picked up Li Niang's box of spring clothes, went back to the study, hung it in front of the bed, and burned incense and worshipped every night. Li Niang stayed in the underworld for three years. When Yan made friends with ghosts, Chad Li Niang was still dying and asked her to go home. Li Niang's ghost swam to Meihua Temple, and it happened that Yagyu was begging for his true face. Li Niang was greatly moved and met Yagyu, claiming to be the daughter of the west neighbor. Both of them talked and laughed every night, which shocked Shi. One day, they were talking and laughing, and suddenly history came and went. The next night, Li Niang had to tell Yagyu the truth and begged Yagyu to dig a grave and open a coffin within three days. Yagyu had to tell Shi the truth and ask her for help. The next day, they dug graves and opened coffins to bring Li Niang back to life. Fearing that Yagyu and Du Liniang would be discovered, the Taoist hired a boat overnight and the three of them went to Lin 'an together.
Chen Liangliang found that Li Niang's grave was stolen and went to Yangzhou to tell Du Fu to appease him. Chen Liangliang was captured by the rebels before he arrived in Huai 'an. Li Quan heard that he was Du's tutor, and that Du Bao had his wife and Chunxiang, so he listened to his wife's plan and lied that he had killed Mrs. Du and Chunxiang, and then let them go. When Chen went to Huai 'an to see Du Bao, the grave of the young lady was stolen and the old lady and Chunxiang were killed. Du Bao was frightened. After Du Bao worked hard to write two letters, he gave them to Li Quan and Li's wife, sealed the official documents, surrendered to Li Quan, and Huai 'an was relieved.
Li Niang and them went to Lin 'an and lived by the Qiantang River. Yagyu knew that the examination time had passed. Thanks to the examiner Miao Shunbin, they were able to make up the exam. At this time, the court delayed the release of the list because of the military affairs of Huai and Yang. Li Niang asked Yagyu to visit his parents in Yangzhou first. Shortly after Yagyu left, the old lady who came to Lin 'an and Chunxiang met Li Niang and Shi Gu Dao because she was looking for a place to spend the night. Yagyu went to Yangzhou and heard that Du was in Huai 'an, so he went to Huai 'an to see Du Bao. Du Bao thought his daughter was dead, so why did he have a son-in-law? He was accused of being an impostor by Liu Sheng and was taken to Lin 'an for trial. Du Bao returned to Lin 'an and was promoted to Prime Minister because of his outstanding military exploits. Chen Liangliang was promoted to the position of official of the Yellow Gate. At this time, under the list, Liu won the first prize, but Liu was nowhere to be found. It turned out that Liu was hanged by Du Bao, because Li Niang's spring capacity was found in Liu, and Du Bao thought Liu was a grave robber. At this time, Miao Shunbin heard about it and rushed to Du Fu to save Yagyu. Miao told Du Bao that Yagyu had won the first prize. When Du Zheng was angry, Chen Liangliang came and said that Miss Liu did live again, and Yagyu was a son-in-law. Du thinks it's a ghost, please play the emperor to destroy it. Chen told the emperor about it, and the emperor called the prime minister, the young lady, yagyu and the old lady to testify. When everyone arrived at the golden palace, the emperor looked in the mirror to see if there was any shadow, and concluded that Li Niang was really alive. Du Bao insisted that Li Niang and the old lady were ghosts, and then the emperor ruled that their father, daughter and husband should recognize each other. Li Niang also persuaded Yagyu to recognize her father-in-law Du Bao, and the whole family was happy.