Cantonese opera has absorbed musical elements from Cantonese xiaoqu (小 曲, fixed tunes), shuochang (說唱, narrative singing) and other regional genres.29 It has in turn influenced modern compositions. For instance, Wut Man-chung (屈 文中, 1942-1992), a Hong Kong composer who was born in Sichuan (四川), composed Fantasy Overture: Princess Chang Ping (帝女花幻想序曲) in 1979. In the composition Symphony 1997: Heaven, Earth, Man (交響樂 1997：天地人) by Tan Dun ( 譚 盾 ), a commissioned work by the Hong Kong Government in celebrating the return of Hong Kong’s sovereignty to China in 1997, some phrases from “The Sacrifice of the Princess” (香夭)30 are used in the movement “Bell Chimes and the Operatic Performance of Temple Street” (廟街的戲和編鐘). In the Cantonese opera Princess Chang Ping (帝女花), there are newly composed tunes, like Swallows in the Snow (雪中燕); ancient tunes, like Autumn Thoughts by the Dressing Table (妝台秋思) and Bidding Farewell by the River Qiu (秋江哭別);
as well as banqiang (板腔) accompanied by percussion instruments, including the gong and drums. From the incorporation of various kinds of music in this opera, we can see that Cantonese opera is a genre capable of assimilating different genres and is constantly changing.
29 Lai Bo-jiang (賴伯疆) states in A History of Cantonese Opera (粵劇史) that during the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty, the operas performed in the Guangdong province used
“singing styles” (聲腔) of Kunshan (崑山), Yiyang (弋陽) and Bangzi (梆子). These singing styles formed the basis of Cantonese opera. Later, artists adapted these singing styles to the characteristics of the Cantonese dialect, and incorporated different kinds of music to suit the taste of the audiences and the story. For example, in the opera Song Jiang Kills Yan Xi-jiao (宋江怒殺閻婆 惜), in which Xin Ma Shi-zeng (新馬師曾) played the role of Song Jiang (宋江), the sipingdiao (四 平調) from Peking opera was employed. In the opera Story of a Family of Musicians (紅樓琴斷), in which Xin Ma Shi-zeng sang duets with Zhong Li-rong (鍾麗蓉), a number of Western popular songs and Shanghainese popular songs were used, including Over the Rainbow, Auld Lang Syne, When Are You Coming Back? (何日君再來), Song of the Four Seasons (四季歌), etc.
30 “The Sacrifice of the Princess” is the final scene of the opera Princess Chang Ping (帝女花) written by the maestro scriptwriter Tong Dik-seng (唐滌生). This opera was premièred by the Sin Fung Ming Opera Company (仙鳳鳴劇團) in 1957. In this scene, Princess Chang Ping (長平公主) and her husband Zhou Shi-xian (周世顯) return to the Royal Palace after the fall of the Ming Dynasty and bargain with the Qing Emperor in order that the father of Princess Chang Ping, Emperor Chongzhen (崇禎皇帝), would be buried in the Royal Mausoleum, and that her brother would be released from the prison. After the issuing of the imperial edict by the Qing Emperor, they sacrifice
1. The Music System of Cantonese Opera
Cantonese opera is a genre readily assimilating different kinds of music styles and elements. Throughout its history, the scriptwriters, musicians and singers have absorbed different kinds of melodies, singing styles and instruments in order to adapt to the tastes of the audiences, and to the content and context of the stories. For example, xiaoqu from Kunqu (崑曲), short pieces of Cantonese music, popular songs and other types of Chinese melodies have been used abundantly.
There have been newly created tunes for new operas as well. That is why Cantonese opera has been classified as an integrated genre (綜合體) in terms of music system. In Cantonese opera, the singing passages are classified as xiaoqu, banqiang and shuochang.
The music system of Peking opera (京劇) is in banqiangti (板腔體, “the system of banqiang”). Its banqiang system is divided into xipi (西皮) and erhuang (二簧). Each banqiang has its own pattern in the structure and linguistic tones of its lyrics, as well as its own musical pattern. In performance, the singers realise the melody by following the implicit tune embedded in the lyrics.
In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the music of Cantonese opera only used banqiang, and xiaoqu was not yet to be employed. At first, only banqiang in the bangzi (梆子) system was used. Later, banqiang in the erhuang (二黃) system was absorbed. In that period, an opera only used either the bangzi or the erhuang, but not both. The operas that made use of bangzi were called bangzixi (梆子戲), and those made use of erhuang were called erhuangxi (二黃戲). Examples of the former include Sworn Brother and Sister (打洞結拜), Yang Yan-zhao Accusing His Son (六郎罪子), and those of the latter include The Third Wife Raising the Son (三 娘教子) and Xu Shi-lin Rescuing His Mother (仕林祭塔).
In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, there began to have a mixed use of banqiang of the bangzi and erhuang in an opera. Xiaoqu and shuochang were also incorporated into this genre. Since banqiang forms the largest portion of music in an opera, and the bangzi and erhuang are the two main systems of banqiang, the practitioners of Cantonese opera use banghuang ( 梆 黃 ) to
represent the whole category of banqiang.
Besides the xiaoqu and the banqiang, which are also commonly found in other genres of regional opera, the Cantonese opera also incorporates shuochang, which is midway between speaking and singing. Dishui nanyin (地水南音) is an example of shuochang found in Cantonese opera.
When the music of Cantonese opera became more and more complicated, the script alone was not able to capture all the nuances, and music notation was adopted to assist the actors’ singing and the instrumentalists’ accompaniment. Opera troupes and operatic singing clubs in Hong Kong generally use gongche notation (工尺譜), and beginners are required to learn the notation.31 In contrast to this situation, the opera troupes in mainland China mainly use cipher notation (簡譜).
The words used in gongche notation of Cantonese opera are similar to those used in Peking opera and Kunqu. Chinese words, like he (合) and che (尺), are used to represent different pitches, in a way similar to the solfège system of Western music.
The Chinese words in the gongche notation are not pronounced in Cantonese, but in a way close to the zhongzhouyin (中州音) (see Table 6.1).
Table 6.1
Corresponding Notes of the Gongche Notation (工尺譜) Used in Cantonese Opera and the Western Solfège System (西方唱名) and the Cipher Notation (簡 譜)
The tonality of Western classical music from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries is divided into major and minor. In Cantonese opera, the melodies in xiaoqu, banqiang and shuochang are employed in a system of modes (調式). Generally speaking, there are four modes used in Cantonese opera, namely
31 According to Chan Sau-yan (陳守仁), the maestro Wong Jyt-seng (王粵生) insisted that the singers had to learn the gongche notation in singing the melody, instead of singing in the “la” syllable or in Western solfège. He thought that this practice kept the traditional flavour of Cantonese operatic
heche (合尺), fanxian (反線), yifan (乙反), and shigong (士工). In the terminology of Cantonese opera, the “mode” and the solmisation of the two strings of the gaohu (高胡) are combined to be called “xian” (線). If the two strings are sung as sol-re, it is in zhengxian ( 正 線 ), or heche xian ( 合 尺 線 ). When the mode or the solmisation is not specified in the script, the music is sung in zhengxian. If the two strings are sung as do-sol, the mode used is fanxian (反線), or shangliu xian (上六 線). If the two strings are sung as la-mi, it is in shigong xian (士工線).
The solmisation of yifan xian (乙反線) is the same as that of zhengxian, i.e., the two open strings are sung as sol-re. However, in this mode, the notes yi (乙) and fan ( 反 ) are emphasized while the notes shi ( 士 ) and gong ( 工 ) are deemphasized. This kind of mode is also called kuhou (苦喉) or meihua qiang (梅 花腔), and it expresses a sorrowful sentiment. In a passage in yifan xian, not all shi (士) note is changed to yi (乙), and not all gong (工) note is changed to fan (反). It depends on the lyrics and the melodic contour. It should also be emphasized that the pitch of the yi (乙) note lies somewhere between the ti and te (the flattened ti) in twelve-tone equal temperament, and the pitch of the fan (反) note lies somewhere between the fa and fe (the sharpened fa).32
The Cantonese opera was mainly performed outdoors in its early history, and thus the tuning was generally high, with the shang (上) note of the zhengxian tuned to D or E-flat. In this tuning, it gives a piercing and bright quality. Nowadays, in performances in the theatres, the shang note is generally tuned to C or C-sharp.
There is also a tuning called “C20” or dapeng xian (大棚線). In this tuning, the shang note is tuned to a pitch about 20 Hertz higher than that of the middle C.
However, occasionally under the request of the singers, the shang note may be tuned to B-flat or D. The former tuning is called changdi yiban xian (唱低一板線) and the latter tuning is called changgao yiban xian (唱高一板線). Therefore, the tuning in Cantonese opera is flexible, and is readily adjustable to the voice condition of the singers and the mood of the passage to be sung.
32 Huang Shao-xia (黃少俠), an experienced teacher of Cantonese operatic singing, recalled that there was a view that when the Cantonese opera first adopted the banghuang (梆黃) system, the yifan diao (乙反調) was not yet employed. This mode was incorporated into Cantonese opera by blind artists of the Guangdong province from their shuochang (說唱) in meihua qiang (梅花腔).
In the early history of Cantonese opera, the banqiang was closely related to the tuning and solmisation of the instruments. In that period, there were “Eight Famous Pieces”33 designed for the training of Cantonese operatic singing. The musician playing the erxian (二弦) (the leading melodic instrument) tuned the two strings to la-mi (士工) while accompanying banqiang in bangzi (梆子). Therefore, bangzi is also called shigong (士工). When accompanying banqiang in erhuang (二黃), the solmisation of the two open strings became he-che (合尺, i.e., sol-re).
Therefore, erhuang is also called heche. At first, there was no mixed use of bangzi and erhuang in an opera. As a result, the solmisation of the two strings of the erxian was used to represent the type of banqiang being used. However, in modern practice, the solmisation of the two strings is the same for bangzi and erhuang, i.e., he-che. In this regard, the term shigong (士工) has two meanings. The first one refers to the solmisation. The second usage is a synonym of bangzi (梆子 ).
Therefore, we have to be careful to its exact meaning when coming across this term (see Table 6.2).
Table 6.2
Modes Used in Cantonese Opera and Their Solmisation Mode / Music System Solmisation Pitch shigong (士工) (referring to the
solmisation)
la – mi shang (上) note is closed to Bb
shigong (士工) (referring to the music system, also called bangzi 梆 子)
sol – re shang (上) note is closed to C
heche (合尺) (also called erhuang 二黃 or erwang 二王)
sol – re shang (上) note is closed to C
yifan (乙反) (also called kuhou 苦 喉 or meihua qiang 梅花腔)
sol – re shang (上) note is closed to C
fanxian (反線) (also called shangliu xian 上六線)
do – sol shang (上) note is closed to G
33 According to a speech given by Loo Kah-chi (盧家熾, 1916-1996), a maestro of Cantonese music, the “Eight Famous Pieces” are The Martial Art of Li Zhong (李忠賣武), Bo Li-xi Meeting His Wife (伯里奚會妻), Encountering Wu Liu-qi in the Snow (雪中賢), Yang Yan-zhao Accusing His Son (楊 六郎罪子), Recommending He Wen-xiu (附薦何文秀), The Betrayal of Han Xin (韓信棄楚歸漢), The Death of Lin Dai-yu (黛玉葬花), and Bian Cai Exorcizing the Evil Spirit (辨才釋妖). See Lai Kin (黎鍵), An Oral History of the Cantonese Opera in Hong Kong (香港粵劇口述史) (Hong
The tuning and the usage of the modes in Cantonese opera have been changing throughout its history. One thing that has not changed is the close relationship between the lyrics and the music. In the following sections, the characteristics of the text in Cantonese opera and the relationship between the lyrics and the music will be explored.
(1) The Use of Rhyme
Rhymes are used in the text of Cantonese opera. Generally speaking, a piece or a scene uses only one rhyme throughout. Rhymes are used in banqiang, xiaoqu, shuochang and some spoken text, including kougu (口古), luogubai (鑼鼓白), and shibai (詩白). Some rhymes are considered interchangeable. For example, the rhyme “in” (田邊韻) is interchangeable with the rhymes “im” (簾添韻) and “yn”
(圓圈韻). In this way, there are more choices of words for the scriptwriters in writing the text.
(2) The Use of Words in Even Tone and Oblique Tone
The lyrics of the banqiang and shuochang in Cantonese opera is made up of couplets. In each couplet, there is an upper line (上句) and a lower line (下句).
The last word of the upper line must be in the oblique tone (仄聲), i.e., either the rising tone (上聲), going tone (去聲) or the entering tone (入聲). The last word of the lower line must be in the even tone (平聲). In this way, the ending musical notes of a couplet are set in a way that is balanced and satisfactory. Monotony in the melodic line is thus avoided.
(3) Matching of the Melody with the Tones of the Lyrics
Cantonese is a tonal language. That means that the same phonetic sound could represent different meanings by pronouncing it in different tones which differ in pitches or contours. For example, the phonetic sound “yi” could mean “clothes”
(衣) or “meaning” (意), depending on the tone in the pronunciation. The melody of a singing passage in the banqiang and shuochang in the Cantonese opera is realised
by the singer by following the implicit melody of the lyrics.
There are nine tones in the Cantonese dialect. These nine tones are grouped into four categories: the even tone (平聲), the rising tone (上聲), the going tone (去 聲), and the entering tone (入聲). The even tone, the rising tone, and the going tone each is subdivided into the upper tone (陰) and the lower tone (陽) according to the pitch in pronunciation. The entering tone is similarly subdivided into the upper, middle, and lower tones. Since Cantonese is a highly tonal language, the singers of Cantonese opera have to realise the musical melody of a singing passage by following the implicit melodic contour of the lyrics. In the profession, this way of realising the melody is called luzi (露字, literally meaning “exposing the words”).
See Table 6.3 for the commonly used implicit pitches of the nine tones in Cantonese.
Table 6.3
The Nine Tones of Cantonese
Tone Example 1 Example 2 Pitch
Upper Even 衣 推 gong (工)
Upper Rising 倚 倒 che (尺)
Upper Going 意 政 shang (上)
Lower Even 疑 權 he (合)
Lower Rising 以 以 shang (上)
Lower Going 義 後 shi (士)
Upper Entering 益 一 gong (工)
Middle Entering 醃 百 shang (上)
Lower Entering 葉 日 shi (士)
The pitches shown in Table 6.3 are commonly used in zhengxian (正線).
The actual pitches used in a singing passage may change in different modes and in different contexts. The same word may be sung to different pitches in different sentences. The words in the upper rising tone and the lower rising tone are pronounced with an upward glissando. Therefore, they must be sung with a relatively low beginning pitch, which then glides to the pitches indicated in Table 6.3. The relationship between the linguistic tone and the musical pitch is a flexible one, and can be adjusted to suit the melody and lyrics. This is particularly obvious in the writing of lyrics for xiaoqu.
(4) The Beat System
The banqiang and shuochang in Cantonese opera can be classified by the mode used. For example, fanxian zhongban (反線中板) and yifan muyu (乙反木魚) are of two different modes. A second way of classification is by the beat system used. The beat system used in Cantonese opera is called dingban (叮板). The ban (板) is the first beat of a rhythmic unit and the ding (叮) represents other beats of the rhythmic unit. For example, the beat system yiban sanding (一板三叮) is made up of one ban and three dings. The three dings are called touding ( 頭 叮 ), zhongding (中叮) and weiding (尾叮) respectively. The beat system called yiban yiding (一板一叮) is made up of one ban and one ding. Although there are words of kuai ( 快 , “fast”), zhong ( 中 , “moderate”), and man ( 慢 , “slow”) in the nomenclature of the beat system names, they only indicate the number of ding(s) following the ban, not representing the actual tempo of the singing passage. Thus, a passage in manban (慢板) is not necessarily slower than a passage in zhongban (中板). See Table 6.4 for the beat systems commonly used in Cantonese opera.
Table 6.4
Common Beat Systems Used in Cantonese Opera and the Corresponding Symbols of Ding and Ban
Beat System Dingban Metre Example in the Recording sanban (散板) without ding and
ban
ad. lib. shouban (首板) from Zhou Yu Writing a Letter to His King (周瑜寫表)
manban (慢板) one ban followed by three dings ( x 、 、 、 )
4/4 erhuang manban (二黃慢
板) from “Comforting the Wife” from Time to Go Home (胡不歸．慰妻) zhongban (中板) one ban followed
by one ding ( x 、 x 、 )
2/4
liushui (流水) with ban only ( 、 、 、 、 )
1/4 or 2/4
The beats with lyrics falling on are called zhengban (正板), represented by an
“x” in the notation, or zhengding (正叮), represented by a “、”. The beats without
lyrics falling on are called diban (底板), represented by a “x ”, or diding (底叮), represented by a “ ∟”. See Figure 6.1 for examples of these beats.
Figure 6.1
A Passage from “Comforting the Wife” from Time to Go Home (胡不歸．慰 妻), Illustrating the Notation Used in Cantonese Opera
In the script of Cantonese opera, there is generally no indication of the pitches to be sung. Only in exceptional cases would we find the pitch notation.
Sometimes even the beats are not indicated. The singers and musicians are able to realize the melody and accompaniment according to the prescribed pattern of the specific banqiang. Generally the pitches of the xiaoqu are not indicated as well, but there may be indications of the beats.34
34 Ding (叮) and ban (板) mark the beats, and percussion patterns are closely related to them.
Generally, the zhangban (掌板), the principal percussionist, hits the buyu (卜魚) on the ban and the shadi (沙的) on the ding in accompanying banqiang (板腔). In accompanying qupai (曲牌), he or she hits the dagu (大鼓) on the ban and the pengling (碰鈴) on the ding. Nevertheless, this is not so strict in performance. For example, the zhangban may play huazhu (花 竹, “ornamented pattern”), which is a more complicated percussion pattern. See Chan Sau-yan (陳守仁), Cantonese Operatic Singing: A Manual of Wong Jyt-seng (粵曲的學和唱：王粵生粵曲教程), 2nd ed. (Hong
(5) Line Division
The lyrics of a line of the xiaoqu and shuochang are generally made up of seven or ten words. There are subdivisions of the line which are called fendun (分 頓). The scriptwriter writes a line with the prescribed number of words and whose content suits the development of the story. However, certain chenzis (襯字), which are extra words, may be inserted in the line. This allows greater freedom for the scriptwriter in writing the text and avoids monotony in the rhythm. For example, the following sentence from the opera Zhou Yu Writing a Letter to His King (周瑜 寫表) is an upper line of the shigong shouban (士工首板), a type of banqiang, and it has seven structural words, divided into two subdivisions, making up of four and three words respectively:
看過了書信 心內痛 upper line, ending with an oblique tone (the underlined word is a chenzi (襯字))
The following sentences are made up of ten words, subdivided into three, three, two and two words:
俺楊令公 為北漢 南征 北討。 upper line, ending with an
oblique tone
恨劉鈞 讒言是聽 誣俺有叛變 謀圖。 lower line, ending with an
even tone (the underlined words are chenzis (襯字))
The rhythmic pattern of a manban (慢板) making up of ten words is as follows:
Combining the rhythm with the lyrics, the above example is sung as thus:
Performance practice changes with time and place. The use of instruments in Cantonese opera also changes.
2. Instrumentation of Cantonese Opera
The ensemble accompanying the Cantonese opera is called pengmian (棚面, literally meaning “on the front side of the temporary stage”). The reason for using this term is that in the early days, the accompanists were seated on the stage, just in front of the backdrop. In those days, the matinee performances used an ensemble called sanjiatou (三架頭, literally meaning “three instruments”), making up of the erxian (二弦), yueqin (月琴) and sanxian (三弦). For the evening performances, one instrument was added, which may be the zhuqiao tiqin (竹殼提琴) or the hengxiao (橫簫). In the period of the reign of Emperor Xianfeng (咸豐) (1850-1861), the accompanists numbered to seven, and the ensemble is divided into daguzhang (打鼓掌, presently called zhangban 掌板); shangshou (上手, literally meaning “the first player”), who played the di (笛), xiao (簫), and yueqin (月琴);
the ershou (二手, literally meaning “the second player”), who played the sanxian (三弦) and suona (嗩吶); the sanshou (三手, literally meaning “the third player”), who played the dabo (大鈸) and erxian (二弦). Sometimes the dagu (大鼓), daluo (大鑼) and xiaoluo (小鑼) might be added. In the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, the ensemble was further expanded (see Table 6.5).
Table 6.5
Percussionists Employed in Cantonese Opera during the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China
Title Matinee
Performance
Evening Performance
Remarks
shangshou (上手) di (笛) (suona 嗩吶), xiao (簫), yueqin (月 琴)
ershou (二手) sanxian (三弦), di (笛) (suona 嗩吶), xiao (簫), dazheng (打錚), chuiluo (吹螺)
sanshou (三手) dabo (大鈸) erxian (二弦)
sishou (四手) zhangban (掌板) dagu (打鼓) later called “dagu”
(打鼓)
wushou (五手) daluo (打鑼) zhangban (掌板) later called “daluo”
(打鑼) liushou (六手) dagu (大鼓), erxian
(二弦) (assistant)
later called “dagu”
(大鼓) qishou (七手) fabaogu (發報鼓),
daluo (大鑼)
later called “daluo”
(大鑼) bashou (八手) zhuqiao tiqin (竹殼
提琴)
xiaoluo (小鑼), dabo (大鈸)
jiushou (九手) hengxiao (橫簫), daluo (大鑼) shishou (十手) xiaoluo (小鑼),
standby percussionist
acts as a substitute musician, has to be able to play a number of instruments
Later, the houguan (喉管), dongxiao (洞簫), erhu (二胡), yangqin (揚琴), qinqin (秦琴), yehu (椰胡) were incorporated into the ensemble. In the 1930s, the accompanying ensemble of opera troupes in Guangzhou and Hong Kong were divided into zhongyuebu (中樂部, literally meaning “Chinese instrumental group”) and xiyuebu (西樂部, literally meaning “Western instrumental group”). In that period, Western instruments began to be introduced to China, and the accompanying ensemble of Cantonese opera incorporated the violin (being called fanling 梵鈴 in the profession), saxophone (being called seshi 色士 or seshifeng 色 士風 in the profession), and xylophone. The gongs and drums used to accompany Peking opera and its percussion patterns were also used in Cantonese opera.
Subsequently the term xiyuebu ( 西 樂 部 ) was used to represent melodic instruments, and zhongyuebu ( 中 樂 部 ) was used to represent percussion instruments. In the 1990s, some practising musicians thought that it was not appropriate to call the melodic instruments, which consist of Chinese and Western
instruments, as xiyue (西樂). They therefore changed the term to yinyue (音樂, literally meaning “music”), while the term zhongyue (中樂) was changed to jiyue (擊樂, literally meaning “percussion”).