Traditional opera music: Qupai and Banqiang

There are many kinds of opera music. In terms of its structure, it can be divided into two categories: Qupai style and Banqiang style.

Qupai style

Also known as Lianqu style. If a play is sung repeatedly with a single tune, it is called a "single set"; if several tunes are sung in succession, it is called a "joint set". These can be collectively referred to as "suites". The tunes that make up the suite can be repeated. In addition to ordinary tunes, "jiqu" can also be used, that is, one or a few lines of singing are selected from several tunes to form a new tune. If the collected tunes do not belong to the same palace tune, it is called "borrowing the palace" or "offending the tune". The lyrics of Qupai opera music are mostly long and short sentences. The number of sentences and words in each song is fixed. However, for some songs, the number of sentences and words can be increased or decreased due to content requirements. The words "rolling singing" and "releasing" in high-pitched tunes are lyrics added according to the needs of the plot. They can be long or short, more or less, and have a lot of room for expansion and contraction.

Qupai style music has the following characteristics:

①There are many Qupai music. Due to the differences in the number of sentences, sentence patterns, melody, rhythm and palace tunes of each tune, it can be widely selected and used according to different plots and characters.

② The music of each type of drama has different styles because the tunes used are from different sources; but for the music of a certain type of opera, although there are many tunes, the style is harmonious and unified.

③Qupai style music is suitable for lyrical expressions and is weak in expressing passionate emotions.

④The high-pitched Bangqianqupai is unique in Chinese opera music and has special expressive power.

⑤The connection and use of different tunes makes the music diverse. Typical Qupai style music should include Gaoqiang, Kunqiang, Liuziqiang and numerous flower drum operas, lantern operas, tea-picking operas, two-person stage, two-person opera, etc.

Banqiang style

Based on a certain tune, through changes in speed, beat, rhythm, palace tune, melody and other elements, the melody and body of the tune are expanded and contracted. Techniques, thus gradually evolving into a series of different banqiang, forming a set of singing tunes with multiple dramatic performance functions. The overall structure of this singing tune is called banqiang style.

The structural form of banqiang music can be divided into the following three levels:

①Sentence pattern. The units that constitute a paragraph can be divided into basic sentence patterns and modified sentence patterns; some sentence patterns are a kind of template, such as the guide board and the back dragon of a single sentence style.

②Segment type. The complete basic structural unit of Banqiang style consists of an upper sentence and a lower sentence; the repeated changes of the upper and lower sentences are the basic characteristics of Banqiang style singing.

③Plate type. The structure, style and form of the singing tune. The format is composed of several sentence patterns and paragraph patterns to express relatively independent ideological content. Different forms express different emotions. Adagio is good at lyrical arias, original form is suitable for narration and rationality, allegro is good at expressing impassioned emotions, and rocking pattern is suitable for expressing dramatic conflicts. In terms of its connection method, it can be divided into two types: single plate body and joint plate body. The single board body consists of the same board type to form the aria, and the combined board body consists of different board types to form the aria; there are various ways of combination and connection, such as a long section of Erhuang Qiang, which can be composed of guide board, Huilong, adagio, original board, scattered board, etc. 5 It consists of one pattern; it can also be composed of two patterns: original pattern and adagio. The transfer of different patterns is essentially a form of melody development and change. Except for the guide and the dragon, which are each limited to one sentence, the number of sentences for other templates depends on the needs of the plot and is not limited. The lyrics of Banqiang style are mainly composed of neat 10-character sentences and 7-character sentences, and long and short sentences can also be interspersed.

Banqiang music has the following characteristics:

①The same tune system has both changes and unity. It not only has unified word patterns, rhythm patterns, introductions, transitions, palace tunes, and melody trends, but also has a variety of sentence patterns and patterns that change rhythm and speed.

②The structural amplitude is relatively flexible, the rhythm is changeable, and it can be adjusted or scattered, tightened or loosened. The board layout is highly logical. According to the changes in the plot, different formats are selected, which can be narrative or lyrical, and have a variety of dramatic expression functions.

③The music style of the same tune is relatively unified, but the contrasting changes in tone are not as rich and diverse as the tune style.

Bangzi tune and Pihuang tune are the most representative singing styles of Banqiang style. The music of Tanhuang Opera, Yue Opera, and Ping Opera also fall into this category. In addition, in some types of operas with Qupai style, due to the frequent and repeated use of some Qupai, variations of different rhythms and speeds are produced, thus the factor of banqiang appears. For example, the tune "Sichuan Diao" in Changsha Huagu Opera has evolved into the styles of guide, first-rate, second-rate, third-rate, Aizi, Shaoqiang, and Diaoqiang. There are an increasing number of opera types and repertoires that use both banqiang style and qupai style.