Teochew string music

Teochew string music or Chaozhou xianshi ( zh, c=, l=Chaozhou string-poem, s=潮州弦诗, t=潮州弦詩 also called "string-poem music") is classed as a type of music (chamber music for strings and woodwind, literally 'silk/bamboo') although it typically uses stringed instruments only. It is found in northeastern Guangdong and parts of Fujian and also in regions with overseas Teochew populations, such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the United States. The Chaoshan region of Guangdong, bordering on Fujian and comprising the cities of Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang, forms its own cultural sphere. Teahouses often accompany with Chaozhou music.

History

Developed from a fusion of elements, popular song, arias of Chinese opera, ancient melodies and pieces of Buddhist music, string music falls into two styles: () is music of the Confucian school that can be performed as an independent instrumental music genre or at weddings and other ceremonies and that aims at elegance and nobility, while () is principally the music of the theatre, though it may be played independently: it cultivates a sober, rustic style.

Instruments

The instruments most commonly employed include several varieties of two-stringed bowed lutes; the () '' erxian'' () or () the lead instrument in the Hakka style, shorter and higher-pitched than the ), the '' tihu'' (of lower pitch than the , adapted from the Cantonese ''gaohu'') and the big and small ''yehu'' (coconut shell body), as well as several types of plucked lutes: the ''pipa'', large and small ''sanxian'' (a fretless bass instrument like the ''shamisen''), ''qinqin'' (four-stringed with short, fretted neck and round body), (four-stringed with long, fretted neck and round body) and . Other than this, the (zither - origin of Vietnamese đàn tranh) and ''yangqin'' (a hammered dulcimer thought to derive from the Iranian santur) are played as well as percussion instruments: a hand-held wooden clapper (), a pair of "temple" blocks ( and ) that mark the beat, and a small drum (). Cello is sometimes also used, particularly in the style performed in the area of Shantou.

Characteristics

The ten characteristic compositions of are
* (, 'Grief of Wang Zhaojun')
* ()
* (, 'Jackdaws Play in the Water')
* (, 'The Oriole's Cry')
* (, 'High Moon')
* (, 'Great Eight Beats')
* (, 'Flock of Geese on the Shore')
* (, 'The Male Phoenix Seeks the Female')
* ('Five Knots of the Chain')
* (, 'Adding Flowers upon Brocade')

The form of each of these pieces resembles a suite () of variations upon a stock melody ('' qupai'' or 'noted tune'). These are called or 'beat' variations and follow an ordered sequence with changes of tempo and measure (most pieces have six or eight beat measures). Augmentation and diminution of the melody is used, so that it may repeatedly double in speed through the variations. The technique of introduces a division-like filling in of the melody with figures such as repeated notes and neighbouring or passing notes. Perfect-fourth transposition of the melody () also occurs, though the tonal centre remains constant.

Four or five main modes () are traditionally identified. However, while elsewhere in China such modes are mainly defined by absolute pitch and by the degree of the pentatonic scale that is taken as the key-note (thus setting the intervals of the scale), the conception of mode, rather like the Indian raga system, includes motif, ornament and intonation. Pitch is not absolute but the scale is usually constructed on a key-note approximating to western concert F – F. Modes are pentatonic but all derive from a seven-note scale: no notice is taken of the starting and finishing tones of the melody in determining the mode and the key-note remains the same in every mode. Tunes may be adapted to a new mode, but the mode remains constant throughout any performance of the suite.

Apart from the major pentatonic scale two further tones, corresponding to a (sharp) perfect fourth and a (flat) major seventh, are employed. The "missing" steps of the scale in each mode may be used in ornament but are not part of main mode structure. The mode ("Light III Light VI") is the standard major pentatonic. But ("Light III Heavy VI") calls for a heavy string-pressure upon the sixth degree, raising it to the seventh. ("Heavy III Heavy VI"), similarly, applies this upward string-bend to the third degree as well, raising it to the fourth. The fourth common scale, called ("Live V"), resembles this last but avoids the plain third degree and instead uses a heavy vibrato on the second degree. This is said to be the most characteristic mode of the region.

Chaozhou drum music includes the big drum and gong, the small drum and gong, the dizi set drum and dong and su drum and gong ensembles. The current Chaozhou drum music is said to be similar to the form of the drum and wind music of the Han and Tang dynasties.

References

*Anon, ''Sizhu yue : musique poétique à cordes de Chaozhou'', China.org, retrieved April 200

*Prof. Mercedes M. Dujunco, ''The Birth of a New Mode? Modal Entities in the Chaozhou Xianshi String Ensemble Music Tradition of Guangdong, South China'', in ''Ethnomusicology Online'', Issue 8, 2003, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, retrieved April 200

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Chinese styles of music
Teochew music