The Orchestration Of Kunqu Opera

One of the profound results from the reformation of Nan-Qu singing by Wei Liang-fu during the Ming dynasty is the compose of band,by which the accompaniment started to form specific structures and models.As Kunshan tune spread across the country in the Wanli reign period of the Ming Dynasty,Kunqu Opera Troupe became the major form of acting performance and singing and learning templates,therefore Kunqu accompaniment band were further perfected;at the Qing Dynasty it was said that "Let them have all the instruments and the play is accomplished",the band of other "Luantan troupe" and pure instrument ensemble that developed thereafter also modeled after Kunqu Opera Troupe.It is no exaggeration to say that Kunqu Opera band was the main body and origin of the music in Ming and Qing Dynasties.In this paper the development and constitution of Kunqu Opera band would be discussed in four chapters:Chapter one is a brief history of the accompaniment band for singing and drama play before the Ming Dynasty.After the maturity of The twenty-eight temperament system that uses bamboo flute as its accordatura instrument,the play troupe in the Song and Yuan Dynasties was the prototype of accompaniment band with flute?drum and Gong.In chapter two we will discuss the using about instruments in singing in the Ming Dynasty and Wei Liang-fu's reformation.The opposition of ideology between the north and the south in the first half of the Ming Dynasty not only divided the southern singing style and the Northern singing style,but also brought about the separation between string tone by using only strings instruments and mill tone by using a cappella or sometimes flute.Nan-Qu singing style gradually became the mainstream of singing in Jiajing reign period of the Ming Dynasty,among which the Kunshan tune modified by Wei Liang-fu shined.Unlike other tunes that used only percussions like Gong or drums for rhythm in most of the time Kunshan tune began to use strings and woodwinds instruments like flute and Pipa and others,and the separation was therefore broken.All the singings in the late Mign Dynasty followed the accompaniment method constructed by Wei Liang-fu.Chapter three is the analysis of the constitution and orchestration of opera accompaniment band after the forming of Kunqu Opera Troupe.In chapter four we will discuss the merge of Hua drama and Ya drama in all the troupe after the Qianlong reign period of the Qing Dynasty and the influences from west symphonic orchestra to china opera accompaniment band after 1949.There are some features we can recognize from the analysis of documents.First,The way to accompaniment is that all the instruments followed the same note as the vocals in Wei Liang-fu's works means that in principles any instruments can be added to or removed from the accompaniment,therefore the choice of instruments and the orchestration for accompaniment band in private occasions or family bands were very flexible.Second,the arrangements to band were based on the role system.The melody?rhythm and conduction three roles,which were evolved from the musician role(called ba)in Song drama,in Kunqu Opera Troupe means that the band is fulfilled when the three roles are reached.Since bamboo flute?small gong and drum clappers were the most iconic examples of three roles,they became the minimum configuration of Kunqu opera accompaniment band,while the players followed the principle of"Multi-roles for few people,repeated roles for more" In the end,Kunqu Opera band are accompaniments for vocals,therefore only a few instruments were used,or enen completely absent in family Kunqu troupe most of the time.As for for-profit professional drama troupe the maximum number for band performer only lied between six to eight players even in the peak of it's time.