Opera Concert Art Research

It is well known that singing is at the first place of the four skills in Chinese traditional opera and to some great extent it determines the character of traditional opera. Great importance is attached to singing skill in Henan opera, a major genre of local operas. And aesthetically speaking, "excellent singing- can cover up all shortcomings". It is for this reason that the author takes Henan opera's singing skill as a problem to probe.To a common vocalist, the research of singing naturally includes vocalism, pronunciation, singing styles and so on, But in Ethnomusicology, the research includes many other aspects in relation to singing skill. In this thesis, an elementary construction of singing theory about Henan opera is established, covering perspectives of history, technique, pronunciation and pithy formulae, etc.To a common vocalist ,the research of singing naturally includes vocalism, pronunciation, singing style and so on. But in the nation musicology, the research includes many other aspects in relation to singing skill. In this paper, the elementary construction of singing theory about Henan opera is composed of history, skills, pronunciation and pithy formula, etc.This thesis is composed of six chapters including actually three aspects history practice and theory. The first chapter is concerned with the evolution of Henan opera's singing. It is divided into three sections; the author summarizes each stage's accomplishment. Chapter Two to Chapter Four is the study on singing skill itself. With the aid of modern science, the author makes a detailed analysis of seven ways of sound production in terms of breath, resonance, timbre and pronunciation and so on, regarding Dabenqiang, Erbenqiang, Yanqiang, Yinyangqiang, Jiabenyin, Zhayin, Jiahanyin(Wanyingqiang), in the meantime making a systematic investigation in Henan opera's teaching mechanisms. The author pays particular attention to the Jiahanying, holding that it has a natural affinity to basic singing principles in China and abroad, as well as expecting it will benefit the development of national vocal music. In addition, the sum-up of dialect and the creation of languages has linguistic significance in musicology. The fifth and the sixth chapter refine the theoretical system of singing. First collecting and sorting out sayings in singing skill, the author investigates and interprets the four types of sayings by means of rational cognition. Thus we can get a glimpse of an embryonic form of Henan opera's singing theory system, and eventually complete the preliminary construction of the system.