On The Relation Between Tone And Tune In "The Theory Of Singing"

Yan Nan Zhi An’s Singing Theory in Yuan Dynasty is a comprehensive theoretical work on singing art in ancient China.It plays a milestone role in the development of Chinese vocal performance art,and also has an important influence on the theory and practice of Chinese traditional opera and vocal music.As the cornerstone of Chinese traditional vocal music research,it has played an important role in promoting the development of Chinese traditional singing theory.Praised as the beginning of "Singing Methodology" in the past dynasties,"The Theory of Singing" has a high historical position in the literary,opera and vocal circles,which has laid a solid foundation for the research of traditional vocal music in China and the present teaching theory.To a great extent,the concepts of "tune according to words" and "clear pronunciation and round pronunciation" required in contemporary national vocal music learning inherit and develop the musical viewpoints of "tune according to words,stick to tune" and "sound should be mellow and full of words" discussed in Singing Theory.Therefore,the relationship of tone and tune,that is,the interaction among pronunciation in singing,using the tunes according to one’s own understanding and use of breath,is selected as the subject for further study.This can not only make clear the development process of the traditional vocal music theory and its constant artistic pursuit,but also provide ideas for development and practice of the modern national vocal music theory.The present paper mainly adopts methodologies such as literature review and case to thorough analysis the vocal tone relationship in The theory of singing from the following aspects:First of all,by using the concept of vocal tone as a breaking point to discuss three periods of vocal tone:before Tang dynasty,Tang and Song dynasty and Yuan dynasty.Meanwhile,analysis the development of musical art and vocal tone within the context of time.The second part is a theoretical analysis of the vocal tone relationship of "The theory of singing ".This paper analyzes the author,chapter and general content of the book and the part of "vocal tone " in the book respectively,carrying a combination analysis of works and theory and draw out some recognition and conclusion.Then following by focus analysis of the influence of vocal tone relationship of theory of singing on the later generations to obtain views from more perspectives,mainly discuss from two aspects of vocal tone theory in Ming and Qing dynasty and modern vocal tone relationship.The last part is cases studies of the vocal tone in theory of singing.Taking the vocal music work Yuanqu Xiaochang(three pieces)with Yuan dynasty characteristic for example,combined with the practical application and theoretical assumptions of the author,to analysis from six elements of context construction,subject setting,theoretical analysis,choice of details,presupposition and outcome and theoretical evaluation to prove the characteristics reflected upon the vocal tone relationship in the theory of singing.