Mapeh

• Japan is rich in culture and tradition
• One of the traditions that are very popular until today is the traditional form of theater which began at the end of sixteenth century and soon became the most successful theater entertainment in the red light districts of the great cities
• Kabuki


  A traditional Japanese popular drama with singing and dancing performed in a highly stylized manner
• Kabuki


  • Rich blend of music, dance, mime, and spectacular staging and costuming
  • Major theatrical form in Japan for four centuries
  • Performed only by male actors
• Kabuki


  The word is written with three characters: ka, signifying "song"; bu, "dance"; and ki, "skill"
• Kabuki


  Derived from the word "KABUKU" meaning "to lean" or "to be out of the ordinary"
• Actors have carried the traditions of Kabuki from one generation to the next with only slight alterations
• Many of them trace their ancestry and performing styles to the earliest Kabuki actors and add a "generation number" after their names to indicate their place in the long line of actors
• Pentatonic Scale


  The traditional song of Japan that produces distinct characteristics used in the Asian style of making melodies
• DANCES AND MOVEMENT


  Accompanied by shamisen music collected and popularized a number of aspects from all previous forms of Japanese Music
• JAPANESE SHAMISEN MUSIC


  Includes Gagaku, Kagura, Nō, Nagauta
• Gagaku


  • Classic court music imported from China during the 18th century
• Kagura


  • Performed in Shinto shrines
• Nō


  • Chant derives from shōmyō (the sophisticated and rich tradition of Buddhist chanting)
• Nagauta


  • A love song which reached a golden age in the first half of the 19th century as dance music for the henge mono (quick-change piece)
• Shamisen music


  • Very flexible, can be performed by one shamisen or by an entire orchestra of 20 musicians
• Shamisen players


  • 10 players
  • Other players play flutes
• Drums in Shamisen music

  • Small drum- kotsuzumi
  • Waist drum- ōtsuzumi
  • Stick drum- taiko
• CHINESE THEATER


  Considered the highest form of arts in China
• PEKING OPERA


  Also known as the Beijing Opera, fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century, still follows traditional Chinese Arts in stressing meaning, rather than precise actions, a stylized Chinese form of Opera dating from the late 18th century, in which speech, singing, mime, and acrobatics are performed to an instrumental accompaniment, regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China and was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court, China's traditional theater art form which combines music, vocal performance, pantomime, dance, and acrobatics
• Styles of music in Peking Opera

  • Erh-huang
  • His-p'l
• Erh-huang and His-p'l


  Very similar, only difference is the key, His-p'l has lower sound than erh-huang
• Fan-pan


  Technique commonly used for sorrowful songs, and is only sung by bearded characters
• Peking Opera Orchestra


  • 8 musicians sitting on stools in the far corner of the stage, each performance begins with the ta-lo and siao-lo, a small and large gong and cymbals, in some performances, they also start with a single skin drum or kettle drum
• Conductor


  Sits in the center of the orchestra and creates tempo with this drum
• Actor's delivery of line

  Rigidly controlled by conventions
• Each role


  • Has its prescribed vocal timbre and pitch
  • Syllables are often drawn out with regards to conversational usage in order to maintain the appropriate rhythm
• Even spoken passages are governed by strict rhythms and tempos
• Chanted and sung passages are freely inserted into spoken monologues or dialogues
• Lines are rendered in an extremely stylized manner
• MUSICAL INSTRUMENT


  • Aerophone
  • Chordophone
  • Idiophone
• Aerophone


  • Ti-ts-cross flute; usually played along singing
  • Siao- recorded flutes; usually played along singing
  • Sona- trumpet; announces prosperous occasions (victories, good news, etc.)
• Chordophone


  • Hu-ch'in- is a two-stringed violin-like instrument that is help upright against the knee
  • Bu-ch'in- is a two-stringed violin-like instrument that has a more graceful sound
  • Yue-ch'in- is a four-stringed moon guitar
  • San-sien- is a three-stringed instrument
  • Pi-p'a- is a similar to lute with four strings
• Idiophone


  • Ta-lo and Siao-lo – gongs; signify the beginning of the performance
  • Tan-pi-ku – kettle drum; used to create the tempo of the performance
• Wayang kulit


  Shadow puppets prevalent in Java and Bali in Indonesia, and Kelantan and Terengganu in Malaysia
• Kulit


  Leather construction of the puppets that are carefully chiseled with very fine tools and supported with carefully shaped buffalo horn handles and control rods
• Wayang


  Indonesian and Malay word for theater
• Bayang


  Javanese word for shadow or imagination, also connotes "spirit"
• Wayang kulit performances


  • Accompanied by Gamelan in Java, and by "gender wayang" in Bali
• Dalang


  Essential communication between the artist and the audience, a source of recreation, humor and popular philosophy