Mapeh

• Japanese Theater


  The traditional form of popular theater began at the end of the 10th century and soon became the most successful theater entertainment in the great cities
• Noh and Kabuki


  • Considered the most important Japanese contribution to World Theater
  • Unique and genuine expressions of the Japanese spirit and culture
  • Reflect the tastes and ideals of different social classes in profoundly different epochs
• Ipponchoshi vocal technique


  1. Used in speeches building up to an explosive climax

  2. Requires extraordinary breath control that only few experts succeed in achieving
• Nori vocal technique


  1. Adapted from the chanting of Gagaku

  2. Amplifies a very lively way of riding the rhythms of the shamisen (accompanying instrument)

  3. Declaiming each accompaniment
• Yakubyoshi vocal technique


  The subtle delivery of poetical lines written in the Japanese metrical form of alternating seven and five syllables
• Shamisen music


  • Collected and popularized aspects from all previous forms of Japanese music
  • Includes gagaku (classical court music imported from China during the 10th century), shomyo (sophisticated and rich tradition of Buddhist chanting), and folk songs and fashionable songs of the day
  • The most popular shamisen music was nagaute (long song) which reached a golden age in the 18th century as dance music for the benge mono or quick change plays
• Nagauta music


  Very flexible, can be performed by one shamisen player or an entire orchestra of twenty musicians, of which ten are shamisen players, while other players (taken from the Noh) and drums (small drum-kotsuzumi, waist drum-okitsuzumi, stick drum-taiko) are also included
• Wayang puppets


  • Prevalent in Java and Bali in Indonesia, and Kelantan and Terengganu in Malaysia
  • The best known of the Indonesian wayang-shadow puppets due to the leather construction of the puppets that are carefully carved with very fine tools and supported with carefully shaped buffalo horn handles and control rods
• Wayang


  • An Indonesian and Malay word for the puppet or shadow
  • The Javanese word for "shadow" or "imagination" also connotes "spirit"
• Dalang


  The chief performer of the shadow play, who tells a story to the accompaniment of several instruments, including some that are part of the present-day gamelan ensemble
• Wayang kulit was performed in royal courts and widely performed in public on religious occasions so that knowledge of wayang became widespread among all classes in Java
• Gamelan ensemble


  • Comprised mainly of bronze percussion instruments, augmented by other percussion instruments, strings, and flute
• Peking opera


  • A form of traditional Chinese theater which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics
  • Arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century
  • Was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China
• Peking opera


  • Not actually a monolithic form, but rather a coalescence of many older forms
  • Introduced its own innovations, such as greatly reduced vocal requirements for all the major roles, simplified melodies accompanied by different traditional instruments, and the introduction of true acrobatic elements
• Peking opera's popularity


  Attributed to the simplicity of the form, with only a few voices and singing patterns, which allowed anyone to sing the arias themselves
• Peking opera


  • Emphasizes meaning rather than accuracy
  • The highest aim of performers is to put beauty into every motion
  • Performers are strictly criticized for lacking beauty during training
  • Performers are taught to create a synthesis between the different aspects of Peking opera (music, vocal performance, mime, dance, acrobatics)
  • Much attention is paid to tradition in the art form, and gestures, settings, music, and character types are determined by long-held convention, including conventions of movement used to signal particular actions to the audience
• Peking opera music


  • Accompanied by three types of instruments: wind, string, and percussion
  • The main instruments are Chinese in origin: the jinghu, yueqin, sanxian, suona horn, Chinese flutes, and a variety of gongs and cymbals
  • The melodies are rhythmic and graceful
• Types of melodies in Peking opera


  • Arias (further divided into Erhuang and Xipi varieties)
  • Fixed-tune melodies or gupai (e.g. "Water Dragon Tune", "Triple-Thrust")
  • Percussion patterns