Taiwanese opera (gezaixi), the most vibrant type of traditional theatre in Taiwan today, is sustained as a living art primarily through temple performances and secondarily through government-sponsored events. During temple festivities, patrons hire troupes for daylong performances that include a ritual performance, and opera performances in the afternoon and evening. On any specific day, professional troupes usually perform in different styles for the afternoon and evening shows, with a notable variance in vocal musical repertoire. The music of the “classic style” opera performed in the afternoon consists of songs from a pool of uniquely Taiwanese opera tunes. In contrast, popular songs dominate the musical repertoire used for the evening’s “hybrid style” performances. Although hybrid style opera has been performed for over forty years and the two operatic styles are both equally important to the performance practices of professional troupes, hybrid style opera continues to be marginalized. Surprisingly, some practitioners and scholars reject and critique hybrid style opera as deviant and non-traditional, particularly in its inclusion of popular songs. Government-sponsored events heavily favor classic style operas. My field research experience with Taiwanese opera, however, has led me to deconstruct the disapproving viewpoint of hybrid style opera and reconsider the nature of the opera’s musical repertoire formation. Through analyses of performance practices and dramatic functions of songs, I contend that performers select and use popular songs in corresponding manners as they do for that of non-popular, that is, traditionally-based, music. Furthermore, I delve into the formation of the opera’s vocal repertoire to argue that the bulk of the repertoire is formed through the appropriation of existing songs. Performers’ selection and usage of songs from the popular music genres is part and parcel of the vocal repertoire’s formation process. The latest transformation is in the performance of popular songs and the ways in which actors are featured in unprecedented fashions.
목차
Abstract Introdution The Present State of Taiwanese Opera Shared Performance Practices Fundamental performance principals Dramatic Functions of Song Performance Music Repertoire Formations Repertoire Transformations in Perspective Personal Repertoire and Selection of Pop Songs Conclusion Glossary References
키워드
Taiwanese operaperformance practiceshybriditypopular musictradition and modernization
아시아에서 벌어지는 모든 음악활동을 연구합니다.
특히 아시아에서 일어나고 있는 유럽 음악 편중의 음악상황을 아시아음악 중심으로 전환하기 위한 연구와 운동을 합니다. 아시아음악은 아시아인이 가장 잘 연구할 수 있다는 점에서 아시아음악학 연구는 아시아 학자에 의하여 주도되어야 한다고 생각하는 사람들의 모임입니다.
이러한 목적 달성을 위하여 아시아음악의 역사 이론 연주를 연구합니다. 이 연구 성과는 Asian Musicology라는 영문 저널을 발행하고 있습니다.