4th Annual Conference March 24, 25, 1972

36 4th Annual Conference March 24,25, 1972 March 24 Morning Session Rulan Pian(Harvard): Word Treatment in Chinese Popular Entertainment. of: Some ten recordings were played including examples 1. Hsiang sheng ~~ (comedians, imitating a beggar and a theater-goer) 2. Shantung Storying J-.\jt~~i (Wu Sung impersonating a new bride) 3. Hsi-ho Drumsinging \iB ~ 1'._~ (a selection from Catherine Stevens' recording, Reel 57, of "The Saga of the Yangs" ~~M%) 4. Peking Drumsinging J{.. ~ K~ ("Fjsherman' s Boat Returning in the R_;in" }(~ ~# ) 5. Fengtien Drumsinging l~.:k..~ ("Pao-yii tricked into marriage"l 3:.: litJ ) 6. Chekiang Ballad Opera ~~ (Hung Niang accusing Madame Ts'ui of bad faith, from Romance of the West Chamber) 7. Tan hsien fj't , a medley of narrative songs in which the singer accompanies himself on the three-stringed guitar _;._j:%,_ with occasional use of the eight-cornered drum (the selection was of the tragic climax of the famous story of Decima .::fl -t¾ , the betrayed courtesan). Chinese texts were provided for most examples. For the spoken pieces,numbers 1 and 2, a system of spacing and underlining was used that displayed the rhythmic pattern of the performance. For the sung pieces, numbers 4,6, and 7, a musical score was provided with special signs to indicate features such 37 as glides and irregularities of pitch or length not accommodated in ordinary staff notations. These texts and scores are reproduced on pp. 38-52. Discussion of No. 1 centered on the subleties of timing, the building up of intensity by listing items at top speed, punctuation by pause and by brief ejaculatory comments by the second comedian (a common feature also in comic scenes in Peking Opera), and rounding off with a short ritardend at the end. In No. 6 it was noted that as many as ten syllables are often squeezed into the time taken by a basic line of seven syllables. C. Stevens noted that this frequently occurs also in Peking Drumsinging. No. 7 was musically the most elaborate piece. The selection opened with declamation like that of a Jti in Peking Opera. The score here marked tone, pitch, length and stress for each syllable. In the sung portion interest was focussed by R. Ruhlmann and others on the way certain groups of notes were associated with important words, e.g.~~ and recurred with them. Also on the use of a strikingly unusual note to mark an important word 9tJ. What is here called Tan hsien is the same piece that Stevens on Page 33 calls Eight-cornered Drumsong 38 1. Hsiang sheng jv. t ~ I,~ 1, J...... ' §I_ Beggar's Single ( A ;fE] f_f imitation) X· )(.. - )( . )( . )( X. r:;---.... 0 tl O(jf 1f) - -= ;f111 i&L,0 )( 511~1:r i- 0(& f) ..- ~~ ,;f;J ;t -= 4} 1 jp 0 ~ 1;Jc.ii.)'i (~.J At, /ij J, o½ ~ ~ --tt :.. .~tl{l~ il. 1 3.£-r;:_ :1 ii .~ J[l.u~ 1Jt tf ~ ·r ;it 0 ~!;:.. ~LU}ff) hl.} ) :I iO ,~ --- ~ "0 Jo (i§ ~ .1If'v.Q. f p.45) 2. i "&i , f... .k_ 1·) ~ .13J. )G _. J -- ~~{~ if\i;ft • ::f. ftu,7·lj(, o>- 51 > \1,(,\ 1 ,, • I ' o 1JBL . 17 +l~t ;fvf ,t 1ft1 Ji i :ii .2( .:=..41] ;£.-ft :;:1- -tJ &J lilt- ~qrn-~1 Ocj,c. """ -. -.- . .,, ilt J.ttl-- .,, .,. ":\ti J_ij{ltl. D3l-f5/'- ti ;f% MM: 1lp;~ bJSf' Z1~ J. - _:::.__i_ ----.· 0 il,&\, ,ft 1.t1 J Jv,,J_{-- t$~ ,}~t ":f;.i ; ::tff:1} ;: ff,. ---o ~,i.J -3--1@ .,, -~ jt, 1 01f£H'.t Jt~~t,~ 11,"M I oijf) 3-1£ J% . jJ'.'... j ,-J-' '\ ----- . - ...,f ..,, J -:}J*~ ~~ kr., 1~~1{ "ll~ , •J CJlr]. ~ . ~_if ~ !j: c:..,. ."'J :.o I ,,.. oJ..At~~ t.r ~ '} j1, Jl/g --" ).__ !4" 1it/ DJ.i ;,7:) t ~~ J'rL, -· - :f ---- - - --- __.::.c -- I C /.,,J,i ( • , ' 4U 4. I. Peking Drumsinging ,. . ~,,,_ 'f dL- • , • ' ., . YI , 1 I I .H I . • ' . ' I J 1 "" 1 • " I -_ ..T ·1 ~ ' I , , ; I • ' I #'* ..;.- • ~' " . . , ' , r, I I # 6• , , ,,. ~ I .. , ' ..,... --!,_,.o;/lJ ,t- -, . ... , I I - t I y I I I F I I I f I #I• I • ..·- ' • • • . ~ ' , ._,.~.,... Jilt ~ ~ I ·11 .... - -- ' , ,. 3 • . I...