![]() The Imperial Music Bureau, first established in the Qin dynasty (221-207 B.C.), was greatly expanded under the Han emperor Wu Di (140-87 B.C.) and charged with supervising court music and military music and determining what folk music would be officially recognized. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press World Music: Stern's Music sternsmusic Guide to World Music World Music Central History of Music in ChinaĬhinese music appears to date back to the dawn of Chinese civilization, and documents and artifacts provide evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou dynasty (1027- 221 B.C.). Musical Creativity in Twentieth-Century China: Abing, His Music, and Its Changing Meanings. New York, London: Oxford University Press. Echoes of History: Naxi Music in Modern China. Music in China: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. Good Websites and Sources: Library of Congress loc.gov/cgi-bin Modern Chinese Literature and Culture (MCLC) List of Sources / Samples of Chinese Music Music from China Internet China Music Archives / Chinese-English Music Translations .uk Chinese, Japanese, and Korean CDs and DVDs at Yes Asia and Zoom Movie Books: Lau, Fred. REVOLUTIONARY OPERA AND MAOIST AND COMMINIST THEATER IN CHINA CHINESE REVOLUTIONARY MUSIC ĬHINESE OPERA AND THEATER, REGIONAL OPERAS AND SHADOW PUPPET THEATER IN CHINA ĮARLY HISTORY OF THEATER IN CHINA ĭECLINE OF CHINESE AND PEKING OPERA AND EFFORTS TO KEEP IT ALIVE MUSIC, OPERA, THEATER AND DANCE ĪNCIENT MUSIC IN CHINA ĮTHNIC MINORITY MUSIC FROM CHINA “Nanguan” (16th century love ballads), narrative music, silk-and-bamboo folk music and “xiangsheng” (comic opera-like dialogues) are still performed by local ensembles, impromptu teahouse gatherings and traveling troupes. A typical funeral band in Shanxi Province has two suona players and and four percussionists. The music is heavy with percussion and is carried by the mournful melodies of the suona, a double-reed instrument. Traditional Chinese funeral bands often play through the night before an open-air bier in a courtyard full of mourners in white burlap. Perhaps the best place to see traditional Chinese music is at a funeral. Instrumental music is played on solo instruments or in small ensembles of plucked and bowed stringed instruments, flutes, and various cymbals, gongs, and drums. ![]() All traditional Chinese music is melodic rather than harmonic. Ĭhinese vocal music has traditionally been sung in a thin, nonresonant voice or in falsetto and is usually solo rather than choral. Traditional instruments include a two-stringed fiddle (erhu), a three-stringed flute (sanxuan), a vertical flute (dongxiao), a horizontal flute (dizi), and ceremonial gongs (daluo). In addition, there is no harmony in traditional Chinese music all the singers or instruments follow the melodic line. Unlike the Western scale, which has eight tones, the Chinese has only five. A retired shipbuilder who leads one such group in Shanghai told the New York Times, ‘singing keeps me healthy.” Children are "taught to like music with small intervals and subtly changing pitches.”Ĭhinese music sounds very different from Western music in part because the Chinese scale has fewer notes. Some retired people meet every morning in a local park to sing patriotic songs. Top music schools include the Shanghai College of Theater Arts, the Shanghai Conservatory, the Xian Conservatory, the Beijing Central Conservatory. Professional musicians work primarily through conservatories. The government has sent musicologists around the country to collect pieces for the “Anthology of Chinese Folk Music”. Some Buddhist and Taoist temples feature daily music-accompanied rituals. Impromptu traditional and regional music can be heard in local teahouses, parks and theaters.
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