What are the characteristics of Quyi?

Quyi art is also called "rap art", which shows that it is an art form combining rap; However, if we only regard the characteristics of Quyi as "rap" or "rap". That's just an intuitive feeling, which can't really reveal its artistic essence in theory. We also need to compare a large number of Quyi works and performance forms with other art forms for further study. Through this comparison, I think "Quyi" is worth noting in the following three aspects:

First, rap stories. Most Quyi works are told stories by actors to the audience. This is the most obvious difference between Quyi art and other art forms. Let's do some analysis from two aspects: rap and story.

"Rap" (or talking or singing) does not seem to be a unique formal feature of Quyi, and it is often used in drama. Stories also appear in other artistic forms (such as novels and plays). However, the speaking or singing of drama (especially national drama) is not "telling stories" or "singing stories", but expressing the attitude of the speaker and singer or expressing the feelings of the characters in the drama. For example, in "Empty City Plan", Kongming sang "I watched the mountain view from the tower and heard the chaos outside the city" or "Borrowing the East Wind", the lyrics of a long sentence about crossing the river before he went to the altar were the same, just like Xiao He sang "My Lord rebelled against the headstrong" in "Chasing Han Xin". The story of drama (including national drama) is not sung, but performed by actors playing roles. Therefore, Wang Guowei said that "a dramatist is to perform a story by singing and dancing" (see Textual Research on Traditional Chinese Opera). The story in the novel is written by the author for readers, and the way he conveys it has nothing to do with singing. Therefore, "telling stories" and "singing stories" of Quyi art are its unique forms of expression.

Of course, in the process of "rap stories", Quyi is not limited to the simple introduction process. It is also common to imitate characters, express feelings, tell each other and discuss with each other in rap.

1. On the premise of "rap stories", combine narrative stories with imitative characters. In narrative stories, in order to show clearly the actions, language and inner activities of the characters in the story, actors often adopt imitation performances, that is, actors take the place of characters to give the audience an immersive feeling, but on the whole they still have their own characteristics. For example, in Jing Yun Drum "Noisy Jiangzhou":

I proved that Sung River killed Yan in Wulongyuan,

Call an exiled soldier to Jiangzhou Pass,

Li has a long explanation,

Bet on the hero black Song San,

During the day, you just walk around wearing torture devices,

At night, I will clench my fist and make room for sleeping.

I have the heart to ask them to go a mile or two,

We sang in excitement,

Nothing more than leaving today and looking forward to tomorrow.

Day after day.

The above lyrics belong to the objective narrative of rappers, especially "I intend to tell them to go one mile and two miles forward so that they can sing in excitement", which obviously shows the characteristics of rappers telling stories directly to the audience. Explain that it is not "acting a story" but "singing a story". Then introduce the characters in the objective description. In order to convey the characters vividly to the audience, actors imitate the characters' behavior while narrating, which incorporates imitation factors.

If you ask which one is coming soon. .

Who is it? Dai Zong, a fugue of Taibao, came to the front of this street.

Dai zhong immediately watched carefully.

Huh? When I realized that I had committed two crimes and got on the horse,

I think this prisoner is good-looking,

I can't think of my heart for a moment,

It took me a long time to recognize it,

Oh, the black Song San in Yuncheng County.

Drop the stirrup from the saddle and get off the horse.

He bowed deeply and said, "Third brother is safe.

You are not in Yuncheng County, Shandong Province,

What's it like to come to Jiangzhou?

Song Jiangdao: "Cough! Just because Xiaohong sent Liu Tang to put the book down,

I got into trouble at Wulongyuan,

Killed Yan's daughter with wine,

Exiled and sent here ...

Because Quyi art combines actor narration with imitating characters, although rap is used to express stories, it can also form an ever-changing stage image, giving the audience the feeling of "one person and one drama". If you encounter a battlefield with thousands of troops, you can also tell it by yourself, which shows the rich expressive ability of Quyi art, but it is obviously different from the imitation of drama. This is the case with drums dominated by singing, and so is cross talk. For example, in "Please the Buddhist Shrine":

A there is such an old lady who buys incense and kowtows on the fifteenth day of the first month! Young people at home are reluctant to say, "What's the use of burning incense? Have money to buy some sugar to eat? "

B really!

"What's the use of the old lady don't want to listen to? Pray for the blessing of God and Buddha. I still have a few years to live at my age. Pray for the Buddha to bless you! " Who did the old lady bless?

Who did b bless?

Bless those who sell incense.

The dialogue between the old lady and the young people here is also imitated by actors in narrative, which shows the characteristics of the combination of Quyi art narrative and imitating characters. In other storytelling and storytelling, this phenomenon of combining narrative stories with imitating characters' manners and words is more common. It can be said that this is a common phenomenon in Quyi art, and compared with other art forms, this feature is more prominent.

2. Quyi art should also be combined with lyricism in storytelling. In order to achieve better artistic effect, we should not only show the movements of the characters, but also show the various emotional changes of the characters when telling stories, so as to achieve the purpose of moving people with emotions. Therefore, in the works, we should write the rich feelings of the characters. When an actor sings, he should also fully reflect this feeling through his own creation, convey this feeling to the audience, let the audience be infected by the feelings of the characters in the story, and enhance the touching power of his songs. For example, in the traditional melody of Jingyun Drum "The Rings of the Jiange Bell", Li Longji misses Yang Yuhuan:

Sigh that you are so desolate and lonely,

One heart was drunk and two tears poured down.

Sadness and desolation, the waning moon and the dawn of the stars,

The habit of wading all the way to climb mountains?

It's easy to expect to rest in the palace,

The cold rain and bitter wind help the miserable situation.

There was a sleepless emperor in Jiange.

Listen to the tinkling outside the window.

Busy asked: "What's that noise outside?"

Korean earth drama: "raindrops in the forest, golden bells under the eaves."

When the king heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Said: "this is the voice of heartbroken people listening to heartbroken!" "

The above is the development process of narrative stories. When Li Longji heard Gao Lishi's echo and caused his inner sigh, it became a direct lyric poem for the characters in the story.

"Like this, if you don't make beautiful clocks, you won't make rain.

How can I cut off my endless lovesickness and love?

Sprinkle window lattice and knock on people's hearts,

The sound of falling wood made my dream difficult.

When the cry rang from the eaves,

It's freezing, and winter comes from under the quilt.

The lonely lamp shines on me alone,

Who do you talk to on a rainy night?

Since ancient times, Wushan once entered the dream of being king.

Why can't I dream when I want to?

Unless the bow shoes are too lazy to step on the dead of night?

Isn't it hard to ban the five-night wind in the shirt sleeve?

Isn't the hotel depressing and boring?

Aren't the soldiers and horses afraid of being scared when they run?

Unless Fang Qing has a grudge?

Unless your heart is thin and sincere?

Why else didn't the goddess leave Lop?

Empty told me to dry my tears, hoping to break my soul! "

Through the above narration, actors express their feelings instead of the characters in the story, let the audience see the vivid feelings of the characters, and create a typical environment and vivid characters. In this kind of "endorsement" narrative, the actor (or author) is actually expressing the feelings of the characters in the story.

3. Combine narrative stories with comments. Because the stories in Quyi are told and sung by actors, the singers themselves do not play specific roles; Therefore, actors can not only tell stories objectively, but also communicate their feelings directly with the audience, express their views on what they say, and comment while talking. For example, an evil Taoist introduced by Wang in "Centipede Ridge" is:

That table is the centipede Taoist king,

He did a lot of bad things in centipede ridge,

Robbery of civilians, occupation of fertile land,

Robbery of businessmen, murder and arson,

What goes around comes around.

This quotation is a footnote to Julian Express. When introducing the characters in the story, the combination of narration and actor comments can give the audience a general understanding of the characters. This method is rare in plays with characters.

In storytelling or storytelling, the combination of narration and comment can be fully exerted because actors and audiences have wider freedom of communication. You can even get rid of what you call limitations.

Of course, what needs to be pointed out here is that this kind of comment must be moderate and used at an appropriate time, otherwise it will easily lead to the tendency of conceptualization. Therefore, in Quyi art, whenever the author comments, it is always combined with narrative, mainly to impress people with the actions of the characters in the story. This kind of comment can only play a "finishing touch" role. In a word, rap story is one of the basic characteristics of Quyi art, which is obviously different from other literary forms. However, some art forms are similar to this. For example, in the narrative song, as far as the narrative way of the story is concerned, it also uses the melody to "sing the story", but its melody rules and singing methods are obviously different from Quyi art; Therefore, we need to explore another feature of Quyi art-the diversity of songs.

Second, a song is changeable. This feature refers to the genre dominated by singing, which accounts for the vast majority (about 70% or more) in Quyi.

Over the years, the audience's appreciation of it is not only listening to stories, but also singing. Their interest in listening to stories far exceeds their appreciation of singing. Therefore, in order to rap stories more easily, many kinds of songs are sung according to the natural rhythm of the local language, which is actually a highlight or exaggeration of the natural rhythm of its language. These vocals naturally form a set of melodies that conform to the local language. Although it is "singing", it still contains many elements of "talking", which is a kind of "rap" art with singing and singing. It has been circulating in an area for a long time. After repeated singing, actors and audiences have formed a relatively fixed habit of enjoying tunes, and different tunes constitute different musical forms. Everyone thinks that every genre of Quyi adopts fixed tunes, which is a rigid performance and can't show the changing rich life, so it is a primitive and backward phenomenon and must be thoroughly reformed. From the perspective of reform, this view requires that the aria of Quyi should be constantly updated, which is reasonable; However, we should also realize that the "one song" adopted by China Opera and Quyi is relative. Although it is so-called fixed in overall melody and rhythm, the "variability" based on this "one song" is absolute. Judging from the actual situation of Quyi, although the tunes of each track of the same genre are basically the same, the vocals of each specific track have rich changes. It is a misunderstanding of Quyi aria to regard Quyi aria as a fixed expression. In short, the "one tune" of Quyi art refers to the basic tune of different kinds of songs, and it is this basic tune that can show the artistic characteristics of different kinds of songs. "Variety" is based on "a song", which causes various changes in its singing according to the different performance contents. According to the relationship between "Yi Qu" and "Variety", it shows the following two characteristics in Quyi singing.

1, normative. It is relatively stable, that is to say, once each genre is formed, it must have its basic tune, which is the most basic feature of a particular genre. That is to say, no matter what the content of the lyrics is, the basic melody and rhythm of its tune are expressed by this very similar "song", which is not as big as the tune of the song. Quyi's singing itself has a relatively stable norm, but the writing of Quci should adapt to this norm of Quyi's tunes, otherwise it will be impossible to sing (works intended to reform singing are another matter). For example, no matter what lyrics are sung at the beginning of "Beijing Rhyme and Drum", its beginning is always expressed by similar tunes forming similar vocals. For example, Luo Yusheng sang "Ringing the Bell at Jiange" and "Yu Boya Playing the Piano". Although the content and form of two voices (sentence number, word number, etc. ) are different, and the changes of basic vocals are very similar. They all start with similar melodies in the first two sentences, and after the middle singing, the overall vocal melody is similar.

It is the same genre sung by different actors. Although the aria will have different changes, the whole aria is still very similar. For example, the little singing "The Great Western Chamber" or "Driving to Liangshan" and so on. Although the first two sentences were sung in high notes, they fell back to the tune after singing in the middle (sometimes adding a bunch of sentences), forming the "first falling" singing structure of Jingyun Drum, and its own composition rules were similar to others.

The genre of Qupai style can also show this standardization. For example, the "Fengyang Song" at the beginning of Qin Shu, Shandong Province, no matter what the program content is, no matter what the writing is, the actors always sing according to the tune of "Fengyang Song". If there are too many words in some sentences in the first few sentences, the actors will still adapt themselves by singing interludes within the limits of the original rhythm without changing the basic structure of their original tune. It is precisely because of the standardization of Quyi singing that the basic tunes of each genre become the main symbol to distinguish other genres. So if the same lyrics are sung in different tunes, different kinds of songs will be formed. No matter how "changeable", there is no doubt that Quyi's "one song" always sings with its own basic tune as the main body.

2. Plasticity. Although the basic tunes of each genre are standardized and relatively stable, in order to express richer life content, the tunes of each different program often have various changes, which can shape different characters. For example, the "sub-number" in Tianjin tune was originally a number board without melody changes (in fact, Allegro Tianjin was formed on the basis of this "sub-number" in Tianjin), but through the treatment of Quyi musicians, it showed various changes in different tracks, reflecting the plasticity of Quyi tunes.

Many other tunes, such as Qin Shu in Shandong Province and Errenzhuan in Northeast China, have different degrees of plasticity, which makes them realize the unity of "one tune" and "many kinds" in general similarity.

Since the Quyi script is for the actors to sing, the actors can handle the songs they sing according to their own understanding of the works and their own feelings. Therefore, with the different understanding of the actors, these tunes will naturally be different and have great flexibility in singing. Therefore, even if two actors sing the same work, their vocals will not be exactly the same. In other words, every actor has learned a lot from the teacher. Although these classes have their own vocals, many changes will inevitably take place after each actor has sung by himself for many years. Therefore, no matter what kind of songs, the vocals of many traditional songs are basically different according to the different singers. It is precisely because of this variation that a variety of styles and genres of the same genre of singing have been formed. For example, it seems that every actor in Jingyun Drum can sing "Ugliness at the Beginning of Yin Dynasty", and almost all actors in Danxian can sing "Return to the Ship after the Storm", but the singing method of the same track sung by each of them is quite different.

This variability is also manifested in the same track sung by the same actor in different periods. For example, the songs sung by many famous actors in their early years will generally undergo various changes in their singing in their later years, which is very obvious from the existing records left by many famous actors. Although this situation sometimes exists among some solo singers, it seems to be a common phenomenon among folk art performers. In fact, it also reflects the plasticity of Quyi singing.

In the past, some people said that the singing method of Quyi was characterized by "multiple uses for one song", which was inaccurate and easily misunderstood as rigid application. We call it "all kinds of songs", which is more practical. It is precisely because of this feature that it is obviously different from narrative songs. Although narrative music is also a "story-singing", it is different from Quyi, not by "changing a song".

Third, the characteristics of performance. Since Quyi is a rap story, there must be a connection between the rapper and the appreciator. Therefore, the actor's performance (whether vocal or physical) has become the only way for the spread of Quyi art.

So, what are the characteristics of the actors' performances in Quyi?

1, the performance of Quyi actors, although some plays (including operas) or vocals are meaningful, is not completely equivalent to other forms of performance such as drama and vocals, forming Quyi's own performing art-that is, it appears as a rapper of "rap stories". The various expressions derived from this rapper can only appear in the performances of Quyi actors.

On the premise of "rap story", performance is organically combined with literature and music, which makes them lose their original independence and form a special comprehensive art. Literature and music are also different from ordinary literary creation and music performance, and actor performance is also different from other art forms, forming the literature, music and performance that Quyi art itself needs. For example, a novel in literary creation cannot be sung by itself. To turn it into a script of Quyi, it must be adapted, that is, a narrative poem with a certain rhythm is adapted into a aria of Quyi, and there must also be a processing process (of course, some kinds of songs have directly sung metrical poems, but they need to be specially designed in music, and all metrical poems cannot be introduced into Quyi). This adaptation is not only the conversion of prose and verse, but also involves many changes in story structure and narrative style. In the music of Quyi, it is designed to set off the language. As for the singing method of Quyi, it has been discussed before and will not be repeated here. The prelude and interlude in Quyi accompaniment, as far as music itself is concerned, also serve the language (actually refers to the aria formed by the language), which has no independent appreciation value. For example, many tunes, such as Jingyun Drum, Danxian Tika and Tanci, pass through doors or mats, in fact, just to fill the gap in language or connect the transition between voices. It's hard to say what emotions it expresses. Some tunes (such as JD.COM Drum) are accompanied by repeated singing, commonly known as "three-stringed parrots parroting". In fact, this kind of music has lost the meaning of independent performance. As for the musical instrument performance programs in Quyi, such as three-string solo and dulcimer solo, if they are not combined with rap, they are strictly folk instrumental programs. Although it has been performed on the same stage with other Quyi programs in history, it should not belong to Quyi today. Therefore, all the music in Quyi serves to set off singing, and singing has become an inseparable part of Quyi art and has no independent value.

It can also be said that literature, music and performance in Quyi art have become subsystems of Quyi literature, Quyi music and Quyi performance respectively.

2. The actor's performance is combined with the audience's appreciation. Quyi, as a performing art, determines that its performance must face the audience. Therefore, all the creations of Quyi actors must be completed with the cooperation of the audience. Quyi art has its own way of appreciation, which is different from desk literature. Writers write works for people to see. Also different from painting, artists paint works for people to see; The appreciation of Quyi art must be carried out at the same time as the creation of actors. From this point of view, it is similar to a drama, except that it does not reproduce the scene at that time as truly as a drama, but is completed by the rap of the actors. It is this kind of rap that determines that no matter what the story is about, or the battlefield with thousands of troops, or the hot competition, or the ice and snow, or the lonely lights, no matter what the scene, what you see from the actual stage is still the actor's own speech and singing. Except for the actor's necessary eyes or a little action, you can't find anything related to the story (even symbolic scenery). Although the expressive force of language is rich, other art forms can also play the role of language, so the concrete image of this art form is far less than that of drama, film and other art forms. However, the audience of Quyi can understand the characteristics of Quyi well, and their requirements for Quyi performance do not need a specific stage image like watching movies and dramas. As long as the performers on the stage look comfortable, they can be satisfied with their clothes and forms. The characteristics of rap art are the same as that of two people talking face to face. The things involved in the conversation may not be as vividly displayed as in the movie, but both sides can feel the existence of the mentioned things, and the content of the conversation can arouse memories and associations of past life. The expressive force of Quyi is also related to the memories and associations caused by the audience's rap at that time. From this point of view, all kinds of images created in Quyi are produced at the same time as the actors perform and the audience appreciates them, and they are completed through their invisible cooperation.

3. The importance of the actor's own conditions. Because Quyi art mainly infects the audience with the rap of the actors, it naturally forms the center of the actors' performance. Quyi actors themselves have great flexibility and autonomy.

The performance (including singing) level of actors is the key to the success or failure of each program, so Quyi actors attach great importance to their own conditions and create performance methods suitable for their own conditions. For example, after Mr. Wang's reform, the Jingyun Drum has got rid of the local accent in the wooden drum, played a high-pitched and bright feature, and is good at singing the story of Jingge, which is beneficial to the "Liu School" Jingyun Drum; However, knowing your own hustle and bustle, the conditions are inferior and you can't compete with the "Liu School". According to his own conditions, he created his own "white school" singing method with the story of A Dream of Red Mansions as the main content, which was also welcomed by the audience. Because of his vigorous voice, Zhang mainly sang Romance of the Three Kingdoms, forming his own magnificent "Zhang School". Later, on the basis of "Liu School" and according to their own noise situation, they created "Xiaobai School" with "overtones". Absorbing the strengths of many schools, it developed the unique characteristics of "vibrato" and formed its own "Luopai". Lin Hongyu, on the other hand, won by performing "Fire" with a wide range of facial expressions because of her beautiful voice. The same is true of other kinds of music, such as Tanci, Xihe Drum, Henan pendant, Shandong Qin Shu and Tanxian Paizi. All these show the important position of the actor's own conditions in Quyi art.

The three basic characteristics of Quyi art can be summarized in one sentence, that is, the performing art of "telling stories" in the way of "changing a song". And "rap story" is the most basic feature. "One song is changeable" and "performing arts" also exist for "rap stories". It is precisely because the main feature of Quyi is "rap story" (that is, telling stories and singing stories) that the three basic features of Quyi art are centered on "rap story". Without "rap stories", "all kinds of songs" and "performing arts" may be operas, but not necessarily quyi.