Guangdong Music Series : A Concert of Hakka and Hailufeng Folk Music - Baizi Opera, Huachao Opera and Hakka Folk Song
About the concertProgrammeProgramme IntroductionTicketing
In addition to the esoteric music of South China – Baizi Opera and Huachao Opera, the programme of this concert also features vocal presentation of the folk songs in the Guangdong region by Wu Peijin and Zhong Jingjie, two bearers of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Baizi Opera. One of the representative works of Huachao Opera Selling Groceries will be performed by Huang Leihua, the bearer of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Guangdong Province. Huang Hongying, National Class One Performer, will also sing Hakka folk song Start to Sing and Start the Party Rolling, aiming to showcase a series of folk music typical of the Lingnan region with the Hong Kong Ling Nan Orchestra cum the veteran musicians from the Mainland.
Performers
Ensemble: Hong Kong Ling Nan Orchestra
Vocal:
Baizi Opera
Wu Peijin, Zhong Jingjie, Yang Baohua, Chen Xiaoyan, Zeng Huiling
Huachao Opera
Huang Lihua, Ye Yuanfeng
Hakka Folk Song
Huang Hongying
Erxian: Chen Wuke
Suona / Erxian: Huang Jiancheng
Music Performance from Huachao Opera
Rolling up the Beaded Curtain
Mama Wang
Stay, My Love
Joy Forever
Vocal Music fromHuachao Opera
Selling Groceries
Excerpts from The Butterfly Lovers
I Have a Young Sister at Home
You and I are Separated by Our Missives
Excerpts from The Sad Story of Bingniang
Could It be That News Came from the Frontier
Jiege (Hakka Folk Song)
Start to Sing and Start the Party Rolling
Music Performance from Baizi Opera
The Hidden Talent That Came from Other Provinces
Shanbo Visiting His Friend from Meeting at the Pavilion
The Formal Wedding Ceremony
As Husband and Wife, We Will Be Reunited One Day from Helping Zeng Rong Escape
Vocal Music from Baizi Opera
People and Their Welfare Are Always on My Mind from Chrysanthemum
The Predicaments of an Official from Xiu Jiujing Gets Promoted
A Ditty for Grinding Tea
Searching for Her Parents in the Snow from Five Girls Attending the Birthday Celebration
The performance will run for 2 hours, including a 15 minute intermission. Audience is strongly advised to arrive punctually.
Latecomers will only be admitted during the intermission or at a suitable break. Presenter reserves the right to change the programme and substitute artists.
Huachao Opera evolved from a sacrificial activity called “Shenchao” and originated in the transition years between the Ming and the Qing dynasties, circa early 17th century, in Zijin county. To curb the epidemic or to pay tribute to a deity of the day of his/her birth, the villagers would hire a shaman to set up altar and conduct rituals in order to ward off evil spirits.
The shaman would be dressed as male and female wizards. The male wizard would wear a cap with red tassels, and hold an ox’s horn in his hand. The female wizard (a man in transvestite costume and make-up in the early days of the tradition) would wear a head-scarf and holds a square kerchief and a fan. The two would sing and dance amidst the playing of the suona and the percussive instruments. This act is called “dancing the huachao”.
In 1904, during the reign of Guangxu of Qing dynasty, an artist by the name of Ye Chunlin formed a troupe specialising in huachao performance called “Ding Chang Chun”. In a bid to entertain the audience after the ritual was over, the artists would sing ditties that shared fun anecdotes and social topics based on the customs of the Hakka. Their light-hearted, witty entertainment formed a stark contrast with the solemn Shengchao segment, so the derivative of Huachao (meaning of “florid presentation”) emerged.
In the early days of this entertainment format, the accompany ensemble featured as main instruments gongs, drums and suona, supplemented by erhu, yehu, sanxian, hudi (houguan), etc. Common accompaniment forms were the gongs and drums for interludes, and sixian to accompany singing, suona as background for all singing, and the backstage crew also needed to chime in with singing.
As the genre developed, other musical instruments such as gaohu, yangqin, pipa, dizi, sheng, clarinet and cello were brought in. More percussions such as bangu, clappers, suspended gongs and cymbals and clanging bells were also brought in to enhance the original configuration of gaobianluo, maluo, danda, xiaoluo, cymbals, muyu and large drum. Huachao Opera was inscribed onto the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2006.
The jiege of Huiyang has a long history in the region. It is a highly regional form of mass singing as it is closely related to the natives of the land. Jiege of Huiyang therefore has a diverse vocal style and characteristics according to the geographical spread. It can be roughly divided into three genre types: Yonghu jiege, Chunniudiao and Huiyang shange. They both share similarities in style but are distinguished by different contents and forms, vis-à-vis the song content, modes, tonality and melodic structure. Jiege of Huiyang can be categorised according to the content of the three jiege types, as different contents lead to different melodic structures.
The tonality of Chunniudiao is characterised by the adoption of the six-sound zhi mode, with no vario gong but more of the pure jue. As the melody progresses, each phrase ends with an ascending interval such as the major second, minor third and perfect fourth. Regardless of the length of the piece, the six sounds (i.e. the five notes on the pentatonic scale plus a pure jue note) would always be included in the melody. The melodic variations are therefore considerably enriched. As the title of the music, Chunjiudiao (which literally means ‘melody of the ploughing ox in spring’) suggests, its contents are mostly related to husbandry. The musical phrases always end on an ascending interval, and with rich melodic shifts, the tune is rigorous, bright and forward-looking.
Yonghu jiege is vastly different from Chunniudiao, because its content is closely related to the everyday life of the people and depicting humanism, as well as rituals related to weddings, funerals, etc. Yonghu jiege contains phrases with notes descending from gong (do) to a minor third of yu (la). The muted, lyrical and soft mood is therefore touched with lament. The tonality is even simpler than Chunniudiao. It consists mainly of four notes – gong, shang, jue and yu (do re mi do / la). It adopts the zhi and vario gong, with no pure jue.
The modality of Huiyang shange is basically the same as Yonghu jiege, both being of the pentatonic yu mode. The melodies use only four notes and not five on the pentatonic scale: gong, shang, jue and yu. Another different feature is the variation in rhythm. Huiyang shange is characterized by the ending of each phrase in 4/2 beat with articulation slurs. Although the music also progresses in gong (do) descending to yu (la), it highlights the uniqueness of shange (mountain song) with its long call and echoing forms.
The three jiege types demonstrate the local folks’ penchant to express their feelings through songs with the modes they choose. In summary, one can say that the zhi mode is lighthearted in mood and is perfect for the lyrics about ploughing the fields, such as the Chunniudiao. The yu mode is more muted and soft-toned, so it fits the Yonghu jiege’s lyrics about everyday life. Huiyang shange adopts the yu mode because the locals like to tell of their sorrows and deep-seated feelings through the singing dialogues of shange.
The people of Huiyang love to sing. Songs fill every part of their lives, and serves to boost confidence, enhance friendship, and promote harmony. The singing format of jiege is highly flexible; it can be solo, duet, choir, or chorus supporting a lead singer. The most popular formats are solo or choral. The repertoire of solo singing may consist of traditionals with standard lyrics, or songs that have no fixed lyrics and can be improvised as the singer goes along. Most have verses containing seven characters, and four verses form a passage. Yet there can also be four-and-a-half, five or six verses in one passage. For choral singing, at most times the choice of repertoire would be traditionals with standard lyrics.
Baizi Opera is a regional theatrical genre with a long history, and is both esoteric and vernacular. Unofficial records showed that it was introduced to the Hailufeng region from southern Fujian in mid-14th century, during the transition years between the Yuan and the Ming dynasties, or even earlier. As it assimilated the features of local folk arts, and adopted the Minnan dialect (Fulaohua) in sung music, it gradually came into its own and had a name called “Hailufeng Baizi Opera” or “Southbound Baizi”. The use of vocalise and linking sounds of “ah”, “eeh” and “oi” are the characteristics in the singing. It is popularly performed in places where the Minnan dialect is spoken, such as Huiyang, Hailufeng, Chaozhou, Shantou, Hong Kong, Macao, Indonesia, Singapore etc. Hailufeng Baizi Opera was inscribed onto the first List of Intangible Cultural Heritage at National Level in 2006. It has a rich variety of performing formats, with acting and stylised movements vivid in detail, and imbued with vernacular humanism. There are seven roles types, namely sheng (male), dan (female), jing (painted face), chou (clown), gong (old man), po (old woman) and tie (young girl), a similar system to the Seven Role Type Troupes in Liyuan Opera of Fujian.
The vocal music of Baizi Opera is basically made up of sets of set tunes, sung in ‘heavy six’, ‘light six’ and ‘live five’ modes, sometimes with fanxian. Although the names of the modes may be the same as those of Chiuchow Opera, they are in fact not the same. There are also vocals in ban (measures) delivery, supplemented by the ditties in folk songs. The sheng and dan sing in the same tone and mode, with a sweet, demure way of enunciation. There is also the use of chorus, in which when one actor sings, the others help in the background singing in the form of chorus in high registers. The set tunes are in two major categories: daluogu and xiaoluogu, that is singing accompanied by percussion ensembles of different sizes. The small ensemble music type of xiaoluogu also plays folk ditties and zadiao (temple music). The set tunes of accompanying instrumental music are formed by the xianshiyue and chuanzaiqu.
Information provided by the artists
English translation provided by KCL Language Consultancy Ltd.
Guangdong Music Series : A Concert of Hakka and Hailufeng Folk Music - Baizi Opera, Huachao Opera and Hakka Folk Song
Tickets availablefrom 21 January at URBTIX outlets#, on Internet, by Mobile Ticketing App and Credit Card Telephone Booking.
Half-price tickets available for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and the minder, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients. (Limited tickets for CSSA recipients available on a first come,first served basis.
Group Booking Discount*
For each purchase of standard tickets for programme(s) in ‘Guangdong Music Series’, the following concession applies: 10% off for 4-9 standard tickets; 15% off for 10-19 standard tickets; 20% off for 20 or more standard tickets.
‘Guangdong Music Series’ Package Discount*
10% off for each purchase of standard tickets of any 2 concerts, 15% off for any 3 concerts, 20% off for any 4 or more concerts.
Patrons can enjoy only one of the above discount offers.
#The box office of Yau Ma Tei Theatre sells tickets for programmes performed at the Theatre only.
*Group Booking Discount and ‘Guangdong Music Series’ Package Discount are not applicable to ‘Lecture Series : Cantonese Music in Hong Kong’.
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