Quick Answer: What Is Gan Opera?
Gan opera (赣剧, Gànjù) is a regional theater form from Jiangxi. It developed in the northeast of the province and took its current name in 1951. One of its foundations is the Yiyang tune (弋阳腔, Yìyáng qiāng), whose sound can include a solo singer answered by a group of voices.[1][2]
- Place: The genre took shape in northeastern Jiangxi and circulated across the province.[1]
- Sound: A chorus and percussion can respond to the singer.[1][2]
- Repertoire: Plays draw on more than one musical tradition within Gan opera.[1][2]
Listen for who takes over when the lead singer reaches the end of a phrase. The response is one way to recognize the Yiyang sound within a larger repertoire.
A Jiangxi theater can present a familiar story with the lead line and the chorus taking turns. Following those turns helps a listener hear where a solo passage ends and a collective response begins.
How Several Vocal Traditions Came Together
The name Gan refers to Jiangxi. The genre’s roots extend into earlier performance traditions, including the Yiyang tune associated with the Ming period. By the middle of the Qing dynasty, other musical traditions had reached Jiangxi. Local performers drew on luantan (乱弹, luàntán) and tunes associated with Kunqu (昆曲, kūnqǔ).[1][2]
The Qingyang tune (青阳腔, Qīngyáng qiāng) also has its own place in Gan opera repertory. Qingyang and Yiyang each received a separate national heritage listing in 2006. Gan opera entered the national list in 2011.[1][2][3]
How the Chorus Answers a Solo Voice
The broader family of tunes known as gao qiang (高腔, gāoqiāng) includes traditions of unaccompanied solo singing, group answering and percussion. In a Yiyang passage, the singer carries the text, and chorus response (帮腔, bāngqiāng) can enter to answer or support the line. Gongs and drums can punctuate the exchange.[1][2][4]
Earlier accounts describe Yiyang passages with gongs and drums and without melodic instrumental backing. Later Gan opera ensembles could add instruments such as flutes or strings. In a recording, following the solo and group entries separately can make the structure clear even where both voices and instruments are present.[1][2]
What to Listen for in the Repertoire
The Resurrection (还魂记, Huánhún Jì) is a Gan opera treatment of the play also known as The Peony Pavilion (牡丹亭, Mǔdān Tíng). The Jiangxi troupe’s repertoire places the work among its Yiyang-tune plays. A listener who knows the story through Kunqu can use the familiar plot to notice how Gan opera organizes its sung lines.[1][2]
The Story of the West Chamber (西厢记, Xīxiāng Jì) illustrates another strand. The Jiangxi troupe’s production documented in Beijing in 1962 used the Qingyang tune. The two works make a useful pair for hearing different vocal traditions within the Jiangxi troupe’s repertoire.[2][4]
How Performers Passed Down the Older Sound
In 1953, a training class at the Jiangxi troupe brought fourteen experienced Yiyang performers together as teachers. The trainees learned from older performers at a time when the troupe was arranging and adapting earlier plays.[2]
The 2012 Hong Kong Chinese Opera Festival program included a foyer demonstration of a Yiyang excerpt, Zhang San Borrowing Boots (张三借靴, Zhāng Sān Jiè Xuē). The program also offered a talk about the genre’s history. The excerpt introduced the sound of Yiyang outside the setting of a full evening’s performance.[2]
FAQs About Gan Opera
Are Gan opera and the Yiyang tune the same thing?
The Yiyang tune is a vocal tradition central to Gan opera. The Gan opera repertory also uses Qingyang, luantan and other musical material.[1][2]
How are the roles in Gan opera organized?
The Jiangxi account describes nine role categories (九角头, jiǔ jiǎotóu). The list includes three male-role groups, three female-role groups and the categories dahua (大花, dàhuā), erhua (二花, èrhuā) and sanhua (三花, sānhuā). The broader vocabulary of Chinese opera roles includes some of the same terms.[1]
出典
[1] China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network. Gan Opera
[2] Hong Kong Chinese Opera Festival. Gan Opera Theatre of Jiangxi Province
[3] State Council of China. First National Intangible Cultural Heritage List
[4] People’s Daily historical archive. On Yiyang and Qingyang Stage Repertoire