Katherine Chu, Juliet Petrus

Singing in Mandarin

A Guide to Chinese Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Chinese composers have a growing presence on international stages, and Mandarin-language vocal repertoire is becoming richer and more prevalent. Singing in Mandarin is the definitive guide for singing in Mandarin. The first part focuses on the sounds of the Chinese language while the second focuses on the classical vocal repertoire in Mandarin.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Seitenzahl: 384
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. November 2020
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 235mm x 157mm x 27mm
• Gewicht: 773g
• ISBN-13: 9781538131411
• ISBN-10: 1538131412
• Artikelnr.: 58815795

Autorenporträt

By Katherine Chu and Juliet Petrus - Foreword by Bright Sheng

Inhaltsangabe

Part 1: The Fundamentals of Chinese Diction
Chapter 1: Consonants
Beginning with consonants and progressing from familiar to unfamiliar
sounds, this chapter uses
comparative diction study to illustrate the differences and commonalities
of Chinese diction to
other, more familiar dictions. Unless readers can already recognize and
pronounce Chinese
characters, Pinyin will be a necessary step in transliterating, as
currently it is the most common
method. Being that the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a standard
method of identifying
phonemes, the book employs IPA to explain the Pinyin. Even in this early
stage of Mandarin
knowledge, by establishing the important connection between IPA and Pinyin,
some students
may comfortably continue to use the IPA system, while others may eventually
progress to using
only Pinyin as their form of transliteration. In addition to being able to
hear all of the sounds
pronounced by native speakers on the CD, there will be diagrams of tongue
position,
descriptions of how to physically create them, as well as exercises to help
the readers acclimate
themselves to Chinese pronunciation.
Chapter 2: Vowels
Continuing the systematic approach from Chapter 1, this chapter thoroughly
examines all the
categories including vowels, vowel clusters and vowel-consonant
combination, many of which
are unique to the study of Chinese diction. It discusses the important
subtleties which cannot be
compared to any other type of lyric diction. The very last section will
address the effect that
certain groups of consonants and semi-vowels have on vowels and vowel
clusters that follow
them.
Chapter 3: Chinese Semantics, Syntax and Stress
Once the Chinese diction system is presented and explained in the most
scientific manner
possible, attention can be turned to important properties that characterize
this language. Each
Chinese character is a monosyllable with a stand-alone meaning. Words in
Chinese can be
made up of multiple syllables. Like in English, correct stress while
singing in Mandarin is
essential for comprehension of the lyrics, not only because the tonal
aspect of the language is
completely lost in music, but also because the musical stress begins to
superimpose on the
phrasal stress. This chapter examines how proper stress and inflection
restore the syntactic and
semantic features of the Chinese language.
Chapter 4: Stylistic Concerns
The final chapter of Part 1 will be an overview of stylistic issues unique
to Chinese diction, such other lyric dictions such as the peculiar and
regional property of the final R, and the 'rounding off
of a syllable' and its effect on legato. There will be also an examination
of widely spoken
dialects such as Cantonese and Taiwanese, and regional accents. These are
stylistic elements
that can transform mere diction into artistry, as they give nuance to
interpretation.
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Part 2: Chinese Vocal Repertoire
Chapter 5: Overview of Modern Chinese Vocal Literature
With vocal traditions such as Peking and Kunqu Operas, Chinese vocal music
spans centuries
in Chinese history. Despite this long and rich tradition, the body of work
that is applicable to
classically-trained, lyric singers began emerging in the early 1900s.
Modern Chinese vocal
music mirrors the course of contemporary Chinese history, reflecting
political milieu, motivating
new genres, revolutionizing the language, and assimilating Western
influences, which impacted
the stylistic development of vocal literature. The subsequent chapters are
the examination of the
types of repertoire developed from the last century to the present.
Chapter 6: Modern Chinese Song Repertoire
What can be identified as modern repertoire started in the decade after the
Revolution of 1911.
Art songs and folk song arrangements make up a significant part of the type
of music accessible
to the classically-trained singer. However, songs with a popular influence
and vocal chamber
music also make their way to the contemporary recital hall. This chapter
will survey these works,
as well as giving Pinyin and IPA for the most significant pieces. Composers
represented will
include the earliest pioneers such as HUANG Zi, QING Zhu, XIAO Youmei, and
ZHAO Yuanren,
as well as modern disciples such as CHEN Yi, LU Zaiyi, and composers from
Hong Kong and
Taiwan, illustrating their place and contributions to Chinese Art Song, the
definition of which
leads to many fascinating questions and lively debates.
Chapter 7: Concert and Opera Repertoire
Concert pieces for voice with orchestra and modern opera represent a recent
phenomenon in
Chinese compositional history. From the very earliest of cantatas to the
first Chinese opera in
the 1930's, the variety of genres fashioned in the Western compositional
models in the last two
decades is well evidenced by the remarkable output from composers, both
Western-trained and
home-grown. Encouraged by the growing number of theaters built and
productions staged in
China, opera is proving to be the epitome of creative expression,
attracting many composers to
turn their attention to writing for this multidisciplinary art form.
Composers such as CHEN
Qigang, CHOU Wen-chung, GUO Wenjing, Bright Sheng, TAN Dun, YE Xiaogang and
ZHOU
Long, help to push these genres forward.