Yue Opera
A Zhejiang-born opera genre known for all-female casts and gentle, lyrical singing
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Yue opera is a genre that grew from story-singing in Shengzhou, Zhejiang, in the early twentieth century, passing through xiaogeban and Shaoxing wenxi before reaching Shanghai in the 1920s and being reshaped by Yuan Xuefen and others in the 1940s. Women usually play all roles; the singing is clear and lyrical, the erhu leads the band, and representative works include The Butterfly Lovers and Dream of the Red Chamber.
Its music belongs to banqiang form, built on the chidiao and xianxiadiao tunes and expanded through slow, middle and fast metres. Yuan, Yin and Xu styles are schools of performance, not vocal traditions. Genre, vocal tradition and school are three concepts: Yue opera is the genre, chidiao its basic tune, and a school one singer's personal mark on that tune.
Read deeper → Banqiang Form
Sources
- 越剧的源流、女班传统、尺调与流派，参《中国音乐词典》与 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "China" 相关条目；本文为原创表述
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