Full Description
With Chinese art forms gaining notoriety worldwide, it is only natural for there to be an uptick in interest in Chinese classical music. The expanding market in Chinese classical music, as well as the growing fame of Chinese composers, pave way for a new lucrative career in Mandarin-language vocalism. Singing in Mandarin: A Guide to Chinese Lyric Diction is a comprehensive guide to mastering vocal repertoire in Mandarin.
In part one, Katherine Chu and Juliet Petrus focus on diction and language, providing detailed descriptions on how to create the exact sounds and pronunciations through International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and 'Pinyin'. Part two outlines the historical context of Mandarin vocal tradition, chronicling the development of the language and Chinese vocal repertoire over the last 100 years. Audio files narrated by native speakers demonstrating the sounds are also included.
Singing in Mandarin provides guidance for both novices and those with previous experience singing or speaking in Mandarin and is the first book of its kind to help bring the rich, previously inaccessible heritage of Chinese vocal music to Western audiences.
Contents
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.
