What is the role of the singer in the drama represented in the music? Describe the two basic types of singing in the example. What is the musical relationship between the singer and the lead accompaniment instrument, the jinghu, a small two-stringed fiddle? Explain how this particular tune like other such tunes is reused from one drama to another
What will be an ideal response?
• The singer is in the role of qingyi, a serious heroine, renowned for her singing and acting ability. In this particular excerpt the heroine is introducing herself and "her difficulties since her husband's death."
• In the opening of the excerpt Li Shiji sings in a declamatory speech style, exaggerating the usual speech tones of Chinese. Starting at 1:04 the singer begins the lines of the erhuang manban, accompanied by instrumental ensemble. The lead accompaniment instrument, a small two-stringed fiddle (jinghu), approximately tracks the singer's melody and continues to play when the singer rests (stops singing) between her lines.
• "In the past, tunes like erhuang were reused from one drama to another . . ." to save time and expense. Multiple versions of these tunes were developed to express the needs of the scene in question.
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