OperaPeking

•A form of traditional Chinese theatre

•Combination of music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics

•Arose in the late 18th century and fully recognized in the mid-19th century

•Extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty and known as one of the cultural treasures of China

•Performances are accompanied by music - usually played on three types of instrument: wind, string, and percussion.

•The main instruments are Chinese in origin:

Jinghu

•A two-stringed instrument played with a bow

Yueqin

•a four-stringed instrument that is plucked

Sanxian

•a three-stringed instrument which is also plucked

The melodies played by the accompaniment fall mainly into three broad categories.

•Aria▫style that is sung by a young Sheng to indicate

heightened emotion.•Fixed-tune melody or qupai

▫style that indicates a feast or a banquet or the arrival of an important person

•Percussion pattern▫there are as many as 48 different percussion

patterns, each one identifies the entering character by his or her individual rank and personality

Group 3•Par•Chavez•Vistro•Cristobal•Pascual•Balon•Cordero