What is music drama?
Music drama is theatre where music is part of the story. It mixes three tools: singing, speech and movement (acting, dance, fighting). It also needs words (the libretto or script), costumes, sets and a band. Different cultures mix the three tools differently, which creates different art forms.
To appreciate any music drama, ask: What is the story? Who sings and when? How does the music change when the feeling changes? What do the costumes, face paint and movements tell us?
Xiqu: Chinese music drama
Xiqu (戏曲) is the family name for more than 300 regional kinds of Chinese music drama. Famous ones are Peking (Beijing) opera (jingju), Kunqu (one of the oldest, with soft, flowing melodies) and Yue opera. Peking opera and Kunqu are on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage.
- Four basic skills: singing, speech (rhythmic spoken lines), acting (gesture and expression) and martial skills (fights and acrobatics).
- Role types: sheng (male roles), dan (female roles), jing (painted-face roles) and chou (comic roles).
- Face paint: colours show character. Red usually shows loyalty and courage, white shows a sly or cunning person, black shows an honest, rough character.
- Music: a percussion group (drum, clappers, gongs, cymbals) leads the beat and cues the actors. Melodic instruments such as the jinghu (a high two-string fiddle) and the erhu follow the singer. Tunes come from set melody types that are fitted to new words.
- Stage: almost bare. A table and chair can become a mountain, a bed or a city wall because the actor's movement tells us. This is called symbolic (not realistic) staging.
Western opera
Opera began in Italy about 1600. Almost the whole story is sung. Main parts:
- Aria: a solo song where a character shows deep feeling.
- Recitative: speech-like singing that moves the plot along.
- Chorus and ensembles: many voices together.
- Orchestra: placed in a pit below the stage. It plays an overture before the show and supports the singers.
- Voices: soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone and bass. Singers are trained to be heard in a big hall without a microphone.
Opera is usually set in a realistic or grand scene with detailed sets, unlike the bare stage of xiqu.
Musicals compared
A musical mixes spoken scenes, songs in popular styles (jazz, rock, pop) and a lot of dance. Singers use microphones. For more about composers and song types, read Musical theatre.
| Xiqu | Opera | Musical | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main mix | Sing + speech + strong movement | Mostly singing | Balanced speech, song, dance |
| Band | Percussion + fiddles, on or beside stage | Large orchestra in the pit | Pit band or recorded sound |
| Voice | Stylised, often high and bright | Classical, no microphone | Popular styles, microphone |
| Stage | Bare and symbolic | Detailed sets | Detailed sets and lights |
Singing excerpts: how to learn one
To sing a short excerpt (a piece cut from a bigger work):
- Know the scene: who is singing, to whom and why. The feeling decides how you sing.
- Learn the words first and say them in rhythm. Clear diction makes the story understood.
- Learn the tune in small parts. Mark where to breathe, at the end of a phrase.
- Add the style: for xiqu, the special ornaments and the speech-like rhythm; for opera, a round, supported tone; for a musical, a natural, story-telling voice.
- Add the acting: face, hands and walk. A song is part of the scene.
Warm up your voice first, drink water and never force a high note.
Creating a music drama
You can make a short music drama (3 to 5 minutes) with your class.
- Pick a story with a clear start, a problem and an ending. A folk tale works well.
- Find the big feelings. These moments become songs.
- Choose the mix: how much singing, speech and movement? (Use the sliders in the 3D.)
- Write lyrics and a simple melody. Use a motif that returns whenever a character appears.
- Plan movement and stage: where do people stand, what simple props stand for something else?
- Add percussion for entrances and fights, and soft instruments for quiet moments.
- Rehearse, perform and talk about it: what worked, what to change?
Key formulas and definitions
- Music drama = story + singing + speech + movement + music band
- Xiqu: four skills = singing, speech, acting, martial skills; roles = sheng, dan, jing, chou
- Opera: aria, recitative, chorus, orchestra in the pit
Worked examples
1. A scene shows a character telling the audience a big wish in a long solo song, with a full orchestra and no microphone. Which form is it most like?
Opera. A long solo song for feeling is an aria, and the orchestra without microphones is typical of opera.
2. An actor with a red painted face walks round the bare stage with a table, which is meant to be a mountain. What can we say?
It is xiqu (for example Peking opera). Red face paint usually shows a loyal, brave character, and a table standing for a mountain is symbolic staging.
3. A show has spoken scenes, pop-style songs and a big dance number. Which form?
A musical. Balanced speech, popular songs and dance with microphones is the musical's mix.
4. Give four things you must plan before performing a school music drama.
The story, which moments are songs, the mix of singing/speech/movement, and the stage and props. Lyrics, tune, band and rehearsal time follow.
5. Why can xiqu use a plain stage but opera uses detailed sets?
In xiqu the actor's movement and singing show the place, so the audience imagines it. Opera usually shows the place in the set and shows feeling in the sung music.
Common mistakes
- Thinking xiqu and Peking opera are two different things. Peking opera is one famous kind of xiqu; there are over 300 kinds.
- Saying all opera uses microphones. Classical opera singers are trained to be heard without them.
- Calling every sung show an opera. A musical mixes speech, popular songs and dance and is a different form.
- Reading face paint colours as fixed rules in every show. Colours are a guide that varies by region and role.