TRADITIONAL

ASIAN
THEATER MUSIC:
“CHINESE THEATER”
Peking Opera
is a form of traditional
Chinese theatre which combines
music, vocal performance, mime
dance and acrobatics
Peking Opera
The form was extremely
popular in the Qing Dynasty court
and has come to be regarded as one
of the cultural treasures of China.
 The popularity of Peking
opera has been attributed to the
simplicity of the form, with only
few voices and singing patterns.
This allowed anyone to sing the
arias themselves.
Peking Opera has two main styles of Music

1.Erhuang – has a higher

sound than hisp’l

2. hisp’l - has lower sound

 The orchestra of a Peking opera is
different from the western orchestra. It
comprises about eight musicians sitting on
stools in the far-corner of the stage. Each
performance in a Peking opera begins with
the talo and siao-lo, a small and large gong
and cymbals. In some performances they
also start with the single skin drum or kettle
drum.
Instruments used
in Peking Opera
Aerophone

Ti-ts – cross flutes –

usually played along
with singing
Aerophone

Sona – trumpet
announces prosperous
occasions
Aerophone

Siao – recorded flutes –

usually played along with
singing
Chordophone

Hu-ch’ín – two-stringed
instrument
Chordophone

Pi-pa – similar to lute

with four strings
instrument
Chordophone

Yue-ch’ín – fourstringed
instrument
Chordophone

San-sien – threestringed
instrument
 Idiophone

Tan pi ku – kettle drum –

used to create the tempo of
the performance
 Peking Opera Performers

FEMALE MALE
PERFORMER PERFORMER