Jingju (Beijing Opera) Ensemble from China
The instrumental resources used in the popular Chinese theater form known as Beijing Opera can be divided into two groups: melodic or lyrical instruments, collectively referred to as the ‘wenchang’ (‘civil section’); and percussive or military instruments, collectively referred to as the ‘wuchang’ (‘martial section’). The primary melodic instruments are the two-stringed fiddles jinghu and erhu, and the yueqin ‘moon guitar’ (second audio clip). The pipa lute, dizi flute and double-reed suona (first audio clip) are also used for specific sorts of dramatic scenes. The primary percussive instruments, used to accompany stage action and to punctuate spoken passages, are the gongs xiaoluo and daluo, the cymbals jingbo, the frame drum bangu, and the wooden clappers paiban, and the barrel drum tanggu (third audio clip).
Bibliography:
Guy, Nancy. “Beijing Opera,” in Grove Music Online. Accessed December 5 2014: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/51764?q=jingju&search=quick&source=omo_gmo&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit
(by Roger Vetter)
jinghu
erhu
yueqin
pipa
dizi
suona
xiaoluo
daluo
jingbo
bangu
paiban
