Artistic Features of Ju Yang's Opera

On the one hand, the performing arts of Yangju inherit the local folk song and dance traditions of Yangzhou, such as random bombs and flower drums, incense sticks, yangko, acrobatics, dragon lanterns, unicorn singing and boating on the lake, on the other hand, they draw nourishment from the popular Yiyang Opera, Kunqu Opera and Huizhou Opera in Yangzhou. The music of Yangju Opera belongs to antithetical couplets. As far as its charm of combining rigidity with softness is concerned, it mainly includes the lightness and delicacy of the tunes of ancient paintings and operas, the masculinity and ruggedness of fragrant operas, the significance and freshness of folk songs and the changeable emotions of Qingqu.

There are a lot of aria tunes in Yangju, including Yangzhou Qingqu, Yangzhou Huagu, Yangzhou Xiang and so on 100. Among them, Yangzhou Qingqu occupies a dominant position, such as "Manjianghong", "Dressing Table", "Cutting Indigo Flowers" and "Leading Cattle Silk", all of which are the main tunes of Yangju.

The tune of Yangzhou Flower Drum is produced in drama and dance performances, with clear musical rhythm, suitable for portraying comedy characters, and cheerful, lively and humorous style. After it developed into a kind of drama, its representative tunes, such as [planting wheat] in Husband and Wife, [grinding bean curd] in Wang's grinding bean curd, and [fortune-telling] in fortune telling for the blind, became an important part of Yangju music.

Yangzhou incense is accompanied by gongs and drums, not silk stringed instruments. The main tunes are [seven-character singing], [cross singing], [wind palace paddling], [driving mountains and blocking the sea] and [Lord Liu], all of which are rough, powerful and high-pitched.

In addition, Yangju also absorbed and transformed some tunes from folk songs and other operas, such as "Playing Tooth Cards", "Ten Cups of Wine", "Yangliuqing" and "Wucheng Tune". This has become an integral part of Yangju music.

After long-term stage practice, the musical tunes from the above sources have gradually formed a unified, harmonious and complete musical system. The common tunes of modern yangju opera are dressing table, rolling board, counting board, filling altar, crying Xiao Lang, cutting indigo flowers, breaking bridges and visiting relatives.