25-26/6 (Tue-Wed) & 4-7/7 (Thu-Sun)      7:30pm

Dabayin
Bayin ensembles flourished around the region of the Pearl River Delta in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, or the first part of the 17th century. Performances can be divided into seated performances and processionals, which were usually held during official government activities, birthday celebrations for the deities, Taoist rites for fasts and offerings, weddings, and funerals. The core musical instruments of the ensemble are the suona and various percussion instruments such as the gaobianluo, dabo, xiaobo, and biangu.

Performer: Ko Yun-kuen and the ensemble

Narrative Singing
Narrative Singing can be subdivided into banyan, moyuge (muyu), nanyin and longzhou. According to Qu Dajun’s New Essays of Guangdong, muyu evolved from the moyuge of Jiangsu. Nanyin is recognised as part of Hong Kong's intangible cultural heritage and belongs to the vocal system of banqiang. Originally sung in brothel, banyan gradually became a lost art after the banning of prostitution in Hong Kong in 1935. Longzhou were originally folk tunes sung by wandering entertainers as a way to make a living, performed to the accompaniment of a small gong and drum with auspicious speech.

Banyan (with new lyrics)
In this programme, Yuen Siu-fai will perform an impromptu banyan with newly written lyrics to kick off each performance. It is an opportunity for the audience to learn about this almost lost narrative song art form.
Performer: Yuen Siu-fai

Moyuge The Fable of the Ungrateful Wolf
The song is inspired by a Chinese fable about Dongguo, who almost got eaten by a wounded wolf that he saved on the road. The singer tells the story by taking on multiple roles as the storyteller, Dongguo, the wolf and the three elders. The piece displays an impressive range of narrative singing techniques, featuring a mix of narrative song forms including moyuge, banyan and nanyin.
Performer: Yuen Siu-fai, Yu Siu-wah, Chan Chi-chun, Ko Yun-hung and the ensemble

Nanyin Excerpt from Nocturnal Lament
Written by the litterateur Ho Wai Kwan, it is a relatively rare piece of nanyin that is written for women, and has a different vibe when sung in pinghou than when sung in zihou. Notably different from nanyin performed by men, the piece highlights the quietude and charm characteristic of nanyin sung by women.
Performer: Leung Hoi-li

Nanyin Burning Funerary Goods for His Love (25/6 & 6/7 only)
This is a classic example of suqu (popular songs). The original text was refined, but singers offered a different interpretation by including a large amount of dynamic colloquial expressions. The ending of the aria features an animated and jocular rhythm, it switches from the first person point of view to the third person, and the singers goes from singing as a brothel patron to being a boatwoman who advises the man to ease his sorrows and even acts as a matchmaker for him.
Performer: Yuen Siu-fai, Yu Siu-wah, Chan Chi-chun, Ko Yun-hung and the ensemble

Nanyin Blind Musician Dou Wun (26/6 & 4/7 only)
This is a new piece of nanyin written by Fung Kung-tat, which tells of the life of the blind musician, Dou Wun. A keen enthusiast of nanyin himself, Fung used to know Dou very well. In this biographical narrative, he traces the major incidences in Dou’s life, such as ‘Uncle Wun happened to meet the blind musician Suen, who agreed to be his mentor’, and ‘Dou Wun and Ho San became partners in performance, singing all the way from 1955 to 1970’.
Performer: Yuen Siu-fai, Yu Siu-wah, Chan Chi-chun, Ko Yun-hung and the ensemble

Nanyin Excerpt from Farewell My Concubine (5/7 only)
Dishui nanyin is characterised by an energetic and engaging narrative singing style. They tend to be solos, and the singer usually plays the character described in the song, sometimes as an observer or storyteller. Farewell My Concubine is a piece of nanyin that is seldom performed in recent years. The singer showcases their skills by playing the roles of the storyteller, Xiang Yu and Consort Yu in a song about a man who loses his initiative for the sake of love.
Performer: Yuen Siu-fai, Yu Siu-wah, Chan Chi-chun, Ko Yun-hung and the ensemble

Nanyin Excerpt from A Wanderer's Autumn Grief (7/7 only)
This is a classic example of refined nanyin, with elegant text that can be sung or read. The singer tells the tale of two lovers – a scholar by the name of Mau Lin-sin and a famous courtesan called Mak Chow-kuen – who are forced apart because of political unrest. Now on the road, Mau recalls with deep regret the happier times when they were together.
Performer: Yuen Siu-fai, Yu Siu-wah, Chan Chi-chun, Ko Yun-hung and the ensemble

Cantonese Music
There are two types of Cantonese Music: taut bow and slack bow. Taut bow ensembles feature high and bright tones, and tend to use instruments such as two-stringed fiddles (erxian and tiqin), plucked lutes (sanxian and yueqin) and bamboo flutes (dizi); slack bow ensembles have gentle and delicate tones, and are led by two-stringed fiddles (gaohu and yehu), hammered dulcimers (yangqin), plucked lutes (qinqin) and end-blown flutes (xiao).

A Monk Misses His Wife
This is a xiaodiao tune in the qupai system, first recorded in the first edition of The Yue’ou Love Songs of Guangdong compiled by Zhao Ziyong, published around 1828. It was later incorporated into the Cantonese music, Triratna. In the late Qing period, the melody was transcribed by Yan Laolie into a yangqin piece called Dao-Chui-Lian. In 1916, it was collected into The Essential Book of Strings and Songs by Yau Hok-chau, under the category of ‘intermezzo’.

Lovers' Sorrow
Also known as Lovers' Regret, this is the earliest piece of Cantonese music under the fenduan system. The music is derived from folk pieces such as The Pink Lotus and Killing the Rooster, with a theme that is full of lament. The main tune is ‘zhengxian in yifan mode’, which switches to ‘zhengxian in zhengdiao mode’ in the middle section before reverting back, and ends in the escalating ‘cuiban’.

Butterflies among the Flowers
This is actually the original Chaffinch in the Weeping Willow. Ho Tai-sor created and published both pieces in the early 1930s, and the record company mixed up their names by mistake, and the incorrect names have been used till today. Melodic and smooth flowing, the music depicts butterflies dancing among the flowers to the songs of orioles.

The Toll of the Temple Bell
Written by Tsui Wai-lam, the piece was originally intended for performance on the dongxiao. Later versions came with lyrics and became more popular. Inspired by the striking sounds of a muyu, singing bowl and tolling bells from a temple, the music carries a sense of repressed sorrow and detached meditative sentiment in times of adversities, with the tune conveying a feeling of grief tinged with sadness and anger.

Performer: Yu Siu-wah, Chan Chi-chun, Ho Kang-ming, Chan Kwok-fai

Autumn Moon over a Placid Lake
Originally named Drunk in Times of Peace, this is a representative piece by the beacon of Cantonese music, Lui Man-shing, generally considered to be inspired by the beautiful scenery of the West Lake in Hangzhou. The piece is often transcribed into different folk versions, such as dizi and zheng solos. It is also a commonly played xiaoqu tune in Cantonese Opera.

A Hungry Horse Shaking Its Bells
The origin of its name can be traced back to the ancient military strategy: ‘hanging goats beat the drums, hungry horses rattle bells’, where the attacking enemy is scared away with a strategy of bluff.

The Galloping Stallion and the Hero
This is a classic piece from the early days of Cantonese music. The song has a vividness in both the melody and tempo. It depicts the liveliness of a stallion and the high spirits of its rider as it gallops across a wide expanse of grassland.

The Peacock in Its Full Glory
Written by Ho Tai-sor, originally an accompaniment for a dance scene in a Hung Zheuk Ping Opera Troupe production, the music likens the scene of a peacock in its full glory to peace and happiness on earth. Led by a hengxiao, the melody is animated with its undulating rhythm and a grand, elegant timbre. Soon after it was premiered, it was transcribed for different instruments.

Performer: Yu Siu-wah, Chan Chi-chun, Ko Yun-hung and the ensemble

Cantonese Operatic Song in Classic Singing Style
Cantonese opera in classic singing style was performed in Zhongzhou rythmes, also known as Zhongyuan yinyun. The banqiang musical structure of Chinese traditional theatre is divided into two major systems: bangzi (or bangzi qian) and erhuang (or erhuang qian). Together, these two systems form the classical singing styles. The same musical mode tends to be used for its beat forms, from shouban to shaban. Actors can give their own spin to the classic singing style using different vocal techniques and approaches.

Jia Baoyu’s Lament for the Wrong Match in the Arranged Marriage (25/6 & 5/7 only) and Waiting in the West Chamber under the Moon (26/6 & 7/7 only)
These two pieces in classic singing style have long been fundamental songs for beginner xiaosheng (young male) roles. Their forms of music are similar, consisting of shouban, manban, zhongban and shaban. The difference lies in the way the shouban is sung in tune with manban in Jia Baoyu's Lament for the Wrong Match in the Arranged Marriage, as opposed to the regular shigong singing in Waiting in the West Chamber under the Moon.
Performer: Ng Chin-fung (Jia Baoyu’s Lament for the Wrong Match in the Arranged Marriage), Yuen Siu-fai (Waiting in the West Chamber under the Moon)

Han Xin Accepting Food from the Washer Woman (25/6 & 5/7 only)
This is an act from Han Xin Defects to Han from Chu, one of the Eight Classic Pieces, and is the only duet sung in classic singing style between the sheng (male) and dan (female) roles in this programme. This piece contains many long preludes and interludes. The opening passage in manban sung during the washer woman’s introduction is a prelude in moderato that is unique to this piece.
Performer: Yuen Siu-fai, Cheng Man-yee

Rendezvous at the Monastery of Sweet Dew (26/6 & 7/7 only)
This is a scene from The Three Kingdoms, where Zhao Zilong protects his lord and crosses the river. Wu Guotai meets Liu Bei at the Monastery of Sweet Dew, and Zhao appears on stage to inform the latter of an ambush, accompanied by luobianhua percussion. Liu sings a passage in zhongban to beg for forgiveness from Wu, which is one of the more emotionally expressive and infectious Cantonese operatic pieces in classic singing style.
Performer: Sun Kim-long

Chen Gong Chastising Cao Cao (4/7 & 6/7 only)
This is a standard piece that begins with an introductory shouban, manban, zhongban and ends with shaban. It tells the story of how Lu Bu was slain at the White Gate Tower. The play’s atmosphere is thrilling as the plot focuses on reprimanding Cao Cao for his faults. This kind of storyline is rarely seen on the stage these days.
Performer: Yuen Siu-fai

A medley of classic vocal style singing: On the Swallow Tower and Bidding Farewell by the Autumn River (4/7 & 6/7 only)
On the Swallow Tower is a solo piece written for the dan (female) voice. New Cantonese Opera pieces composed in recent years often use yanzilou zhongban for their preludes, but rarely uses the yanzilou format (bankaikou) for their own zhongban. Tasteful and elegant, this song is a unique style of singing in zhongban for the dan role, and is especially suitable to be sung by dignified and virtuous women when they appear on stage.
Bidding Farewell by the Autumn River belongs to a type of Cantonese Opera repertoire known as dadiao, and is divided into nine verses. The long instrumental interludes between the passages are suitable for inserting koubai (plain speech), and the piece ends in qiujiangbie zhongban. It expresses Chen Miaochang’s unspoken longing for Pan Bizheng as the two bid farewell to each other by the Autumn River. The song is in a very high range, and is mostly sung in the chewuxian key.
Performer: Cheng Man-yee

The running time of the performance is approximately 3 hours including an intermission of 15 minutes.



Information provided by the arts group

House Programme