Chinese Operas

Chinese opera. Taibei: Li-Ming Record Company, 1965. (Loeb Music Library, Archive of World Music, AWM LP 1715)

Chinese operas are a comprehensive stage art with a long history. They include literature, music, dance, art, martial arts, acrobatics and other art forms. After long-term development and evolution, Peking opera, Yue (Zhejiang) opera, Huangmei (Anhui) opera, Pingju opera and Yu (Henan) opera now represent the core of Chinese opera. Of these, Peking opera is the most representative of Chinese operas.

Hua Mulan. [Peking]: China Record Company, [196-?]. (Loeb Music Library, Archive of World Music: AWM LP 1024)

Professor Rulan Chao Pian conducted extensive research on Chinese operas and wrote dozens of related articles. In addition to the Peking opera, she studied other oral literatures, such as danxian (單弦), jingyun drum (京韻大鼓), hua'er (花兒), and so on. Her work pioneered new applications of linguistic research methods to music analysis.

Her most notable works include: Text Setting with the Shipyi Animated Aria (1972), The Function of Rhythm in the Peking Opera (1971), Rhythmic Texture in the Peking Opera, The Fisherman’s Revenge (1979) and Musical Elements in the Peking Opera Bah Wang Bye ji (The King’s Farewell) (1980).

[Miscellaneous collection of Chinese music, including recordings of Peking opera, Korean opera, Zheng music, the Peking Drum Song, and Taiwanese opera]. (Loeb Music Library, Archive of World Music, AWM 6649 v. 1a & v. 7, AWM 6647 and AWM 6648)

To better support teaching and research, Professor Pian donated some of her collections to the Harvard Music Library after her retirement. These include recordings of Chinese operas, musical scores and Asian ethnic music materials.

Shown here are some of the audio-visual materials and musical scores of Chinese Peking opera, Yu (Henan) opera, Kunqu opera, Japanese bugaku (文樂), Saibara Yakufu (催馬樂譜), and Korean chongak kayagum (正樂伽琴譜).