Ru
EnChen Yuqi, A. Borodin
Functional characteristics of national wind instruments in Peking opera (on example of the dizi flute)
The article sequentially examines the functional characteristics of traditional wind instruments in Peking opera, regarded as China’s “national drama.” An analysis of the principal studies in this field demonstrates that existing research has largely been limited to classifying performance contexts and playing techniques of wind instruments without distinguishing their specific musical functions. The present study draws upon collections of qupai for Chinese traditional wind instruments (these collections represent not simply tunes, but the foundation of Chinese music, a kind of ancient patterns, on the basis of which entire musical works are created), as well as on video materials of a number of classic Peking operas. Building upon the three functional dimensions of music identified by E. Nazaikinsky – communicative, tectonic, and semantic – the article defines the functions of one of the principal wind instruments of Peking opera, the dizi flute, and analyzes the musical parts written for it. The findings demonstrate that traditional wind instruments in Peking opera play a significant role not only in advancing the dramatic narrative and maintaining its dynamic development, but also in expressing the emotional states of characters, revealing their distinctive traits, and enhancing the expressive impact of the stage performance. The study shows that the dizi generally does not perform a communicative function. Within its tectonic function, it accompanies the vocal line in three specific contexts: in passages derived from Kunshan opera, in sections written in the chuqiang style, and in folk episodes belonging to the zaqiang xiaodiao tradition. Its semantic function is manifested primarily in dance, banquet, ceremonial, divine, comic, everyday-life, and lyrical scenes. In addition, the article presents examples illustrating the interaction and overlap of different functions, which in certain contexts form an inseparable whole.
Key words
Peking opera, traditional Chinese wind instruments, dizi flute, communicative function, tectonic function, semantic function, qupai.
For citation
Chen Yuqi, Borodin A. Functional characteristics of national wind instruments in Peking opera (on example of the dizi flute). In: South-Russian Musical Anthology. 2026. No. 2. Pp. 80–88.
