{"product_id":"singing-in-mandarin-a-guide-to-chinese-lyric-diction-and-vocal-repertoire-9781538131428","title":"Singing in Mandarin: A Guide to Chinese Lyric","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith Chinese art forms gaining notoriety worldwide, it is only natural for there to be an uptick in interest in Chinese classical music. The expanding market in Chinese classical music, as well as the growing fame of Chinese composers, pave way for a new lucrative career in Mandarin-language vocalism. Singing in Mandarin: A Guide to Chinese Lyric Diction is a comprehensive guide to mastering vocal repertoire in Mandarin. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn part one, Katherine Chu and Juliet Petrus focus on diction and language, providing detailed descriptions on how to create the exact sounds and pronunciations through International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and ‘Pinyin’. Part two outlines the historical context of Mandarin vocal tradition, chronicling the development of the language and Chinese vocal repertoire over the last 100 years. Audio files narrated by native speakers demonstrating the sounds are also included.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSinging in Mandarin provides guidance for both novices and those with previous experience singing or speaking in Mandarin and is the first book of its kind to help bring the rich, previously inaccessible heritage of Chinese vocal music to Western audiences.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI am thrilled to see this comprehensive guide available! Juliet Petrus and Katherine Chu have opened the door for English-speaking singers, their pianists, and their coaches to finally feel comfortable in approaching repertoire in this wonderful language. They present all the essentials with the utmost clarity, and it includes recorded examples. This is an important contribution to exploring this fascinating trove of vocal music. -- Martin Katz, international collaborative pianist and vocal coach\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePart 1: The Fundamentals of Chinese Diction\u003cbr\u003eChapter 1: Consonants\u003cbr\u003eBeginning with consonants and progressing from familiar to unfamiliar sounds, this chapter uses\u003cbr\u003ecomparative diction study to illustrate the differences and commonalities of Chinese diction to\u003cbr\u003eother, more familiar dictions. Unless readers can already recognize and pronounce Chinese\u003cbr\u003echaracters, Pinyin will be a necessary step in transliterating, as currently it is the most common\u003cbr\u003emethod. Being that the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a standard method of identifying\u003cbr\u003ephonemes, the book employs IPA to explain the Pinyin. Even in this early stage of Mandarin\u003cbr\u003eknowledge, by establishing the important connection between IPA and Pinyin, some students\u003cbr\u003emay comfortably continue to use the IPA system, while others may eventually progress to using\u003cbr\u003eonly Pinyin as their form of transliteration. In addition to being able to hear all of the sounds\u003cbr\u003epronounced by native speakers on the CD, there will be diagrams of tongue position,\u003cbr\u003edescriptions of how to physically create them, as well as exercises to help the readers acclimate\u003cbr\u003ethemselves to Chinese pronunciation.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 2: Vowels\u003cbr\u003eContinuing the systematic approach from Chapter 1, this chapter thoroughly examines all the\u003cbr\u003ecategories including vowels, vowel clusters and vowel-consonant combination, many of which\u003cbr\u003eare unique to the study of Chinese diction. It discusses the important subtleties which cannot be\u003cbr\u003ecompared to any other type of lyric diction. The very last section will address the effect that\u003cbr\u003ecertain groups of consonants and semi-vowels have on vowels and vowel clusters that follow\u003cbr\u003ethem.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 3: Chinese Semantics, Syntax and Stress\u003cbr\u003eOnce the Chinese diction system is presented and explained in the most scientific manner\u003cbr\u003epossible, attention can be turned to important properties that characterize this language. Each\u003cbr\u003eChinese character is a monosyllable with a stand-alone meaning. Words in Chinese can be\u003cbr\u003emade up of multiple syllables. Like in English, correct stress while singing in Mandarin is\u003cbr\u003eessential for comprehension of the lyrics, not only because the tonal aspect of the language is\u003cbr\u003ecompletely lost in music, but also because the musical stress begins to superimpose on the\u003cbr\u003ephrasal stress. This chapter examines how proper stress and inflection restore the syntactic and\u003cbr\u003esemantic features of the Chinese language.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 4: Stylistic Concerns\u003cbr\u003eThe final chapter of Part 1 will be an overview of stylistic issues unique to Chinese diction, such other lyric dictions such as the peculiar and regional property of the final R, and the ‘rounding off\u003cbr\u003eof a syllable’ and its effect on legato. There will be also an examination of widely spoken\u003cbr\u003edialects such as Cantonese and Taiwanese, and regional accents. These are stylistic elements\u003cbr\u003ethat can transform mere diction into artistry, as they give nuance to interpretation.\u003cbr\u003e-----------------------------------------\u003cbr\u003ePart 2: Chinese Vocal Repertoire\u003cbr\u003eChapter 5: Overview of Modern Chinese Vocal Literature\u003cbr\u003eWith vocal traditions such as Peking and Kunqu Operas, Chinese vocal music spans centuries\u003cbr\u003ein Chinese history. Despite this long and rich tradition, the body of work that is applicable to\u003cbr\u003eclassically-trained, lyric singers began emerging in the early 1900s. Modern Chinese vocal\u003cbr\u003emusic mirrors the course of contemporary Chinese history, reflecting political milieu, motivating\u003cbr\u003enew genres, revolutionizing the language, and assimilating Western influences, which impacted\u003cbr\u003ethe stylistic development of vocal literature. The subsequent chapters are the examination of the\u003cbr\u003etypes of repertoire developed from the last century to the present.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 6: Modern Chinese Song Repertoire\u003cbr\u003eWhat can be identified as modern repertoire started in the decade after the Revolution of 1911.\u003cbr\u003eArt songs and folk song arrangements make up a significant part of the type of music accessible\u003cbr\u003eto the classically-trained singer. However, songs with a popular influence and vocal chamber\u003cbr\u003emusic also make their way to the contemporary recital hall. This chapter will survey these works,\u003cbr\u003eas well as giving Pinyin and IPA for the most significant pieces. Composers represented will\u003cbr\u003einclude the earliest pioneers such as HUANG Zi, QING Zhu, XIAO Youmei, and ZHAO Yuanren,\u003cbr\u003eas well as modern disciples such as CHEN Yi, LU Zaiyi, and composers from Hong Kong and\u003cbr\u003eTaiwan, illustrating their place and contributions to Chinese Art Song, the definition of which\u003cbr\u003eleads to many fascinating questions and lively debates.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 7: Concert and Opera Repertoire\u003cbr\u003eConcert pieces for voice with orchestra and modern opera represent a recent phenomenon in\u003cbr\u003eChinese compositional history. From the very earliest of cantatas to the first Chinese opera in\u003cbr\u003ethe 1930’s, the variety of genres fashioned in the Western compositional models in the last two\u003cbr\u003edecades is well evidenced by the remarkable output from composers, both Western-trained and\u003cbr\u003ehome-grown. Encouraged by the growing number of theaters built and productions staged in\u003cbr\u003eChina, opera is proving to be the epitome of creative expression, attracting many composers to\u003cbr\u003eturn their attention to writing for this multidisciplinary art form. Composers such as CHEN\u003cbr\u003eQigang, CHOU Wen-chung, GUO Wenjing, Bright Sheng, TAN Dun, YE Xiaogang and ZHOU\u003cbr\u003eLong, help to push these genres forward.","brand":"Rowman \u0026 Littlefield","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51041156235607,"sku":"9781538131428","price":37.05,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781538131428.jpg?v=1750949158","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/singing-in-mandarin-a-guide-to-chinese-lyric-diction-and-vocal-repertoire-9781538131428","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}