Composer’s interpretation of Guo Wenjing of Chinese traditional opera «Si Fan»
Authors: Hnatiuk Daria 
Published: December 2024

Relevance of the study. Chinese traditional opera is one of the important treasures of the world musical culture. Now there are about 360 regional varieties of this opera in China, which indicates the active continuation of its public life. At the current stage, Chinese traditional musical art became the focus of attention of many Chinese composers-representatives of “The New Wave”. In their creativity, there is a revival of traditional Chinese music and, at the same time, saturation of traditional genres of modern methods of compositional writing. The subject of the consideration in the article is the composer’s interpretation of Chinese traditional opera “Si Fan”, which was made by Guo Wenjing in 2015. Creating arrangement, the composer aims to enrich the thesaurus of Western musician and listener with intonations of Sichuan traditional opera. Its access to the international level actualizes the research of peculiarities of modern interpretive versions of opera compositions of Sichuan traditional theatre.
The main objective of the study is to reveal the specifics of transformation of Sichuan traditional opera “Si Fan” in the composer's interpretation of Guo Wenjing.
Methodology. In the research of historical origin of the original source of the studied opera, the role of Sichuan traditional opera in modern musical life, the historical method of analysis is applied. In order to identify the specifics of the transformation of an opera of traditional origin in the modern composer's interpretation of Guo Wenjing, the comparative method of analysis was used.
Results and conclusions. The historical origin of the original source of the studied opera is traced. The specifics of changes in the semantic load in operas of the traditional theater are revealed in a historical section, using the example of the opera “Si Fan”. The importance of mutual exchange of musical experience between European and Chinese cultures as the important means of actualizing Chinese traditional theater for modern society is highlighted. The specifics of the transformation of the Sichuan traditional opera “Si Fan” in the composer's interpretive version by Guo Wenjing have been researched. It can be traced in the orientation to the maximum preservation of the natural, authentic sound of gaoqiang chants, which would at the same time become accessible to the modern foreign audience. For this purpose, the following means are used: 1. distinct genre features of Chinese traditional theater are preserved; 2. the acoustic sound of instrumentation is not opposed, but acts as a supplement to the sound standard of traditional Chinese music; 3. the ensemble interaction of the traditional composition of gaoqiang performers is not disrupted with the introduction of an academic instrumental ensemble; 4. five-line and hieroglyphic notation is combined. In Guo Wenjing's arrangement, we observe the genre expansion of traditional opera, according to which the composer leaves the basis of the traditional Sichuan opera, but enriches its expressive possibilities, bringing it closer to the perception of the European listener. According to the results of the analyses of the performance version of the opera “Si Fan” of 2015, the peculiarities of live communication of the performers are summarized, in which the central and leading role of the soloist is emphasized. A conclusion is made regarding the stabilizing influence of musical notation, the presence of an auxiliary instrumental ensemble and a conductor on the architectural construction of the opera.
The search of new resources to diversify the musical and expressive language of the traditional heritage of Chinese culture is characteristic of the work of many modern composers, which certainly provides prospects for further analytical investigations and awaits further scientific coverage.