Opera and Ballad (Continued)
Suju
Listed as part of the Chinese intangible cultural heritage in 2006, suju (opera from the city of Suzhou, Jiangsu province) is the product of the fusion of three genres: nanci (a story-telling ballad), kunqu (the opera genre described directly above), and flower-drum tanhuang (a small-scale opera with a strong local flavor). This fusion blends the narrative story content of nanci, the elegance and literary" aesthetics of kunqu, and the popular singing style of flower-drum tanhuang, resulting in a beautiful and undulating musical style that is both elegant and easy to listen to.
Following the lifestyle changes of the last eighty years or so, suju's audiences are declining, as people adopt the fast pace of modern life and come to prefer the quicker narrative of stories in TV and films. Because local government remains the main support for these traditional operas, there is a greater official ideological impact on newly written or adapted repertoire, which sometimes further distances local operas from their potential audiences. Such is the case with a newly written suju 'The Spirit of the National Tripod' that narrates an obviously (and stereotypically) patriotic story about a family who devoted their personal lives to stop warlords, Japanese invaders, and Nationalist Party officials from stealing the family treasure, but then donated the treasure to the nation upon the establishment of People's Republic of China (Figure 6). Although the basic story is easy to understand, the large stretches of singing, the poetic language used, its simplistically political tone, and its 2.5-hour duration make it hard to digest for contemporary audiences (Example 8: Suju performers led by Wang Fan in 'The Spirit of the National Tripod'. Courtesy of Qian Lijuan).
Example 9: Suju performers 'The Spirit of the National Tripod'
Modern Chinese songs were promoted by those advocating different religious and political stances in the age of national revival and modernization.
