The Cochin-Chinese are remarkably fond of dramatic entertainments, which are generally of an operatic character commemorating historical events. An English gentleman who witnessed the performance of some of these plays remarks of the actors: "Their singing is good, when the ear has become accustomed to it; and the modulation of voice of the females is really captivating."95 Sir George Staunton was evidently surprised to find that a kind of historical opera, which he heard in the town of Turon (called by the natives Hansán) contained recitatives, airs, and choruses, which were, he says, "as regular as upon the Italian stage." He adds: "Some of the female performers were by no means despicable singers. They all observed time accurately, not only with their voices, but every joint of their hands and feet was obedient to the regular movement of the instruments."96 The band consisted of stringed instruments, wind instruments, and instruments of percussion. Sir John Barrow describes the theatre at Turon as "a shed of bamboo." He relates: "In the farther division of the building a party of comedians was engaged in the midst of an historical drama when we entered; but, on our being seated they broke off, and, coming forward, made before us an obeisance of nine genuflexions and prostrations, after which they returned to their labours, keeping up an incessant noise and bustle during our stay. The heat of the day, the thermometer in the shade standing at 81 deg. in the open air, and at least 10 deg. higher in the building, the crowds that thronged to see the strangers, the horrible crash of the gongs, kettle-drums, trumpets, and squalling flutes, were so stunning and oppressive that nothing but the novelty of the scene could possibly have detained us for a moment. The most entertaining, as well as the least noisy part of the theatrical exhibition, was a sort of Interlude, performed by three young women for the amusement, it would seem, of the principal actress, who sat as a spectator in the dress and character of some ancient Queen, whilst an old eunuch, very whimsically dressed, played his antic tricks like a scaramouch or buffoon in a Harlequin entertainment. The dialogue in this part differed entirely from the querulous and nearly monotonous recitation of the Chinese, being light and comic, and occasionally interrupted by cheerful airs which generally concluded with a chorus. These airs, rude and unpolished as they were, appeared to be regular compositions, and were sung in exactly measured time. One in particular attracted our attention, whose slow melancholy movement breathed the kind of plaintiveness so peculiar to the native airs of the Scotch, to which indeed it bore a close resemblance."
Probably the air was founded on the pentatonic scale, which is common in the music of the Chinese and Javanese, and of which traces are to be found in the Scotch popular tunes.
"The voices of the women are shrill and warbling, but some of their cadences were not without melody. The instruments at each pause gave a few short flourishes, till the music gradually increased in loudness by the swelling and deafening gong. Knowing nothing of the language, we were of course as ignorant of the subject as the majority of an English audience is of an Italian opera."97
A curious mode of paying the actors, which prevails in Cochin-China, may be mentioned here. An Englishman who was present at a theatrical performance in the town of Kangwarting, relates that the Quong, or governor of the province, bore the expense of the entertainment. The musical drama was performed in a large shed before a great concourse of spectators. "The Quong was there squatted on a raised platform in front of the actors with a small drum before him, supported in a diagonal position, on which he would strike a tap every time any part of the performance pleased him; which also was a signal for his purse-bearer to throw a small string of about twenty cash to the actors. To my taste, this spoiled the effect of the piece; for, every time the cash fell among them there would be a silence, and the next moment a scramble for the money; and it fell so frequently as almost to keep time with the discordant music of the orchestra. The actors were engaged by the day, and in this manner received their payment, the amount of which entirely depended upon the approbation of the Quong and the number of times he encored them by tapping his drum. I could see that many of them paid far more attention to the drum than they did to their performance; though I suppose, the amount thrown to them is equally divided. Sometimes the string on which the cash was tied, unluckily broke, and the money flew in all directions; by which some of the bystanders profited, not being honourable enough to hand it up to the poor actors."98
The Burmese have dramas performed by men, and also comedies represented by means of marionettes, or puppets. In the latter entertainments the figures are cleverly managed by persons situated beneath a stage which is hidden by a coarse curtain. The dialogues between these figures are much relished by the common spectators. At any rate, as they are apt to elicit uproarious mirth, they may be supposed to be often irresistibly comic. The real dramatic performances of the Burmese are acted by professional players, generally in the open air. The principal characters of the piece usually consist of a prince, a princess, a humble lover, a slave, and a buffoon. The female characters are represented by boys dressed in female attire. The dresses are handsome and gorgeous. However, the best theatrical performances take place in a building. On these occasions, there are two musical bands, one being placed on each side of the scene. The principal musical instruments of such an orchestra are of the percussion kind, containing a series of sonorous slabs of wood, or plates of metal, and somewhat resembling the Javanese instruments, but being attuned according to a diatonic order of intervals, instead of the pentatonic order. Also a curious contrivance, consisting of a set of drums suspended in a frame, each drum having a fixed tone, is used on these occasions. Moreover, the Burmese orchestra generally contains several wind instruments of the oboe and trumpet kind, as well as cymbals, large castanets of split bamboo, and other instruments of percussion, which serve to heighten the rhythmical effect of the music. The story of the drama is usually taken from ancient Burmese history. Captain Henry Yule, who has given a more detailed account of the Burmese plays than any previous traveller, remarks that when he was at Amarapoora he procured copies of some of the plays which he saw acted, from which it was evident to him that, while the general plan of the drama, comprising the more dignified and solemn part of the dialogue, was written down at considerable length, the humorous portions were left to the extempore wit of the actors. The following scenes are from a drama commemorating an episode from the life of Oodeinna, King of Kauthambi, a country in India. This drama, which was obtained by Captain Henry Yule, is a translation from the Pali, and the whole is in Burmese verse of four syllables.
(The scene opens in the Capital of Kauthambi. The king is seated on his throne, with his courtiers around him.)
King.– (Addresses them) "Great nobles and chiefs!"
Nobles.– "Phra, (Lord)!"
King.– "Are my subjects happy and prosperous?"
Nobles.– "Since Your Majesty's happy reign began, religion has shone forth with splendour; the seasons have been propitious; the earth has been bountiful; the rich and the poor, men and women, have enjoyed peace and prosperity, and the happy years have been to them as water to the lotus."
(Scene closes.)
Himalaya Mountains. – Enter a Nát. 99
Nát.– "Now I am a Nát! When, and in what body was I before? Ah! looking with a Nát's eyes and understanding, I perceive I was a hermit in these wilds. My companion, Alakappa, is still here. I will seek my friend."
(Approaches a cave.)
Hermit.– "Who art thou that comest suddenly to my cell in the garb and appearance of a Nát, with the nine jewels in thy crown?"
Nát.– "O holy Hermit, of a good lineage, who ever livest in the forest, tell me all thou desirest, so that nought may remain unsaid!"
Hermit.– "O Nát, who by stupendous merit has reached the exalted abode! I have nothing particular to ask; but numerous elephants come around my cell and do great damage. Be pleased to forbid this for the future."
Nát.– "O holy Hermit! I will give thee a golden harp, and by the virtue of its sounds, and thy songs accompanying, elephants will come or go as thou commandest."
From this passage it is evident that the Burmese ascribe to music a great power, and the same is also indicated in several other remarks occurring in the drama. It is, however, unnecessary here to give the entire drama, which the reader will find in the interesting book above alluded to.100 Suffice it to notice the following passages from a subsequent scene.
(The young Prince Oodeinna enters. The Hermit presents him with the golden harp and teaches him a tune and song. The Prince retires to a tree, ascends it, and plays. The wild elephants of the forest come around him, and are obedient to his voice and harp, etc.– )
Captain Yule remarks that "the comic stage-effects of the characters addressing the orchestra is very frequent," and there are several indications of the kind in the present drama. Take, for instance, the following: —
(Scene in the solitary wilds of Himalaya).
Enter an immense Bird
Bird (speaks). – "From the beginning of the world there have been numerous sorts of birds: cranes, ducks, crows, peacocks, and others. I am not of their sort. My power would extinguish them all. My home is amidst vast mountains and pathless forests, and ever and anon I descend from them. I will now go to the country of Kauthambi to seek for food. So now (to the band), as I am about to fly, strike up a victorious melody, O leader of the orchestra!"
The bird commences his flight, and, soaring aloft, says: —
"This is a beautiful country, and full of golden palaces, and lovely gardens with gorgeous-coloured flowers and shrubs. Nevertheless, I must look out for something to eat. Thus, turning north and turning south, looking up and looking down, I spy outside the King's palace a piece of flesh, red, red as blood. It is mine, sure as the food in a monk's begging-dish; it cannot escape. I will stoop at it, seize it, and fly away; and now that I may easily reach the large tree in my own mountain from this country of Kauthambi, play a soft and simple air, O leader of the orchestra!"
(The bird seizes the Queen, mistaking her red mantle for flesh, flies away with her to the mountains, and deposits her in a tree. The bird comes as if to devour her, when the Queen claps her hands at him, which frightens the bird, and he flies away).
This scene shows that the Burmese employ in their dramas loud and soft music, according to the events represented; and that the orchestra is conducted by a leader or music-director. The following example, from another scene, indicates the employment of the full orchestra fortissimo in conformity with the action.
Forest. A Hunter
Hunter. – "I and my dog will now go and kill whatever enemy appears. With my bow and my dog I care not what I encounter, elephants, deer, or what not; so come along (to his dog) brave Tiger. (To the band.) Now as I go on a grand expedition, burst forth like thunder!"
A detailed description of a kind of opera which was performed at Singapore is given by Charles Wilkes;101 but, as the actors were transient visitors to Singapore, who came from the neighbourhood of Madras, their play must have been a specimen of the popular Hindu dramas. Its title was 'The Results of Misplaced Friendship;' the words were recited in a "monotonous recitative," accompanied by a band of instrumental performers. As regards the plot of the piece, suffice it to say that it had a moral aim, and that a Brahmin and a clown were the most amusing characters of the Dramatis Personæ. The clown displayed much cleverness in mimicking a European in his dress and manners. The 'Select Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindus,' translated from the original Sanskrit, by R. H. Wilson, London, 1835, contain but few allusions to music; but these are ancient dramas, and the Hindus possess, as R. H. Wilson in his interesting Introduction points out, different kinds of theatrical entertainments. There was in former time no building appropriated to the public performance of dramas. The Kings had in their palaces a kind of music hall, called Sangita Sálá, in which were given entertainments consisting principally of music and dancing, and occasionally of dramatic representations.
Turning to Thibet, we meet with actors who are also singers, dancers, and acrobats. They perform in the streets, courtyards, and other open places of the towns, and their entertainments are enlivened by a musical band, and by the witticisms of their clowns. The actors generally wear masks.102
In China, dramatic performances, enacted by itinerant players, take place not unfrequently in the Joss-houses, or houses of religious ceremonies. The plays generally have reference to some remarkable event in the lives of the earliest Chinese Emperors, and almost always combine the comic with the tragic. The musical band occupies the back part of the stage behind the actors. The expenses of the entertainment are sometimes defrayed by private persons. Thus, on a certain occasion three performances were given in a town daily, for three days in succession, in honour of "The Mother of Heaven," a goddess who presides over the welfare of sailors, the defrayers of the entertainment being three merchants who had just received the returns of a lucky venture.103 Female characters are represented by boys and eunuchs. The plot of a Chinese drama, which was performed at Tien-sing before the English Ambassador, in a temporary theatre erected opposite to his yacht, is described by Sir G. Staunton, as follows: —
"An Emperor of China and his Empress are living in supreme felicity, when on a sudden his subjects revolt. A civil war ensues, battles are fought; and, at last, the arch-rebel, who is a General of cavalry, overcomes his sovereign, kills him with his own hand, and routes the imperial army. The captive Empress then appears upon the stage in all the agonies of despair naturally resulting from the loss of her husband and her dignity, as well as the apprehension of that of her honour."
How interesting would it be to the student of National Music to possess an exact notation of the music belonging to this scene, and to ascertain in what manner the intense emotions and vehement passions represented are expressed in the Chinese musical compositions!
"Whilst she is tearing her hair, and rending the skies with her complaints, the conqueror enters, approaches her with respect, addresses her in a gentle tone, soothes her sorrows with his compassion, talks of love and adoration, and like Richard the Third with Lady Anne, in Shakespeare, prevails in less than half-an-hour on the Chinese Princess to dry up her tears, to forget her deceased consort, and to yield to a consoling wooer. The piece concludes with a wedding and a grand procession."104
The Japanese are fond of dramatic representations, and have special buildings for their performances. Captain Golownin describes the theatre in Matsmai, the capital city of the island of Yesso, as "a large and pretty high building. At the back is the stage, which, as with us, has a raised floor. From the stage to the front wall, where the entrance is situated, two rows of seats are placed for the spectators. In the middle, where we have the pit, there is a vacant space in which straw mats are laid down for the spectators. As this space is much lower than the stage, those in front do not intercept the view from those behind. There is no orchestra, either because the Japanese perform no music in their theatres, or because the musicians are reckoned among the actors."
The place for the orchestra was probably at the back of the stage, as in the Chinese theatre. Captain Golownin visited the building only in the day-time, and when the house was empty, the permission to see a piece performed having been refused to him by the government of the capital.
"Opposite the stage, where in our theatres are the Emperor's box and the galleries, there are only a bare wall and the door for the entrance. There were no ornaments in the interior; the walls were not even painted. The dresses and decorations are kept in a separate building. The subjects of their plays are chiefly memorable events in Japanese history; but they have also other representations which are of a comic nature, and which serve to amuse the public."105 Moreover, the Japanese have annual religious festivals in which scenic representations take place, and which are very popular. The dramas usually commemorate the deeds of ancient heroes or a myth; some have for their subject a fanciful love-story; and some are especially designed to enforce a certain moral precept. According to Siebold and Fisher, many of the Japanese plays are very instructive and moral. They are often so constructed that not more than two actors appear on the stage during a scene. There are no actresses, the female characters being represented by boys. It is not unusual for the actors to pass through the pit on their way to the stage, in order to give the audience an opportunity to admire their appearance and costume as closely as possible.
Such dramatic music of extra-European countries as has been derived from Europe does not come within the scope of our present inquiry. It happens, however, not unfrequently that the European music is to some extent modified, by being interspersed with national tunes of the extra-European country into which it has been introduced, or by being performed in a peculiar manner. Whenever this is the case, it deserves the special attention of the student of national music.
The Tagals, or the aborigines of the Philippine Islands, have theatrical performances in bamboo buildings. The characters consist principally of fairies, demons, and other supernatural creatures; but, the musical part of these entertainments is said to contain much which has been borrowed from the Spaniards. Probably this is especially the case in Manilla. Besides the principal theatre, in which the actors are Spaniards, Manilla has two theatres of the natives. In South America we find, as might be expected, Spanish and Italian operas. In Lima the orchestra is deficient; Spanish dances, as the Bolero, Fandango, Don Mateo, are often performed instead of our ballets. At the theatre in Mexico, Spanish dances are frequently introduced between the plays. The Teatro de Tacon in Havana, said to be one of the finest edifices of the kind in the world, has singers who perform Italian operas, as in Europe. The female spectators sit in places separate from those of the men.
There can hardly be a doubt that many operatic entertainments, which are now secular, had originally a sacred character. The ancient nations performed religious dances with pantomimic representations. Also the Chinese at the time of Confucius thus enhanced their sacred ceremonies. The Burmese, at the present day, sing and dance by the coffin of a deceased priest. They are Buddhists. Funeral dances are common with several uncivilized races. Our Christian ancestors, during the earlier centuries of the Middle Ages, performed sacred dances in the church. The Christian priests of the Abyssinians still dance at certain religious ceremonies. In the Cathedral of Seville, boys, from the age of twelve to seventeen, dressed in an old Spanish costume, annually execute a ballet every evening during the Ottave del Corpus. Again, sacred dances with recitations, dialogues, and hymns are performed in several European countries during Christmastide. The Mysteries, Miracle Plays, or musical-dramatic entertainments on biblical subjects, so popular during the Middle Ages, have not entirely fallen into disuse. Passion-Plays are still occasionally performed by the peasantry in Bavaria, in the Tyrol, and in Moravia. The "Mayings," or popular rejoicings with music, dancing, and processions, remains of which are still to be found in England as well as on the Continent, had probably in pagan time also a religious character, as they were intended to welcome the approach of the sunny season. Turning to America, we meet in Peru with musical entertainments which were introduced among the Indians by the Spanish monks, who accompanied Pizarro's army, and who dramatized scenes in the life of Christ, and had them represented to facilitate by this attractive means the conversion of the heathen aborigines. These plays are no longer performed in the larger towns of Peru, but are still kept up by the villagers of the Sierra. Good Friday especially is celebrated by them in this manner; and on Palm Sunday an image of the Saviour seated on an ass is paraded through the principal streets of the town or village.106 In Brazil we find on Hallelujah Saturday (between Good Friday and Easter Sunday) the popular ceremony of burning effigies of Judas Iscariot, the traitor, in company with dragons, serpents and demons; and there are besides several other religious celebrations in which music is employed in combination with fire-works and dramatic representations.
Comic scenes were not excluded from the old Mysteries of mediæval time. On the contrary, they appear to have been highly relished by the worshippers, and contributed much to the popularity of the entertainments. In Paris a building was erected, in the year 1313, principally for dramatic performances relating to the Passion of Christ and the Resurrection, enacted with music and dancing. Soon, attempts were made to vary these entertainments by the occasional introduction of some play founded on a myth, or on a wonderful event recorded in secular history, or also by the admission of profane comedies and farces. Although music, instrumental as well as vocal, did not constitute the chiefest point of attraction in these plays, it certainly contributed much to the impressiveness of the whole.107 During the second half of the thirteenth century, Adam de la Hale wrote dramatic plays with songs, founded on secular subjects. These plays, called Gieux (jeux), might perhaps be called operettas, since they contained dialogues interspersed with songs. In fact, although our opera may be said to date from about the year 1600, secular plays in which music and poetry were intimately associated were known long before that time. The ancient Greeks used in their dramas the vocal music of choruses and the instrumental accompaniment of flutes and other instruments, in close connection with the poetry. The latter art was, however, the principal one, while in our present opera music is the principal art.
As regards the secular dances of the ancient Greeks, it may be observed that some of them were similar to the pantomimic exhibitions which are still relished by several nations. The Pyrrhic dance, which was executed according to fixed rules, to the sound of the flute, depicted a combat of warriors. Lord Broughton, during his stay in Albania, was struck with the resemblance between some of the dances of the Albanians and those of the ancient Greeks. He notices especially the Pyrrhic dance.108 The war-dance of the Jajis, a wild and hostile tribe in the mountainous districts of Afghanistan, is probably quite as picturesque and exciting as was the Pyrrhic dance. A European eye-witness of the war-dance of the Jajis states that it is performed by about twelve or fifteen men placed in a ring before a number of spectators who are arranged in a semi-circle. "The performers commenced chanting a song, flourishing their knives overhead, and stamping on the ground to its tones; and then each gradually revolving, the whole body moving round together and maintaining the circle in which they first stood up. Whilst this was going on, two of the party stepped into the centre of the ring and went through a mimic fight, or a series of jumps, pirouettes, and other movements of a like nature, which appeared to be regulated in their rapidity by the measure of the music; for, towards the close of the performance the singing ceased, and the whole party appeared twirling and twisting about in a confused mass amidst the flashing of their drawn knives, their movements being timed by the rapid roll of their drums. It was wonderful that they did not wound each other in these intricate and rapid evolutions with unsheathed knives. On the conclusion of the dance the whole party set up a shrill and prolonged yell, which reverberated over the hills, and was caught up by those in the neighbouring heights and thus prolonged for some minutes. Whilst all this was going on upon the heights around our camp, several parties of armed Jajis ranged in columns, three or four abreast, and eight or nine deep, followed each other in succession round and round the skirt of our camp, all the time chanting an impressive and passionate war-song in a very peculiar sonorous tone that seemed to be affected by the acoustic influences of the locality, which was a deep basin enclosed for the most part by bare and rocky eminences and hills."109
Not less characteristic, and equally descriptive, are the sword-dances of the Anazehs, in Syria, and of the warriors in Little Thibet, which are not unfrequently acted with too much reality, since the performers, having worked themselves up to a state of frenzy, are apt to forget that they ought only to feign fighting.
Some of the sword-dances still in use in European countries represent scenes with poetry and music. There is, for instance, – or, at any rate, there was still in the eighteenth century, – an ancient sword-dance occasionally performed in some villages of North Germany, in which the principal dancer, or "The King," addresses the people in a speech.110 Here may also be noticed the "Fool Play" still popular in some villages of Northern England, which is described as "a pageant that consists of a number of sword-dancers dragging a plough, with music, and with one, sometimes two, in very strange attire; the Bessey, in the grotesque habit of an old woman; and the Fool, almost covered with skins, a hairy cap on, and the tail of some animal hanging from his back." And the sword-dance performed in the North Riding of Yorkshire, from St. Stephen's Day till New Year's Day. "The dancers usually consist of six youths dressed in white ribands, attended by a fiddler, a youth with the name of Bessey, and also by one who personates a Doctor. They travel from village to village. One of the six youths acts the part of the King in a kind of farce which consists chiefly of singing and dancing, and the Bessey interferes while they are making a hexagon with their swords, and is killed."111
The Cavalcade, or procession on horse-back, is supposed to have been originally connected with the Mysteries of the Middle Ages. It is still occasionally performed in Belgium, and its Flemish name is 'Ommegang.' A number of persons dressed in historical and fanciful costumes ride on horse-back and drive in carriages through the principal streets of the town in which the Cavalcade takes place, with the object of representing scenes from sacred or profane history, or allegorical subjects. The procession is made imposing by the splendid dresses of the principal characters, by the gorgeous gildings of their carriages, and the display of baldachins and flags. This show is supposed to have been introduced into the Netherlands by the Spaniards during their former possession of the country. At a certain religious festival, held in Malines in the year 1838, the entire Litany to the Virgin Mary was represented, each Invocation being written on a beautiful flag, carried by a beautiful and richly-dressed young girl, who was riding on a gorgeously-caparisoned horse led by men. The Invocations: "Queen of the Angels!" "Queen of the Patriarchs!" etc., – were depicted by groups of characters in open carriages; each carriage, splendidly decorated, having the Virgin Mary seated on a high throne, while at her feet were placed picturesquely on steps the angels, patriarchs and prophets, all of whom were dressed in their appropriate costumes, and provided with their requisite attributes. Again, at a festival which was held at Brussels, in September, 1839, two parishes of the town arranged a grand Cavalcade, in which a scene was represented commemorating a political event from the history of Belgium. Many of the riders were dressed in mediæval costume, while some appeared in Oriental dresses. The sons and daughters of the most influential citizens generally undertake the representation of the principal characters in these processions. Music is, of course, an indispensable assistance for the solemnity of such pageants. However, as recitations are of secondary importance in them, or are even entirely omitted, the first attempts at dramatic music are less traceable in these remains of mediæval entertainments than they are in the rude amusements of savages noticed in the beginning of this survey.
It has probably already occurred to the reader that the "Opera of the Future," aimed at by Wagner, will be in some respect a return to the opera in its infancy, inasmuch as it will be devoid of the various artistically-written forms of composition which greatly contribute to the clearness and impressiveness of the music, and which Mozart has developed in his operas to the highest degree of perfection. Much might be said on this subject, were here the proper place for it. Enough if the facts which have been noticed convince the reflecting musician that the contemplated innovations alluded to might as well be termed retrocessions. Gluck was also a reformer of dramatic music, who aimed at truth in its noble simplicity; but, his objection to anything artificial in the opera did not mislead him to disregard the artistic beauties dependent upon form, which ensure the impressive total effect essential to a true work of art.