This paper is an interpretation report of the author’s lam-kuan (南管) graduation recital Kui1 Liak8 San1 (虧歷山) held in May 2015. Among the pieces included in the program of the recital, in this paper, I focus on the vocal song Sua1 Hiam3-zun5 (山險峻) and the suite Kui1 I1 Liak8 San1-dian1 (虧伊歷山巔) for summarizing and detailing some of the highlights in my learning of vocal singing (曲唱) and dong-siao (洞簫) playing in the process of organizing, preparing for, and staging this recital.
The first chapter explains the selection of pieces for the recital. The main objectives of the recital include: to present the learning of lam-kuan vocal singing as taught by Wu Su-hsia (吳素霞), and the learning of lam-kuan dong-siao as imparted by Yeh Kuei-an (葉圭安). In terms of methodology, I examine my personal learning processes and suggest that the coexistence of both formal training and informal training is crucial to the continuation of the legacy of the traditional art.
The second chapter focuses on the vocal song Sua1 Hiam3-zun5 (山險峻). This section begins with a review of the piece’s background story of the historic figure Wang Zhaojun (王昭君), and an overview of the reference to Wang Zhaojun’s story in the music repertory of lam-kuan. In terms of the melodic structure Diong1-gun3 Zap8-sa1 Kang1 (中滾十三腔), on which Sua1 Hiam3-zun5 is based, my investigation uses music analysis to disentangle the order of the thirteen melodic structures that Diong1-gun3 Zap8-sa1 Kang1 is known to comprise, as well as how the transfers between melodic structures take place. Since I learned the piece from Wu Su-hsia, Wu’s discussion on the articulation of lyrics, the generation of rhythmic cadence, and the skill of hiat7-kui5 (血氣) in lam-kuan vocal singing is also documented in this chapter.
The third chapter focuses on the suite Kui1 I1 Liak8 San1-dian1 (虧伊歷山巔). As my interpretation of the suite on dong-siao in the recital was initially based on an imitation of Yeh Kuei-an’s rendition, I point out the modifications I have adopted and put forward how I have come to those modifications. An analysis of Yeh Kuei-an’s dong-siao musicality is also posited in this chapter: the interval of perfect fifth and the cluster of three embellishing notes are both characteristic of Yeh’s dong-siao embellishments, which is highly distinctive within the current lam-kuan¬ music circle.