Impressum
Text, notes, descriptions, design: Sabine Wahlers
Cover design, graphics: Arne Wahlers
Corrections and additions: Christiaan Boele
Translation: Alicia Burns
Editing: Samentha Embrey
First Edition
Further information:
www.stimmenthuellung.com
www.anders-klingen.de
© Copyright 2019 Sabine Wahlers
Production and publishing: BoD - Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt
ISBN: 9783750456068
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
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without prior permission.
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May God‘s protecting ray of blessing
Pervade my growing soul,
That it may everywhere lay hold
Of strength-bestowing forces.
My soul shall vow
To waken in itself
Life-giving might of love,
To spread God‘s strength
As seed along life‘s path,
And thus, with all it owns,
To work God‘s will.
Rudolf Steiner
(From Macrocosm and Microcosm, Lecture 11,
Man and Planetary Evolution)
Legend:
Whereby the two categories cannot be sharply separated from each other.
Translator’s Note on the Pronunciation of Vowels:
The vowel sounds A, E, I, O, U, Ä, Ö, Ü are to be pronounced as in German. The German vowel sounds are pure, not diphthongs as in English.
Approximate Equivalents:
A as in Father
E as in Faith (It should be noted that there is no diphthong in the German E (in English there E generally leads into a short EE at the end).
I as in Seed
O as in Oh
U as in Mood
Ä as in Mad
Ö as in French heureux. There is no proper equivalence in the English language. The pronouncation of these vowels is difficult but also very helpfull, espacilly for the nasality.
Ü as in French du, mûr or dûr.
I first encountered Frau Werbeck’s singing exercises in 2010, in a public singing course with Christiaan Boele. At that time, after completing music school studies with a minor in singing, I was deeply inspired by the way in which the exercises affected me, and by the multifaceted dimensions hidden, both within each individual exercise, and in the entirety of the schooling. During the course, I discovered within myself something totally new from all I had learned in previous singing practice. A deep perception arose from within me: this is how it should be.
At the time, I was pregnant with my fourth child. I did not look at my notes until over a year later, when I realized with frustration that I could no longer make sense of my own notes, and remembered almost nothing. When I resolved to join the Training Course, it was my clear intention to write out every exercise, with notes and rhythms included, so that no detail of this precious knowledge would escape me. During the course, I observed the vexation of those whose experience was much like mine after my first open course. Many lacked the musical background to be able to write out the notes for what they were hearing. At one point Christiaan came upon my notes and asked if I couldn’t copy them for all of the course participants. From those notes came the first (blue) book, with the complete content of the training course. As this book is only available for participants and graduates of the training course, the question soon arose as to whether there couldn’t be another book, with the exercises Christiaan teaches in his public courses, that could be available to a wider public audience. That is what you find here in this book.
It is my special wish that these exercises can be remembered in their unadulterated true form and, even more importantly, purely passed on. For this reason, I am deeply grateful that Christiaan has taken the time to work through this green book with me, so that everyone who has experienced and learned the exercises through active participation has a memory aid with which to work further along their own path. The longevity of this wish for a Compendium of exercises can be seen in this 1939 letter from Eugen Kolisko to Valborg Werbeck, after she sent him a copy of her book `The School of Uncovering the Voice´:
“Dear Frau Werbeck! Forgive me that I have not yet thanked you for sending the long awaited book. It has given me great pleasure to be associated with you, and most importantly, that your great and valuable work is finally available for a wider public audience. Could you not now additionally publish your entire collection of musical examples as songs and exercises? Everyone would then begin to sing at once. An English edition, especially, would receive an extraordinary reception. Simply all of your lovely A, E, I exercises; Ro Fiaat LLL Tirufanes and so on, and so on… I am excited just thinking about it. It makes my mouth water. So it would also surely be for all of those who have previously studied with you, and all of your current students. There would be a renaissance. And your book would certainly be better understood.
Sending heartfelt greetings from my wife, and your thankful Eugen Kolisko.”
In this vein, I wish you inspired working and growing on your path. May my efforts be worthwhile.
Dear Students of Singing,