Breathwork & bel canto
They are more related than you might think…
Expression, Musicality, Individuality & Theatricality
These days, there is a tremendous amount of information available to feed the fantasy and intellect of the inquisitive bel canto musical sleuth.
Paramount among all of it is the Treatise on the Art of Singing by Manuel Garcia Jr.
In it, he begins Chapter 4 with On Expression Added to Melody.
It is there, together with all the virtuosic and technical competence required for bel canto, that we begin - for Bel Canto Nuovo is founded on the four pillars of expression, musicality, individuality and theatricality.
Garcia writes:
Expression is the great law of all art. Vain would be the efforts of an artist to excite the passions of his audience, unless he showed himself powerfully affected by the very feeling he wished to kindle; for emotion is purely sympathetic. It devolves, therefore, upon an artist to rouse and enoble his feelings, since he can only appeal successfully to those analogous to his own. The human voice, deprived of expression, is the least interesting of all instruments.
Only in taking this dictum to heart can we make ourselves worthy of calling ourselves a musician, and make our music worthy for today’s contemporary musical public. It will enrich any form of music we practice.
Technique emerges from expression and expression emerges from how we breathe.
Breathwork in a form as powerful as XPT Performance Breathing puts us in direct conscious connection with our heart and soul. With it, we walk the talk, and sing our soul, whatever our instrument.
We learn how to embody the knowledge and put it into action, not only in music, but life.
Saluti, - JD Hixson
Paramount among all of it is the Treatise on the Art of Singing by Manuel Garcia Jr.
In it, he begins Chapter 4 with On Expression Added to Melody.
It is there, together with all the virtuosic and technical competence required for bel canto, that we begin - for Bel Canto Nuovo is founded on the four pillars of expression, musicality, individuality and theatricality.
Garcia writes:
Expression is the great law of all art. Vain would be the efforts of an artist to excite the passions of his audience, unless he showed himself powerfully affected by the very feeling he wished to kindle; for emotion is purely sympathetic. It devolves, therefore, upon an artist to rouse and enoble his feelings, since he can only appeal successfully to those analogous to his own. The human voice, deprived of expression, is the least interesting of all instruments.
Only in taking this dictum to heart can we make ourselves worthy of calling ourselves a musician, and make our music worthy for today’s contemporary musical public. It will enrich any form of music we practice.
Technique emerges from expression and expression emerges from how we breathe.
Breathwork in a form as powerful as XPT Performance Breathing puts us in direct conscious connection with our heart and soul. With it, we walk the talk, and sing our soul, whatever our instrument.
We learn how to embody the knowledge and put it into action, not only in music, but life.
Saluti, - JD Hixson
© 2022 JD Hixson
