The Path of Uncovering the Voice
The Path of Uncovering the Voice is a path of spiritual development through the art of singing.
This path was given at the beginning of the 20th century by the Swedish singer Valborg Werbeck-Svärdström, with the support of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy.
This path is based on the holistic worldview of Man as body, soul and spirit. The learning process connects those three aspects of the human being. The starting point for this work is the free flowing of the voice – the voice's "soul". Later on in the process, the voice will become more and more fully incarnated, which will express itself in the voice's ever greater fullness and richness of sound, whilst the connection to its own free flowing keeps the voice from one-sidedly 'falling' into its physical expression only. Singing is an expression of a spiritual truth that becomes fulfilled through Man's singing voice.
Freeing the voice sets the soul free. The person learns to allow his or her voice to flow from the depths of his being and to reverberate through him – "It sings in me".
The human relationship is at the center of the encounter between the teacher and the student. Each person progresses at his or her own unique pace. Walking the path itself is the goal. Every person has a complete whole voice that can be uncovered.
"The Human Voice lives in every person as a whole, complete being. It does not need to be developed but to be set free, to be uncovered."
Valborg Werbeck-Svärdström
In her book "Uncovering the Voice", the Swedish singer describes this holistic approach and brings it into expression. The prevalent singing methods, called 'vocal training', are based on the concept that singing is meant for those who sing well only, for those who are "born" with that talent. Those vocal training methods aim at achieving control of the voice in the shortest way possible, as a condition for "making music". The technique focuses on the physical and emotional aspects, and often puts pressure on both the voice and the soul of the student-singer, who is on a race to conquer the stage.
Sarah and Giora Rafaeli studied the Path of Uncovering the Voice during their seven-year study-journey (1984 – 1991) in England and Germany with teachers who had learned directly from Werbeck-Svärdström and others.
Since their return to Israel, Sarah and Giora teach private pupils, groups and workshops. Their accumulated experience over their years of teaching the Path, as well as repeated training in Europe, deepened and widened their understanding of the Path and enabled them to connect it to the reality of the 21st century in Israel. An important part of Sarah and Giora Rafaeli's contribution to the fulfillment of the Path of Uncovering the Voice in Israel and in the world at large has been through the writing and translating of books about the subject. For more about their books see here and for Giora's latest publication of his book in English, see here. Another major part of their work has been to convey the potential of the Path of Uncovering the Voice to enhance and expand vocal and instrumental richness of sound and tone through performing and recording music. For recorded samples of their CD "Impressions", click here.
Valborg Werbeck-Svärdström 1879-1972
