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Thank you for reading my article and for responding. I agree with what you say. I don’t know if we actually disagree on the points you bring up. The point I was trying to make by categorizing the Body, Mind and Emotions is that they all need to work together toward the same goal. That is the meaning of the Total Response. I agree about the Soul. I guess I would say Mind and Emotions come from the Soul so we have Body and Soul as the main components.
I do try to illustrate the difference between the character’s emotions and the emotions of the singer. If they get confused it can lead to problems because singing is basically a joyful expression. So I recommend a singer try to express the words and music with love and joy and let the meaning of agony or hate come from the text and music. This is to make sure the physical response to the emotions do not interfere with the physical act of singing. Usually the enthusiasm and excitement from the joyful expression through singing will more effectively express the emotions regardless if they are love or hate. They just need to be heightened with an understanding of the text and music and the expression will be tinted appropriately.
If we look at fear closely we can see that underneath it is a desire for something. We desire this outcome so we fear the failure of that. The more we desire it the more we have fear. It tends to go hand in hand. So I recommend understanding the relationship between desire and fear. We don’t necessarily want to not desire anything. But we can understand that desire should stop at intention. This is what I want to have as an outcome. Then we know what needs to be done. This is absolutely necessary. But if desire for something grows and becomes very important to us then we almost can’t help but have fear about it not coming to pass. This is what causes stage fright and performance anxiety. That is what I’m talking about.
I agree with your analogy with the water. I see it especially true in relation to our breathing. If the emotions get too riled up and make the water troubled then our breathing will not effectively support our singing. I agree Nilsson is a good example. My model is Jussi Bjorling. Thanks again for your feedback.
