Sonic Exercises

The nineteenth-century concept of ‘exercise’ and ‘movement’ did not follow conventions that we would nowadays recognise through our understanding of sports. Instead, the concepts were based on the contemporary physiology that included various vocal and sounding practises which were connected to the embodiment of sounds. In my current research I approach those practises through the work of British physician Mathias Roth (1818-1891) who introduced several practical exercises for curing and strengthening the body, and which had something to do with sounds. I am going to call those practises ‘sonic exercises’ and show how they were considered similarly as ‘movement’ as other more traditional, and for us more recognisable, forms of exercises.