Jill Purce

Jill Purce
Purce in 2005
Born1947
Staffordshire, England
NationalityBritish
Occupations
  • Voice teacher
  • therapist
  • author
SpouseRupert Sheldrake
ChildrenMerlin Sheldrake, Cosmo Sheldrake
Websitejillpurce.com

Jill Purce (born 1947) is a British voice teacher, Family Constellations therapist, and author. In the 1970s, Purce developed a new way of working with the voice, introducing the teaching of group overtone chanting, producing a single note whilst amplifying vocal harmonics.[1][2][3][4][5] She is a former fellow of King's College London, Biophysics Department.[6] She produced over 30 books as general editor of the Thames and Hudson Art and Imagination series.[7] Between 1971 and 1974, she worked in Germany with the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.[8][9][10][11] Since the early 1970s, she has taught diverse forms of contemplative chant, especially overtone chanting. For over 15 years, she has been leading Family Constellations combined with chant.[12][13]

Purce is the author of The Mystic Spiral: Journey of the Soul, a book about the spiral in sacred traditions, art, and psychology.

  1. ^ "Documentary film on origins of overtone chanting 'Space–Sound–Voice—A quest for the Origin of Harmonics' or 'Raum–Klang–Stimme—Auf Der Such Nach dem Ursprung der Obertöne'. A documentary in English and German by Minghao Xu and others 2009, published by Traumzeit Verlag". Archived from the original on 27 March 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  2. ^ Tongeren, Mark C. van (2006). Overtone Singing: Physics and Metaphysics of Harmonics in East and West. Centraal Boekhuis. p. 174.
  3. ^ Godwin, J. (1991). The Mystery of the Seven Vowels. Phanes Press, US, see quote on p. 55.
  4. ^ Dhingra, D. (1994). "Heavenly Overtones". The Independent (12 May 1994).
  5. ^ Jenkins, L. (1993), "A Bubbling Pot", Classical Music (July): p. 25. (The Composer George Benjamin Is Interviewed about His Experience Learning Overtones with Purce).
  6. ^ Entry on 'Jill Purce' in Gale Encyclopedia 2001
  7. ^ Thames & Hudson webpage for Art & Imagination series Archived 9 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Stockhausen, Karlheinz (1978). Texte zur Musik (1970–1977). Vol. 4. Cologne: DuMont Buchverlag. pp. 200–201.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kurtz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Stockhausen, K. (translated and selected by Tim Nevill). (1989). Towards a Cosmic Music. pp. 15–18.
  11. ^ Kurtz 1992, pp. 192–93
  12. ^ Troughton, M. (2008). "Tried & Tested—Healing the Family Workshop". Psychologies, p. 37.
  13. ^ Mackay, N. (2009). The Science of Family: Working with Ancestral Patterns. O Books, ix.