Review by Jean M. O. Fischer

It may seem strange to review More Talk of Alexander which was first published in 1978. However, it did not get a review at the time of publication, and it is an important book. For this book Dr Wilfred Barlow picked many prime articles from the first eight issues of the Alexander Journal (which today are out of print), incorporated selections from his own research papers, and added material especially written for this book. There are 36 articles in total and they are arranged into three sections: Descriptions, Applications, and Objections. The middle section is further subdivided into educational, psychological, theological, artistic, scientific, and medical articles.

Several of the papers are now classics of Alexander literature: Marjory Barlow's 1964 Memorial Lecture, Aldous Huxley's review of The Universal Constant in Living, Louise Morgan's extracts from a diary of lessons with Alexander, and John Dewey on the nature of habit. There are other papers which have not dated and which are of great interest. For example, Hugo Cole’s survey of methods of music training which are similar to the Technique, and John Gray’s succinct report on the many advantages the Technique has for actors.

A substantial part of the book was written by Wilfred Barlow. He selected the best material from the dozen or so articles he wrote for medical journals in the period 1945–55. His research evidence is still convincing, in my opinion, and not easy to dismiss (even if scientists today would proceed differently as regards the methodology). For example, in one project, 50 students at the Royal College of Music had on average 37 lessons from the Barlows. Apart from improvements in height, posture, etc., there was another significant (and more 'objective' measurement) of development. Eight of those 50 students entered a national competition for women singers under 30 years of age (the total entry was over 100); six students reached the semifinal in which there were 15 competitors. This is an impressive proportion by any standard.

Much of Barlow's research measured improvements in posture. The link between posture and health was acknowledged in the first half of the 20th century and was subject to serious research. However, it became increasingly unfashionable after WWII as improved technology and new drugs dramatically improved the traditional medical approach of analysis of symptons and treatment of specific diseases. Hence, Barlow's reseach, however valuable, was sidelined, which is a shame as it deserves a wide audience.

Barlow’s contribution was not limited to research. In some of his papers he raises teaching issues for consideration. For example, he describes the stages he considers fundamental to the achievement of "maturity" as a teacher; he suggests that there are three stages of "ordering." He also discusses how much explanation should be given to new pupils (and what kind of explanation) - for Barlow, just giving a pupil "the experience" is not enough.

In a similar vein, Robin Skinner's impressions from his first twelve lessons offer some potential criticism of how the Technique is taught. This serves to remind us how important it is to be consistent with our terminology.

Of course, with so many articles there is a certain amount of repetition. One is unlikely to find any other book where the not-adapted-for-civilisation explanation for the origin of our misuse appears so many times. It is featured, for example, in detail in Tinbergen’s 1976 Memorial Lecture where he compares this explanation with what he considers an alternative: that we are still evolving towards being upright, and misuse is therefore a failure of evolution on a genetic plane (as opposed to a behavioural plane). He finds this latter explanation unsupported by the facts.

The collection is not perfect: there are some odd pieces included. A. E. Heath's description of scientific method is woefully old-fashioned and inadequate - even by 1978 standards. Heath was a Professor of Philosophy who retired in 1952. His view that scientific method consists simply of collecting facts and then putting them into order are decidedly early 20th century stuff. Apart from flaunting his name as a supporter of the Technique his article serves no purpose. It is also a strange choice to include "Alexander’s meeting with Coghill" (by Edward Owen) as it relates, rather dryly, the facts of their meeting without any explanation of note on how Coghill’s discoveries support the Technique. Then, in the following article, Barlow quotes Tinbergen at length, the upshoot of which is to dismiss Coghill’s relevance for the Technique. Why mention Coghill in the first place one might ask? Or does it belong in the "objections" section? Either way, this kind of material is of limited value, even to teachers.

Incidentally, readers may be confused by the usage of the term "the Alexander Principle." Barlow’s book, The Alexander Principle (1973), was so successful that some contributors in this collection write "the Alexander Principle" when they surely mean "the Alexander Technique." In More Talk of Alexander it is not explained that the principle - which Barlow called the Alexander Principle - is that use affects functioning, and so new readers may easily be confused.

There is no room here to mention all 36 articles but I must mention my favourite, "Hide or Seek" by Dorothea Wallis. She questions the simple view we often have of stimulus-response, and argues that the view that a stimulus is something "out there" - outside of ourselves - is less than helpful. She convincingly links this with deeply ingrained emotional attitudes (of mind-body separation etc.). This article is worth careful study.

The collection spans 50 years, with many contributors, and there is much material to enjoy and consider - for teachers, students, and pupils.

Copyright © 2005 Jean M. O. Fischer. Reproduced with permission.