“A
tone lies at the foundation of
everything in the physical world.”
This is only one of many unexpected statements made by
Rudolf Steiner in these unusual spiritual scientific studies of the
art of music. In seven lectures delivered in Europe between 1906 and
1923, Steiner penetrates with esoteric insight into the realities
hidden behind the experience of music.
Music has always occupied a special place among the
arts, as recognized by the philosopher, Schopenhauer. Its source,
explains Steiner, lies not in the physical world but purely in the
invisible spiritual world, the true home of the human soul. The
musician thus stands closer to the heart of the world than all other
artists.
The music of ancient times is considered in several
respects: its religious effects, its union with speech, and the
origin of musical instruments from imaginations that accompanied
singing.
The evolution of the experience of musical intervals is
traced up to modern times, and new light is thrown upon the nature of
the major and minor modes, “this strange bond between music and
human subjectivity,” as Steiner remarks. Future directions of
musical development are also indicated.
Steiner argues that music is experienced not just with
the ear (“merely a reflecting apparatus”) but with the
whole human being. The musical elements of melody, harmony, and
rhythm are directly related to the threefold constitution of the
human organism and then to the three types of orchestral instruments
(wind, string, and percussion). “An orchestra is an image of
man,” states Steiner.
A number of related topics are also considered,
including teaching music to children (especially in Waldorf schools),
movements of tone eurythmy based on the qualities of various
intervals, and a cosmic transformation that occurred particularly
during the fourth century A.D. in the way
human beings receive thoughts and sense impressions.
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During the last two decades of the 19th
century the Austrian-born Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) became a
respected and well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical
scholar, particularly known for his work on Goethe's scientific
writings. After the turn of the century he began to develop his
earlier philosophical principles into an approach to methodical
research of psychological and spiritual phenomena. In 1913 he founded
the anthroposophical movement, under the aegis of which he continued
research out of his trained seership for the renewal of twentieth
century society.
Steiner's multi-faceted genius has led to radically new,
holistic approaches in medicine, science, education (Waldorf
schools), special education, philosophy, religion, economics,
history, agriculture (Bio-Dynamic method), architecture, drama, the
new art of eurythmy, and other fields.