8 lectures, Dornach, Feb. 19-27, 1924 (CW 278)
"The study of music is the study of the human being. The two are inseparable, and eurythmy is the art that brings this most clearly to expression. In these lectures, Rudolf Steiner guides us along a path toward an understanding of the human form as music comes to rest--the movements of eurythmy bringing this music back to life." --
Dorothea Mier "Fundamentally speaking, music is the human being, and indeed it is from music that we rightly learn how to free ourselves from matter." --
Rudolf SteinerThe focus of these eight lectures is the source of movement and gesture in the human being. Movement in musical experience is thus traced back to its origin in the human instrument itself. Like the degrees of the musical scale, Rudolf Steiner leads his select audience of young artists through eight stages, focusing on the living principles of discovery and renewal.
Eurythmy was born in the turbulent decades of the early twentieth century. From an individual question as to whether it was possible to create an art based on meaningful movement, Rudolf Steiner responded with fresh creative possibilities for a renewal of the arts in their totality. The new art of eurythmy was an unexpected gift. Today, music eurythmy, along with its counterpart based on speech, is practiced as an art, taught as a subject in schools, enjoyed as a social activity and applied as a therapy.
This definitive translation of Steiner's original lecture course on eurythmy includes a facsimile, transcription, and translation of the lecturer's notes, together with an introduction and index. The volume is supplemented with an extensive "companion," featuring full commentary and notes compiled by Alan Stott, as well as a translation of Josef Matthias Hauer's Interpreting Melos
This volume is a translation from German of
Eurythmie als sichtbarer Gesang (CW 278).
Mier, Dorothea: -
Dorothea Mier was born in England in 1932 and educated at the Elmfield and Michael Hall Waldorf schools and the Birmingham School of Music, where she studied piano and graduated ARCM, ABSM. She studied eurythmy at the Lea van der Pals School in Dornach, Switzerland, remaining there as a teacher for seventeen years. During that time, she was a member of the Goetheanum Stage Group under the preeminent eurythmist and director Marie Savitch. In 1980, Dorothea became the Artistic Director of Eurythmy Spring Valley, New York, carrying the work there for 25 years, until 2005, when she retired and became free to lead workshops worldwide. Dorothea continues to teach classes and offer workshops at Eurythmy Spring Valley.
Steiner, Rudolf: - Rudolf Steiner (b. Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner, 1861-1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe's scientific writings. Steiner termed his spiritual philosophy anthroposophy, meaning "wisdom of the human being." As an exceptionally developed seer, he based his work on direct knowledge and perception of spiritual dimensions. He initiated a modern, universal "spiritual science" that is accessible to anyone willing to exercise clear and unbiased thinking. From his spiritual investigations, Steiner provided suggestions for the renewal of numerous activities, including education (general and for special needs), agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, philosophy, Christianity, and the arts. There are currently thousands of schools, clinics, farms, and initiatives in other fields that involve practical work based on the principles Steiner developed. His many published works feature his research into the spiritual nature of human beings, the evolution of the world and humanity, and methods for personal development. He wrote some thirty books and delivered more than six thousand lectures throughout much of Europe. In 1924, Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches around the world.
