Rhythm and Life: The Work of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze 0945193009, 9780945193005

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RHYTHMAND LIFE The Work of Emile Jaques--Dalcroze

Jaques-Dalcroze at the piano, surrounded by children

RHYTHMAND LIFE

The Work of Emile Jaques...Dalcroze

by Irwin Spector

DANCE AND MUSIC SERIES No. 3

PENDRAGON PRESS SlUYVESANT, NY

Dance and Music Series No. 1 FrenchCourt Dance and Dance Music:A guideto primarysourcewritings16431789 by Judith L. Schwartz and Christena L. Schlundt (1987) ISBN 0945193-08-4 No. 2 Louis Pecour's 1700 Recueil de dances by Anne L. Witherell (published by UM! Research Press, 1982) ISBN 0-8357-1367-9 No. 4 Dance and InstrumentalOiferencias in Spain During the 17th and Early 18th Centuries (Vol. I, History and Background, Music and Dance) by Maurice Esses (in press) ISBN 0-945193-08-4

This publication was generously supported by a grant from Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Counsel for the Arts.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Spector, Irwin. Rhythm and life: the work of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze / by Irwin Spector. p. cm. -- (Dance and music series; no. 3) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-945193-00-9: $48.00 I. Jaques-Dalcroze, Emile, 1865-1950. 2. Music teachers-Switzerland-Biography. I. Title. II. Series. ML429.J2S6 1990 780' .92--dc20 89-28139 CIP [BJ MN

To Janiedear

No art is nearer to life than music. One can say that music is life itself. E. Jaques-Dalcroze

Contents

List of Illustrations Foreword

ix

Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter I. Prologue: Youth, 1865-1892 Chapter II. Maturing Composer, 1892-1908

xv

Chapter Ill. Chapter IV. Chapter V. Chapter VI. Chapter Vil. Chapter VIII. Chapter IX. Chapter X. Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter

XI. XII. XIII. XIV.

Chapter XV. Chapter XVI.

xi

Rythmique:Experimentation, 1893-1906 La Rythmique:Ear Training, 1892-1906 Body Movement, 1906-191 7 Methode: Other Publications, 1906-1980 Hellerau, 1910-1914 Geneva and Hellerau, 1914 Derivatives from Rythmique, 1913-1965 Geneva: Expansion of Rythmique, 1914-1924 Rythmique in the United States, 1913Paris, 1924-1926 Home Again, 1926-1932 Denoument, 1933-1950 Centennial Celebration, 1965 Personal Commentaries

Appendices Bibliography Index

xvii

1 21 55 91

115 135 149 181 203 219 235 247 265 281 297 325 339 361 381

vii

List of Illustrations

Frontispiece. Jaques-Dalcroze at the piano Young Emile Jaques

ii xviii

Jaques-Dalcroze as a young man

19

· Gustave Doret, Romand composer

48

Rythmique, first sketches Marie Adama van Scheltema Jaques-Dalcroze family

58-65

78 86

International Eurhythmics (Punch, 1920)

147

Wolf Dohm The Institute, Hellerau

150 159

Dance of the Furies, 1912, sketch by Bottinger Annie Beck

170 176

Rythmique personified

196

Three rhythmicians Jacques Cheneviere

213 220

Initial program, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, 1918

234

Robert Abramson, American rhythmician Paul Boepple, 1920

244

Joan Llongueras, 1920 Letter, Jaques-Dalcroze to George Templeton Strong, American composer Jaq ues-Dalcroze Scene, Geneve chante, Monica Jaquet, Floriane Sylvestre

260 262

278 280

Scene, LesJumeaux de Bergame

282 302

Monument at Ste. Croix honoring Dalcroze

303

3 1172 03163 6145

RHITHM AND LIFE

Three disciples

308

Stage caricature, Jean Gonvers as Jaques-Dalcroze

314 338

Caricature by Boris Petrovic, 1923

X

Frank Martin

Foreword

Thoughts on La Rythmique ofJaques,Dalcroze [It is noteworthy that Frank Martin's reflections on la rythmiqueare expressed largely in negative observations, i.e., what rythmique is not. He was conscious of errors and misunderstandings in the concept of Jaques-Dalcroze's method, to say nothing of bold omissions, calculated, no doubt, to save time and effort, but thus failing to address the master's procedures. Martin's comments seem to be difficult to comprehend in that the reader must, at the same time, shed the negation and then determine the missing emphasis.]

"What is la rythmique of Jaques-Dalcroze? What purpose does it serve?" It is very difficult to answer in a few words, or in hundreds of words. It would be far easier to explain what it is not, since it is virtually impossible to explain it by the usual abstractions: pedagogy, discipline, art. Rythmique is not only an educational method, it is not, properly speaking, a discipline, and in all cases, it is not an art like music or dance. Rythmique appears to be in opposition to the dominant tendencies of contemporary disciplines, which is to study the parts rather than the whole, and thus to attain concrete and direct practical results most quickly. This opposition, well understood by Jaques-Dalcroze and his followers, does not condemn research for immediate results which is necessary for all sorts of studies. But rythmique, with all its powers, seeks to fill a gap which certainly exists in education in our day of extreme specialization; it does not claim to substitute for any other instruction. It seeks to complement the intellectual, artistic, or active disciplines.

xi

RHITHM AND LIFE

Rythmique comes from the study of solfege, a special method contrived by an astute musician. It takes, as its prime force, music itself. I emphasize music, and not its rhythmical element, as people too often believe. Rythmique, by virtue of its musical emphasis, reunites the great examples given us by former civilizations, the Greeks who were the first to define the spirit, and, among others, the ancient Chinese. The study of music is thus tied directly to the practice of rythmique, but not from the technical aspect, instrumental or vocal performance, or the general study of harmony or composition. Rather, it is a point of direct contact with music by the development of hearing, or, more exactly, by the development of the musical ear. Solfege, as one practices it in the Dalcroze system, cannot be dissociated from what appears most often in rhythmical activity-body movement. And when I say solfege, I mean as much harmonic hearing as vocalized exercises. In effect, without previously learned musical hearing, there is no way that music, in its entirety, can remain a prime force and the basis for development in this educational system. Without musical hearing we would fall into a sort of primitivism where the only thing that counts is rhythm by itself, or body movement by itself. It is only too often that one thinks of rythmique as counting the beats and carrying out actions. Unfortunately, that is the way it is sometimes taught! That is only one side of 1ythmique study, the most matter-of-fact, nevertheless, even though rhythm is only one of the musical elements, without doubt the most basic, but also, consequently, that which is considered closed to the deep roots of our being. What characterizes the practice of the rythmique of JaquesDalcroze-what I believe to be something unique-is that it simultaneously engages our principal actions: attention (first we must hear and record what affects our ear); intelligence (one must understand, analyze what he has heard); sensitivity (one must allow musical feeling to penetrate); and finally, body movement, which by its more or less complete adaptation to the music performed, happens to prove that one has been attentive, that he has heard and understood-in short, that he has been perceptive. And this interpretation by gesture, involvement of the entire body, provides the calm of an immediate physical awareness of the intellectual and perceptible stress of our spirit at the same time that it gives joy in gradually finding synonymous action. It is in this simultaneity and concordance of the work of spirit and of body movement that one must look for the cause of joy and of relaxation which a good lesson in rythmique infallibly gives.

xii

FOREWORD

It goes almost without saying that the action of rythmique, the correlation that it establishes between the activities of the spirit and of the body, provides a particularly desirable milieu for children. To them, in effect, these diverse activities are not yet dissociated; no one specialization comes to create barriers between them. Thus it is quite natural in the course of childhood that this complementary instruction finds its place which is to harmonize our different faculties. Personal experience, however, permits me to say that rythmique can also bring to adults benefits which, if not easy to define, are no less real and lasting. Naarden, Holland (1966)

xiii

Acknowledgements

The year 1965, the centennial of the birth of Emile Jaq ues-Dalcroze, brought forth giant celebrations commemorating the man and his work. It fostered a rejuvenation of his ideas and methods, and remembrances of former activities which had been in decline for the previous fifty years. The second biographical work on the famous Swiss musician and educator was issued that same year, the first having been written by his sister Helene Jaques Brunet-Lecomte in 1950. The 1965 volume, Emile]aques-Dalcroze: L'Homme, le Compositeur, le Createur de la Rythmique, published in Neuchatel, contains contributions by Alfred Berchtold, Henri Gagnebin, Bernard Reichel, Clair-Lise Dutoit-Carlier, Edmond Stadler, Tibor Denes and Frank Martin. It was sponsored by the centennial committee that promoted promoted the year's significant events. I am particularly indebted to Messieurs Denes and Berchtold for personal assistance as well as for their own research. I offer special gratitude to Mrs. Charlotte Blensdorf MacJannet, former President of the International Society of Dalcroze Teachers (UIPD), who provided me with a wealth of information, who guided me through numerous problems, and who arranged contacts with many persons who had been friends, students and followers of Jaq ues-Dalcroze. I offer thanks to Samuel Baud-Bovy, Director of the Geneva Conservatory, and Marguaiite Croptier and Dominique Porte, former and present Directors of the Dalcroze Institute in Geneva, for the special privileges afforded me in the use of their libraries, and to the Bibliotheque Publique et Universitaire of the city of Geneva for its services. I express my obligation for the special photographs herein contained to the photographic firm Gad Borel-Boissonnas, to Monica Jaquet, Charlotte MacJannet, and the Radio Television Suisse Romande-all of Geneva. I also thank the publishing house of Foetisch-Freres of Lausanne for the inclusion of the Jaques-Dalcroze Chansons. xv

RHITHM AND LIFE

I acknowledge with gratitude the more than six score friends, associates of Dalcroze, and practitioners from all continents whom I have interviewed and who gave me valuable information, many of whom graciously allowed me to observe their work at first hand. Special thanks I extend to Maitre Gabriel Jaques- Dalcroze, son of the composer and great educator, who read my manuscript and whose valuable suggestions I have happily included, and to Professor Richard M. Ludwig whose sharp eye and editorial experience made for as smooth a text as I could wish.

xvi

Introduction

One fortuitous day I joined two colleagues in the University Union coffee shop---members of a committee preparing a report on curriculum revisions in the physical education department. They raised questions such as," Why do we teach a child to bounce a ball?"That impressed me because they were considering rudimentary ideas upon which a more solid development in the field could be achieved. Such deliberation placed them far ahead of those in the area of music, where elemental reflection was nonexistent. Indeed, progress in music education was in a state of deterioration; studies which had been done decades earlier were the limit of professional progress. Schools produced inferior teachers who, in tum, produced like students. For a long time I had been expressively critical of the situation. I now made a decision to undertake a study in the field that would be a model of in-depth research, analysis, and enlightenment. There were popular practices in vogue-those of Orff, Kodaly, and Suzuki-yet I searched further. Years earlier, I recalled, I had participated in a Dalcroze course; I had enjoyed it for the exhilaration of the movement involved, and admired the instructor for her pleasing personality and improvisatory prowess, yet I experienced no lasting result, not even a proper understanding of the important points of the course. As I further examined the Dalcroze subject I realized that there was work to be done to overcome a lacuna in the field, that this was my opportunity to fulfill an obligation to provide an abundance of little-known facts, and to correct various misunderstandings. The university offered me a sabbatical leave, the Swiss government responded to my need for financial assistance, and the project was soon unde1way. Fortunately, my trip to Geneva (where the whole subject began) coincided with the centennial yearof Dalcroze's birth, a year in which a reexamination of his work was in progress.

xvii

Young Emile Jaques

CHAPTERI

Prologue: Youth, 1865,1892 "He set out to find an island and discovered a veritable continent replete with richness." Bachmann No man is a prophet in his own land-or so thought Jaques-Dalcroze in his moments of depression. Yet honor came to him long before his eighty-five years (many of them engaged in pioneering unknown areas) were expended. Triumph and adversity alternated while his work was in its formative stages. However, recognition came to him largely in countries other than his own Switzerland. In the musical world Emile Jaques-Dalcroze is known as a minor composer of operas, but also as a significant folklorist, one of the originators of the folk idiom in his native region, Suisse romande. n the latter capacity, as composer of festivals and of more than 1000 songs, most of them set to his own texts, he is remembered for numerous pieces which touch the hearts of his compatriots and continue to be sung with love and fervor to this day. Jaques-Dalcroze ranks as one of the world's great leaders and innovators in music education, even in universal education. 'His pedagogical system, first proposed as an aid in musical study, became accepted as a basic discipline for all arts, and later as an importarv contribution to general education, for children and adults as well. It was'held in high regard for its special qualities which aided the physically infirm and the mentally handicapped as well as the able person. All of Jaques-Dalcroze's accomplishments emanated from a single genesis: his qualities as a teacher. Coupled with this, however, was his strength as a musician. From the concept that students of music needed to become more sensitive to inner feelings and more capable of outer expression came a means to bring these elements together, hence, a method. The 1

RHYTHMAND LIFE

"Method," Jaques-Dalcroze's most noteworthy work, summarized in the word "Rythmique," as the term eventually evolved, had its beginnings in the classrooms of the Geneva Conservatory. Largely due to their novelty, as compared to traditional teaching, his ideas were not wholly accepted, and he was obliged to develop them privately. The method featured three interdependent elements: movement, ear training, and improvisation. Local and regional demonstrations from 1903 displayed the efficacy of the students' training and a major demonstration at Soleure in 1905, before the Society of Swiss Musicians, overwhelmed the profession. The public urged him to publish his ideas so that they would be generally available, and one year later the method appeared. From this point on there were believers and doubters, supporters and antagonists, genuine promoters and frauds. The stuggle was difficult, lasting a lifetime. In spite of triumphs and rebuffs, Jaques-Dalcroze continued to work, to refine, to expand, until recognition came to him, first in foreign countries, and later at home. The climax of Jaques-Dalcroze's career occurred through his work at the Jaques-Dalcroze Cultural Institute established in 1910 at Hellerau, a hamlet near Dresden, Germany, as part of a benevolent social enterprise, a planned industrial city modeled after a similar project in England. Here Jaques-Dalcroze displayed his practical training and extended it to the point where it was incorporated in related arts of theatre and dance. Acclamations for his rythmique demonstrations, opera productions, innovations in theater and dance, came from every comer of the globe, and visitors flocked to this mecca of artistic rediscoveries to witness the essence of ancient Greek drama, its beauty and depth, heretofore lost for millenia. Here also was evident the novelty of modem dance, the freedom from classical restraintsinaugurated by Isadora Duncan and expanded and systematized by Dalcroze and his followers. The glory of Hellerau was unfortunately terminated by the advent of the great war, and Jaques-Dalcroze and his work never regained the same posture. After the master's death his method was developed no further, at least not as Dalcroze himself might have wished, yet under the careful guidance of his cohorts and followers his work prevailed, and proof of its lasting value today lies in the presence of practitioners in such widely removed cities as New York and Adelaide, London and Buenos Aires, Stockholm and Toronto, Moscow and Tel Aviv. When Jaques-Dalcroze died on 1 July 1950, only five days before his eighty-fifth birthday, there was great mourning in his adopted city of Geneva. Special honors were rendered him in the city council, in the schools

2

PROLOGUE:YOUTH, 1865-1892 throughout the area, in the great Cathedral of St. Peter's, and by numerous concerts arranged in tribute to him and to his work. The city had previously bestowed upon him the distinguished title of Bourgeois d'Honneur, had awarded him first prize in the arts for musical composition ( 1946), and in 1958 had renamed one of its prominent thoroughfares, a main street running from the Rue Pierre Fatio to the Boulevard des Philosophes, Boulevard Jaq ues-Dalcroze-a truly visible form of recognition and esteem. To honor his memory on the 100th anniversary of his birth, a year-long celebration took place, not only in Geneva, but in other cities in Switzerland, and in many other countries as well. Most of these activities were coordinated by the lnstitut Jaques-Dalcroze, which he founded in 1915, and which stands proudly today on the Rue de la Terassiere, the center of world-wide Dalcroze activity. The city again honored him and his disciple and co-worker Adolphe Appia (who maintains a position in his own right as one of the most significant contributors to the twentieth-century stage), by establishing on the Boulevard Jaques-Dalcroze a museum housing important relics of the master and his pupil, a permanent Exposition DalcrozeAppia. Visitors who come to Geneva are attracted to the area of Place Neuve, on which stands the Conservatory where Jaques-Dalcroze's career formally began, where he created his first ideas and exercises in gymnastiques-rythmiques, a technique, which, when further refined and elaborated, he called La rythmique.Opposite the Conservatory is the Grand Theatre where some of his larger compositions and operas were performed with resounding success. Just to the east is the University of Geneva which Jaq ues-Dalcroze attended in his formative years followinggraduation from the College de Geneve, also located on the Boulevard Jaques-Dalcroze. In the yard behind the main building of the university stands the famous Reformation Statue, erected in 1917, representing the great Reformation leaders who settled in sixteenthcentury Geneva: Jean Calvin, Theodore de Beze and Guillaume Farel, from France; and John Knox from Scotland. Contemplating the figures, the poet Paul Budry proposed that a statue of Jaques-Dalcroze be erected opposite those of the reformers with the simple inscription, "This did away with that. "1 The ascetic qualities for which the Reformation stood were strongly opposed by Dalcroze's teaching of freedom and zest for life. Very close to Place Neuve is the Victoria Theatre, home of the Orchestre de la Suisse romande, whose inaugural concert in 1918 included 1This

anecdote was recalled by Henri Gagnebin. See Alfred Berchtold, La Suisse Romande

au Capdu XX• Siecle(Lausanne, 1963) 518.

3

RHYTHM AND LIFE a work by Jaques-Dalcroze, and whose succeeding concerts gave his music deserved attention. By going a short distance in the opposite direction one comes to the Salle de la Reformation where some of the early demonstrations of Dalcroze's ideas were presented for public view, and where he conducted his early classes after being denied continuing use of facilities at the conservatory. Crossing the Pont Mont Blanc over Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) in the heart of the city, one finds on its shores the celebrated restaurant, Perle du Lac, on whose grounds Dalcroze's historic pageants were presented. The family of Emile-Henri Jaques (the family surname was Jaques; Dalcroze was added later) came from the Canton of Vaud, near Yverdon, where the second, third, and fourth generations before him were local pastors. This part of his background-the severe aspect of the Reformation- never became a part of the composer's character, which was not at all stiff and pious. Music entered into the lives of his ancestors, who participated in string quartet playing and in chamber and choral singing. Emile's father, Jules-Louis-Lucien-Auguste Jaques, grew up in SainteCroix, a quiet little town nestled in the foothills of the Jura. Sainte-Croix, since 1397, was known for the manufacture of Swiss music boxes. The family of his mother, Julie Jaunin, came from Yverdon. Sainte-Croix still claims Emile Jaques as a native son although he was not born there and, except for passing some vacations in the village, he actually resided there only for a two-year pericxi.2His father represented two small watch manufacturing firms, Mermod Brothers of Sainte-Croix, and Audemars of Sentier, for whom he served as an itinerant salesman. Because his journeys took him as far as Poland and Russia, as a matter of convenience he made his home and business headquarters in Vienna for a time. The closest Emile came to direct family musical associations was through his uncle, also named Emile Jaques (1826--1880), a violinist who studied in London and later served as instructor at the Conservatory of Lausanne, where he had been a student in his youth. This uncle later became godfather to the young Emile. Emile-Henri Jaques was born in Vienna on 6 July 1865. This was the year the Civil War in America had ended. Hawthorne had recently died and the short story by Mark Twain "The Celebrated Jumping Frog," was just beginning to be known. An American painter, James Whistler, then living in England, had just finished his Arrangementin Grey and Black, better known as Portraitof theArtist's Mother.Corot was at the height of his fame, from the Municipalitede Sainte Croix, 4 August 1965. In 1952, this village renamed one of its streets in honor of its famous citizen. In commemoration of his 100th birthday the community erected a monument in his honor. See Tribune de Geneve, 7 July 1965, 14. 2Letter

4

PROLOGUE:YOUTH, 1865-1892 Manet's Olympiacaused a scandal in Paris, and Rodin's early masterpiece, Man with the BrokenNose,was rejected by the Paris salon. During this same time Debussy, Sibelius, and Richard Strauss were born. The Jaq ues-Dalcroze familyresided in Vienna in a large house situated on a square called Am Hof. The fascinating thing about the location was its proximity to the fire-house; the antics of the firemen in their colorful boots and fire helmets stirred the imagination of young Emile who, like most boys, enjoyed playing fireman. Emile's boyhood was, indeed, a happy onelively, friendly, and even contemplative for a child. Playing was something that he did all his life, for fantasy was innate to his being. The question might well be asked: where the division between fantasy and reality is in a person's life. Emile always felt the combination of both elements as a necessary attribute to healthy living. His father told and retold the folk stories from his native Vaud. Emile also saw plays, operettas, and operas in his native city. Snow White and Cinderellamade deep impressions on him, as did the stories of Jules Verne; even those of Schiller. He also attended a presentation of Aida conducted by Verdi himself. He read stories and books, especially those considered advanced for his age, and loved to dramatize them. He gathered his young playmates about him, assigned them roles, and put them through rehearsal, assuming the leading characterizations-sometimes several at a time- for himself. His sister Helene, five years younger than Emile, became an imposing actress at the age of three, thanks to his able directing. When he was six Emile received his first formal piano lessons, given by a neighbor woman whom he later described as old and ugly. He exhibited excellent progress and much interest in the piano although scales and pedantic studies tended to bore him. He preferred to play what fleeted through his mind, and he begged his mother to intercede for him to relieve him of the tedious finger exercises, of which he needed only a minimum. Emile's first composition, a march, was written at the age of seven for a young admirer, Sylvia, who was five years old. His interest in music led him to the concerts of Eduard Strauss (1835-1916), the youngest brother of the immortal Johann, given every Sunday during the season at the Volksgarten. These concerts impressed him deeply. Sister Helene, who became one of his fiercest champions, liked to tell the story of Emile going to one of the concerts, sitting in the front row with a ruler hidden in his sleeve. After the first intermission Emile stood up and moved the ruler through the air as did the conductor, thus attracting the attention of those around him, including Strauss. After the concert

5

RHITHM AND LIFE

Strauss remarked to the Jaques family, "This child will become a great musician if you make him work." It was a perceptive prophecy. In the summer of 1875 his father decided that he had had enough of Vienna and that it was time he pursued his vocation from his own country. Therefore, in July the familymoved to Geneva. They occupied an apartment in a large building on the Place des Alpes just across from the newly erected Brunswick statue. They were only one hundred meters from Lake Geneva and fifty kilometres from the majestic Mont Blanc, on a clear day quite visible from their street. To go to school on Rue d'Italie Emile had to follow the historic Pont Mont Blanc over the lake. This was where he tended to dally, to exercise his thoughts, to release from his imagination ideas and projects that he intended to develop, either alone or with his sister or some playmates. Here he imagined great theatres, grand productions, even a vehicle (not horse-drawn) that would go merely upon the push of a button. Gradually Emile forgot his Viennese environment and the new locale continued to make deeper and deeper impressions upon him. He attended a private school for two years, then transferred to the College de Geneve. At the College he had the advantage, though he did not know it, of obtaining a solid education in one of the most exciting educational systems of the world, the same system that produced a Rousseau and a Pestalozzi. To say that Emile Jaques even then was in the process of formation to become a successor to these eminent Swiss educators would not be far from the truth. Emile had little to say about the value of this portion of his education except that he made and treasured good friendships among his fellow students. At a later date, however, when he was already contemplating his educational principles, he referred to his collegetraining wherein his teachers stressed factual knowledge and did not seek to train the spirit or to stimulate emotional reactions in their students. While in the third class-the third year from graduation-he and some friends inaugurated a publication, Cricri, but it was suppressed by the administration for its critical attitude and "subversive" character. He regretted that at no time could he have fun with his friends, sing, dance, or make any joyous expression. In the fall of 1881, having finished the course at the college,he was admitted to the gymnase.This was actually the turning point in the young man's education. He matured appreciably, thanks to his valued instructors and, to an even greater extent, his comrades, among them Philippe Monnier, who became an important poet, and who collaborated with Jaques in many of his important musical enterprises, including his very first. His career as a composer also began in this year, when wrote an opera, La Soubrette, 6

PROLOGUE:YOUTH, 1865-1892 to a text by Monnier, after the novel by Berth Vadier. The work was presented only one time, two years later, by the club, Amis de l'Instruction. The gymnase, the institution established in Europe for a curriculum based on classical education, consisted of students between the ages of approximately fifteen to nineteen or twenty. It would be the equivalent of the upper classes of the American high school, plus about two years of college, preparing its students for university attendance. A great influence on Jaques in these days was Emile Redard who sponsored a student society, Belles-Lettres. The organization did much for Jaques, as it did for some of his classmates, among whom were Philippe Monnier, Charles Bally, the future organizer of stylistics as a French language discipline; Horace Micheli, a future director of the Journalde Geneve;another future director, Charles Patru; Albert Roussy, who became Secretary of the University of Geneva; John Copponex, a poet; Henri Pehr, later Rector of the Universite de Geneve; Henri Barbier, a chemist, and one of]aques's most intimate friends; and August Borel, among the students, the veritable "life of the party," who undertook but did not finish his medical studies until forty years later. Jaques entered Belles-Lettres at the age of sixteen. As a member he attended meetings, soirees and theatricals. Later he wrote, "It was in BellesLettres, my student society, that I began to write songs in the popular style." The society published his first songs, Refrainsbellettriens,in 1891.3 As far as Emile Jaques was concerned, it was the right group for him at the right time. It recognized him, flattered him, encouraged him, and became a vehicle to satisfy his growing talents in humor and expression. The spirit ofBelles-Lettres remained with him throughout his life. This jolly association had its activities of a less serious nature also. One New Year's Eve a group of friends was at the old Grenier du Ble, drinking punch and waiting for midnight to arrive. They left to make a tour of the old huts situated on the Grand Quai, where only a few persons were around. However, Jaques mounted a platform and made a crazy speech consisting of nonsense and mimicry, which attracted and amused a crowd. With displays like this he, too, was a very popular fellow. Emile was not above practical joking in a more elaborate fashion. A traveling circus and a wealthy oriental potentate arrived in Geneva at the same time. Emile and some friends opted not to purchase tickets for the circus performance. On stationery from the hotel at which the prince was staying, he wrote a note to the circus management to the effect that the royal party would attend a performance the followingday. Jaques and his fellowstudents, in improvised 3Emile

Jagues- Dalcroze,

Refrainebellettriene(Vevey, 1891) .

7

RHYTHM AND LIFE

robes and turbans made from bedsheets and other common items, passed the ticket takers and proceeded to the best seats, all the while jabbering animatedly in pig latin. The ruse succeeded without a hitch. 4 For many years there was no important meeting of Belles-Lettres without Jaques, nor a significant theatrical show without his collaboration as actor or musician. They accorded him recognition for being a fine actor and assigned him such parts as Gringoire, the half-starved poet-hero, in the one-act comedy of the same name by Theodore de Banville, and of Mascarille in Molieres Les Depitsamoureux.He loved to participate in the theatrica 1 soirees.5 When the family moved from Vienna to Geneva, Emile's piano studies continued. He enrolled at the conservatory at the same time that he entered the college,and was placed in one of the upper divisions because of his unusual ability. At the conservatory he greatly admired his instructors-Oscar Schulz, Henry Ruegger and Hugo de Senger-and he worked diligently for them, gaining prize after prize. He especially appreciated Senger, one of the great musicians of the country, whom he succeeded as Professor of Harmony some years later. As piano study continued, so did his interest in making music come to life. He was already composing for the piano and organizing performances with his young friends. As enterprise ran rampant he organized an orchestra of other youthful musicians---calling themselves Musigena-they actually gave a public concert at the Salle de la Reformation. Emile also served as conductor and arranger of the orchestra. The kindly humor which pervaded his entire life sometimes got him into trouble with some unappreciative authorities. At the end of his first semester at the Conservatory, Emile was the victim of a gross injustice at the hands of one of the committee members who would not allow him to be awarded the Prix de Femey in sight reading. On the occasion of the distribution of the prizes, Emile was on the program, scheduled to play the Chopin A flat Impromptu. During the reprises in the piece he incorporated a melody quite popular in his day to the words Du bist verruckt, mein Kind. This boldness brought with it a severe remonstrance from the director, Ami Girard. Emile might have received some solace, however, if not encouragement, from his major professor who thoroughly appreciated the trick.

Clarke, "Dalcroze: Rhythm in a Chain Reaction," MusicalAmerica 70 (15Nov. 1950) 25. 5Henri Barbier, Revuede belle-lettres27, no. 3 (May-June 1952) 7-17. 4Urana

8

PROLOGUE: YOUTH, 1865-1892

In the fall of 1883 Emile enrolled in the University of Geneva with no special career in mind and took only general courses. The university held no special attraction for him. After the first year of studies he spent the summer traveling with a summer stock company directed by his cousin Bonarel Jaques, who was director of the Lausanne Theatre and stage manager at Aix-les-Bains. The invitation to work with them, and the experience he gained served to whet his appetite for more. He did not return to the university for his second year. Instead, with his parents' blessing, he went to Paris to pursue a course in dramatics. He shared an apartment with a friend on Rue Sainte-Anne, in Montmartre; two small rooms and primitive kitchen equipment. He enrolled at the Comedie Franc;aise to work with Denis Talbot, a superior actor who specialized in comedy. Talbot, known as Stanislaus Montalont (1824-1904) outside his professional life, studied at the Paris Conservatory for only one year, in 1850. He debuted in Othello at the Theatre de l'Odeon and at the Comedie-Franc;aisein 1856. There he played in classic and modem repertory, including Henri Murger's Le BonhommeJadis,which Emile later was to make into an opera. He developed a great reputation as a private teacher and, in 1879, he retired from the company to devote full time to teaching, turning out many famous actors and actresses. Talbot was financially independent and he refused his deserved pension because there were comrades less fortunate than he. 6 Emile's progress, particularly in diction, was good, but as there was not enough activity to fill his time he decided to study music as well. From the Geneva Conservatory he had letters of recommendation, and with these and some scores he sought out one of the important leaders in French music, Gabriel Faure (1845-1924). He played several excerpts from his student opera, La Soubrette,for the master. Faure was not particularly impressed and although he did not offer to accept Emile as a pupil, he was polite and encouraging to the extent that he advised the youth to go to Albert Lavignac (1846-1916) for work in harmony, to make up for a lack of discipline. Jaques worked not only with Lavignac, but also with AntoineFranc;oisMarmon tel ( 1816-1898), and did a lot of work on his own. It was not long before a case of homesickness set in. In a letter to his sister he wrote of his boredom. He described his usual day: up at seven, milk brought to him by the concierge, sometimes a letter accompanied it. He had no friends, so after a lonely breakfast he worked at declamation, followed by a solitary lunch and more work until 6:30. Then came the bright spot of 6Henry

Lyonnet, Dictionaire de comediensfra~aise (Gen~ve, 1969) II, 654f.

9

RHITHM AND LIFE

the day-off to the theatre. A part of this time he served in the claque at the Comedie-Fran~aise. He spoke of sadness and of having no appetite. Little by little, however, things began to change. He found friends and new places to go, and absorbed himself in composition. A favorite hangout was the lively cafe Chat Noir, whose entertainment consisted of a pianist who played popular songs, interspersed with witty commentary. One evening, to the management's consternation, the pianist did not show up for his duties. Emile's friends suggested that he go to the piano and fill in for the absent musician until he appeared. He proceeded to improvise, much to everyone's satisfaction, then resorted to one of his tricks, something that he had often done in entertaining friends. This involved the selection of some simple, irrelevent, sometimes innocuous text to which he added music. One of the patrons at the cafe that evening was the well-known theatre critic Francisque Sarcey. On hand was the daily newspaper which contained Sarcey's comments on a performance of the previous evening. Jaques proceeded to use this text upon which he humorously and quite cleverly improvised. The room was in an uproar; Monsieur Sarcey seemed to enjoy the antics most of all. As a result, Jaques entertained on other occasions when the regular pianist could not be present. Emile was never a regular employee of the Chat Noir, but another musician, Erik Satie (1866--1925),worked there in the late 1880s as well as in other night spots in the area. 7 A frequent visitor to the club was the music critic Henri Gauthier-Villars, who in later years wrote a number of articles concerning Emile's work. There is no information, however, as to the two men having made acquaintance in these early days. Meanwhile his work at the conservatory was progressing satisfactorily. In addition to his formal work he attended sessions of Fran~ois Delsarte, an influential vocal teacher who could capture, even enthrall, his listeners with his small but exquisite voice and excellent elocution. He coached numerous actors in the art of suiting word to gesture, and none could rival him in declamation. Among those who came to Delsarte's classes were Saint-Saens and Gounod. (Delsarte also happened to be the uncle of Bizet.)8 Emile encountered problems, and with them some disappointments. He was receiving a monthly stipend from his father, yet attempted to earn some extra money on his own account. He had a piano student who usually Harding, Ox on the Roof, (New York, 1972) 27 Harding, Saint-Saensand hisCircle(London, 1965) 32. Also, see Camille Saint-Sa~ns, MusicalMemories,tr. Edwin Gale Rich (Boston, 1919) 180-88. 7James

8James

PROLOOUE: YOUTH, 1865-1892

failed to appear for lessons. A singer who was about to perform one of his songs departed for another engagement, leaving the work unperformed. A post as second conductor of one of the local orchestras was to become vacant, for which Emile was promised the position; but the man decided to stay on. But a singer known as Juliani engaged him as his accompanist and from him Emile learned much that stood him in good stead. He was also befriended by a violinist named Gaves, with whom he participated in regular chamber music sessions. On one occasion he played with Gaves for a concert before the Queen of Spain during her visit to Paris. According to the account of Mme. Brunet-Lecomte, the pre-performance protocol was clumsy and embarrassing and, as a result, the music came off poorly. Jaques completed his operetta Riqueta la Houppeduring this period. Although it never received a performance it was accepted for publication by Foetisch Freres of Lausanne-a firm which later became Jaques's main publisher-and was issued in 1883. The score was for voice and piano. 9 He could now be considered a professional composer and pianist, and was admitted to the Society of Authors, Composers, and Publishers (SACEM) in 1885. This organization grew out of the original Authors and Dramatic Composers Society (SACO), founded in 1777 by Beaumarchais. SACEM was a prestigious organization; acceptance into it was difficult to achieve. A candidate had to be sponsored by two persons, one of them a member of the society, and had to earn 200 francs per year in royalties. 10 The latter requirement was extremely hard to meet: in fact, Gabriel Faure, Director of the Conservatory and Commander of the Legion of Honor, could not raise from his composer's royalties a sum sufficient to admit him to permanent membership in SACEM. 11 At this time Emile had no confidence in his ability to write for instruments for, except for his having organized a group of instrumentalists as a youth, he had had no experience with them. He proposed to overcome this difficulty by taking up the viola, but it never came to pass. He had heard 9The story concerns a young princess, bewitched by an evil fairy who has made her ugly. She must remain so until she receives the first kiss of love. No man in the court will have her. Riquet 11la Houpe appears. He is even uglier than she, but the ladies of the court tell her that after 21 years of marriage he will seem handsome to her. Riquet pleads his case: the princess is touched. After their first kiss they both lose their homeliness. Love transfigures them. In 1935 the score was reprinted by Foetiesh Fr~res and by the Parisian firm Rouart, Lerolle. 10Hugo Riemann, Musik-Lexikon,ed. Alfred Einstein (Berlin, 1919), 9th ed., II, 830. 11Arthur Honegger, I am a Composer(New York, 1966) 36.

11

RHYTHM AND LIFE

that the only instrument Vincent d'lndy (1851-1931) played was the timpani, having served with the Colonne Orchestre as chorus master and timpanist for five years. Emile ventured out to the extent that he purchased for himself a pair of timpani sticks. Again, that idea went no further. Could the possession of a pair of timpani sticks suggest the beginning of rhythmic interest above and beyond the usual student's occupation with that element? Possibly. Emile and his friends may have indulged in simple exercises, such as beating multiple meters at one time, duple with one hand and triple in the other. Or he may have become proficient in more complicated rhythmic problems at this time. Ifso, it could not have been anything more than curiosity. Later in his career, making use of the entire body in response to rhythmic problems was certainly more consuming. By this time Jaques's interests shifted more definitely towards music rather than drama. Still, his compositional efforts favored working within the dramatic idiom, for which he had a more natural feeling. During the summer of 1886 Emile was again homesick and wished to return to Geneva, to the closeness and comfort of his family. He had spent almost two years in Paris, had benefited from formal study and from intense application of work by himself. He had come into contact with musicians approximately his own age, particularly Pierre de Breville (1861-1949), Gustave Charpentier (1860-1956) and Ernest Chausson (1855-1899), an experience which is necessary for all developing artists. As Emile approached the age of twenty-one certain personality traits seemed fixed for life: kindness, understanding, humor. Relaxation with his family in Geneva was short-lived. He heard about an opening in Saint-Gervais for a pianist to play afternoon and evening dinner music at the spa. He accepted the position against the advice of his parents who did not wish to lose him while he was engaged in such menial musical activity. However, life at the spa was agreeable. He had comfortable living quarters and a piano for practice. In the course of arranging musical programs he asked his sister Helene, who had just completed her examinations at the Geneva Conservatory, to participate, often doing four-hand music with her. The summer wore on with difficulty, the result of boredom. He used some of the time to go through the harmony text of NapoleonHenri Reber ( 1807-1880), an Alsatian who served as Professor of Harmony at the Paris Conservatory. A pleasant tum of events occurred when the composer Leo Delibes (1836-1891) spent a short vacation at the spa. Delibes mentioned that he liked a little piece that Jaques had played, only to learn that it was not a "piece, 11 but a free improvisation. Nevertheless, he

12

PROLOGUE:YOUTH, 1865-1892 surmised that the young man had talent and suggested that, should he be in Paris, he get in touch with him. This gesture of encouragement caused Emile to think more seriously about a musical career. T awards the end of the summer the Saint Gall musician Ernest Adler offered him a position as assistant conductor and chorus master at the Theatre des Nouveautes in Algiers, which Emile accepted. It was his first professional engagement of duration; a position of respectability that afforded good experience for a young man at the start of a career. Conscious of his youth, he grew a mustache and beard, a trait that stayed with him for the remainder of his life. In September he left for North Africa. It was 1886, the year Van Gogh moved from Antwerp to Paris to make his home with hisbrother Theodore, and where he met Toulouse-Lautrec and other Impressionists.The year marked the appearance of Seurat's masterpiece,"A Sunday Afternoon on the Isleof Grande Jatte," the first Pointillist technique of the Neoimpressionists. Stevenson had published The StrangeCaseof Dr.Jekylland Mr Hyde. The year in Algiers was a probationary one in Emile's life. His keen ear caught the minute distinctions of sound between the various Arab native instruments, and he was intrigued by the their execution of complicated rhythms. Algiers, unlike the part of the country consisting of desert, was fairlywell westernized, so far as music was concerned. It was originally Berber country and remained so even after the spread of Muhammadism. Spaniards came to the area in the early 16th century, but were soon expelled, having had little to no influence on the area. Algeria became a vassal state of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, but it was not well unified. Even after it was taken by the French in 1830 it still lacked unity. Resistance to French rule manifested itself periodically. As a result of such dissidence the French decided to.complete their conquest of the area and colonize it. This was done in 1847, although small elements of resistance persisted until 1884. From this time until the eventual secession after World War II the area was oriented completely toward the French. In music, Arabic influences were felt to the east, south and west, yet not so in the capital city itself. Melody was the main constituent in Arabic music rather than rhythm or harmony, which was virtually non-existant. Again, it would be tempting to surmise that Emile studied Arabic rhythms carefully, thus establishing a base for his later rhythmic developments. Apparently this was not the case. His method of employing rhythm as an important element involving physical response to music made little reference at all to the prevailing concept of Arabic rhythm. The native technique employed various divisions of a unit into smaller units. Jaques's

13

RHYTHMAND LIFE system was basically the opposite: he considered the unit, whatever its size, as a whole. Thus, in his concept, ; meter meant five pulses per unit. In the Islamic sense it would be felt in various combinations totalling five pulses: 2 + 3, 3 + 2, 1 + 2 + 2, and so on. It would be safe to say, however, that at least the Algerian experience taught Emile to think in different terms than he had been trained to do as a matter of habit. It was in Algiers that Emile Jaques changed his name. Now, as well as during the latter part of his sojourn in Paris, Jaques's works were filtering through to the publishers. In order to avoid confusion between him and another musician of the same name who resided in Bordeaux ( a composer of polkas), a change was advised. This most likely came from the Parisian publisher, A. Poulin, who printed his opus 5 in 1890 and who, together with the better known house of Rouart, Lerolle, did his Deux Pieces,opus 2, for violin and piano. This same opus 2 was printed one year later by the Parisian firm of Buttner-Thierry. In Algiers, Emile ran into an old friend from his days at the College de Geneve, the Frenchman Raymond Valcroze. The two continued to associate socially throughout Emile's stay in this African city. With his friend's authorization Emile adapted his name, changing the letter V to D. From this time on he always signed his works Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. Later the name was officially recorded in the city registers in Geneva, not only for him, but for members of his family as well . 12 Although the name Jaques-Dalcroze was official, for the rest of his life he was called Jaques by his old and new friends. For years his students and all others who wished to use not only a friendly expression but one of affection addressed him as "Monsieur Jaques." In England and in America the new surname proved to be cumbersome and in these countries the name Dalcroze sufficed. Work in composition continued. His next dramatic piece, the first of several written upon texts of his boyhood friend Philippe Monnier, was completed during the sojourn in Algiers. It was a lyric comedy in one act, L'EcolierFram;oisVillon.On the last page of the score he wrote, "Completed today, Wednesday, 19 January 1887, in Algiers. E.Jaques-Dalcroze. Hurrah Monnier!" Like its predecessor, it was neither performed nor published. The most notable part of this work was its rather lengthy overture, in fast-slowfast form, which was quite lively and spirited, from which other parts of the play are taken. He also introduced passages of melancholy along with his 12The verbal process of the Council of State of the Canton ofVaud, 28 August 1924, officially recorded the change of name of Emile, also that of his wife and son. See Theodore Bret, Les Bourgeoisd'honneursde Geneve de 1814 d nosjours (Geneve, 1929).

14

PROLOGUE:YOUTH, 1865-1892

customary bright activity. His other significant score was completed; a large orchestral suite, Printemps,which unfortunately failed to achieve success. T awards the end of the season difficulties arose during which the theatre manager was unable to pay his musicians. To recoup funds they organized an ensemble which included Jaques-Dalcroze and they set out to give concerts in other areas. The tour took them to Medea, Hamman, Khiva, Miliana, Blida, and Constantine, and included a return to Algiers for an additional concert. The itinerary covered an area 60 miles to the south of the capital city and almost 200 miles to the east. When the season came to an end, Emile was offered the position of director of the conservatory and he was tempted to accept. He liked the country and its people, and the work would not be too difficult. He was discouraged, however, by a friend in the city, the pastor Rocheblave, who insisted that the position could not possibly utilize his talents to the fullest, that the position in itself was a dead end, and that he would be wiser to pass it up. "If you stay in Algiers," Rocheblave contended, "you will not find in this lazy city the means to perfect yourself in your career and you willfeel your creative faculties diminishing. Return to the continent to continue your studies." 13 Upon this advice, Emile turned down the offer. With the experience in Algiers behind him Emile returned to his family home in Geneva with the determination to further his studies. He decided to work at the conservatory in Vienna with the renowned composer Anton Bruckner (1824-1896). In the fallhe traveled with his father, who was going east on business, and they stopped in Vienna. The elder Jaques planned to stay just long enough to see the results of Emile's entrance examinations. Although it was late and the classes were already full, the examination results were good and Emile was admitted to Bruckner's classes in composition. He also registered for theory with the well-known Robert Fuchs (1847-1927). Emile professed that he owed much to Bruckner. It was not his actual teaching but his personality that was effective. A veritable taskmaster, having no consideration for the individual, his ideas, or his technique, Bruckner insisted that his students restudy their harmony and counterpoint. He demanded that his students pay attention only to music and not dilute their work with him by reading or by discovering the other arts, as well as objecting to the students' romantic interests. Yet he was respected for his originality and his genius, if not for his tolerance, musical and 13EmileJaques-Dalcroze,Notes bariolees (Geneve, 1948) 20£.

15

RHITHM AND LIFE

otherwise. From time to time Emile clashed with his master. Bruckner seemed to have little regard for him and spoke of him as derdummeFranzose, eventually throwing him out of his class. His attempt to have him entirely removed from the conservatory, however, did not succeed. The difficulty arose when Bruckner insisted that Emile take Bruckner's course in harmony from the very beginning which he refused to do. He agreed to drop Bruckner's courses and to take composition from another professor. Bruckner objected, claiming that Emile could not qualify even for an elementary course in composition. Two days later they arranged an audition before a jury consisting of four professors and the Director of the Conservatory, Joseph Hellmesberger (1828-1893). For the audition Emile played an etude from the Gradusad Pamassumof Muzio Clementi (17521832), a Beethoven sonata, read at sight some works presented to him, and ended with two of his own compositions. At the completion of the audition there was silence. Bruckner smiled, believing that the young man had failed. Presently Adolf Prosniz (1829-1917), one of the jurors, rose and said to the others, "I will take this young man into my class. He evidently is lacking in technique, but he is definitely talented." Emile was ever grateful to Prosniz for saving him on this occasion and proving to be a valuable influence on his studies for the remainder of his stay in Vienna. With Prosniz he studied piano, and composition with Herman Gradener (1844-1929), both excellent musicians and competent instructors. It was Prosniz who said, after Emile played a Beethoven work for him, "That was nice, but now you must really get into it." This observation might well have been the summation of all of Dalcroze's problems in his lifetime: lack of depth of perception. Some of his greatest ideas could not be sustained because he failed to penetrate their profundity. At times the issues were shrouded in an immense compilation of detail, yet he still needed to "get into it." Viennese life benefited the young musician greatly. In the city of Johann Strauss he studied Bach and attended all sorts of concerts, including a most illuminating performance of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.And again he enjoyed friendships with other students. Among these he cherished the friendship of Friedrich Klose (1862-194 2), a favorite student ofBruckner's, a German who studied in Geneva before coming to Vienna, and who devoted his career to composition and teaching in Germany and Switzerland. Social life here was similar to the Paris student days, but Emile was now older, more experienced, and he had a more definite view of his life and work.

16

PROLOOUE:YOUTH, 1865-1892 During the winter he received a communication from Belles-Lettres,his literary-dramatic club in Geneva. Philippe Monnier had written a play, Par les Bois,based on Shakespeare's As YouLikeIt, and they requested a score for this work. He accepted the responsibilityeven though he was hard pressed to keep up his work at the Conservatory. Working feverishly,he completed the music and sent it on to Geneva. It was performed at a soiree preceding the offeringby the Society of a bust of Marc Monnier, the distinguished writer (Philippe's father), to the University of Geneva, the first bust to adorn the aula. Hugo de Senger, conductor of the suh.cription concerts, conducted it in Dalcroze's absence. The piano part of the ensemble was assigned to Helene Jaques, now a competent musician with much professional performance experience. The music, like the text, was characteristically rustic, light, melodic, and whimsical. The performance was a great success. Before the spring semester of 1889 was to begin, Emile decided to take a vacation in Geneva. Again, the visit was a brief one, but instead of returning to Vienna, he decided that it would be more interesting for him to get back to Paris for more formal study. The twenty-four-year-old Jaques-Dalcroze who made his appearance in Paris for the second time was a far different student from the young man who first came to study almost five years earlier. He took the examinations at the conservatory; this time he was admitted to the classes of Faure, who remained a sympathetic colleague throughout his lifetime. Not forgetting Delibes's invitation, made at Saint-Gervais-les-Bains two years before, Emile visited him, and also participated in his classes. Jaques-Dalcroze now moved into the foremost circles of modem French musicians, the leader of whom was Cesar Franck (1822-1890). Older, riper in experience, wiser as a student, and more competent as a musician, Emile found this second episode of Paris study much more fruitful. Emphasis must be placed on the discipline Emile derived from his association with the Swiss musician Mathis Lussy ( 1828-1910) who introduced him to the ways of scholarly expression. He learned to recognize problems, to approach them in a scientific way, and to devise methods of solution. Lussy had gone to Paris in 1844 to study medicine, but instead became a piano teacher and writer. His first significant book, Exercisesde mecanisme (1863) was highly praised by Franz Liszt and other teachers of piano. Lussy recognized that expression in music was a specific element which had never been adequately explained and he sought a way to establish principles and organization for this component in his book, Traite de !'expressionmusicale (1873). Of this work the Westminster Review said the following:

17

RHYTHM AND LIFE ... M. Lussy had made one of the most valuable contributions of music. His work takes up ground which no other essay fills; it deals clearly and forcibly with a subject comprising all that gives vitality and significance to musical sounds; and it is based upon natural laws which, though they have always been in force, were never before tabulated so to be of general service. 14

The problem of dissociating elements, of analyzing and organizing them into the whole became the life work ofJaques-Dalcroze, and he could not have had a better introduction into the matter than through the teachings of Mathis Lussy. The section on rhythm in Lussy's book, which was later printed by itself, was of special interest to Dalcroze. 15 One of Jaques's earliest literary expressions occurred about this time. He pleaded in 1890 for a national conservatory, pointing out that in France and Germany they try to make progress; but in Switzerland "we remain stationary, complacent in our ignorance, while admiring passionately all that is not Swiss." He regretted the fact that music was considered hardly more than an agreeable pastime and that Swiss musicians tended to leave the country to make their careers elsewhere. 16 During the next two years Emile spent in Paris he was very active as a composer. He contined to perform his little chansons, sketches inspired by customs and silhouettes of the day. He also wrote larger, serious pieces, which were beginning to be performed: a quartet, suite for cello and piano, and stage works, in addition to organizing a substantial series of free concerts. In 1891 he returned to Geneva to supervise the production of some of his compositions. At the same time, while living with his family, he continued to compose at a fast pace. The conservatory made use of his availability and gave him a course to teach in music history, on which he also lectured in other cities in the area. The next year his beloved teacher from his student days at the conservatory, Hugo de Senger, died. Three months later the conservatory appointed J aq ues-Dalcroze to replace him as Professor of Harmony. Shortly afterward the conservatory curriculum was revised, and Emile was also assigned the higher course in solfege to teach. One of the most arduous and most fruitful periods in his life had now begun. Besides devoting himself wholeheartedly to his teaching duties, he threw himself into a feverish spell of composition-seeds of la rythmiq_uewere inadvertantly being sewn. Musical Expression," Westminster Review,49 Oan. 1876) 218. Lussey, Le Rythme musical,son origine, sa fonctionet son accentuation,(Paris, 1884). 16Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, "De l'Enseignement musical en Suisse," Academie de musiquea Geneve (1890) 19. 14"Lawsof 15Mathis

18

Jaques-Dalcroze as a young man

CHAPTERII

Maturing Composer, 1892-1908 During the early days as a professor at the Geneva Conservatory JaquesDalcroze did not limit his activities to academic problems. He pursued numerous other interests, including composition, at a furious pace. In 1893 his first song collection, Chansonsromandes,was published in Vevey. It was immediately popular and presaged a continuing output of similar works. In his lifetime Jaques-Dalcroze wrote about 1000 songs, sometimes as many as ten in one day. These appeared singly, in collections, in arrangements for chorus, and in versions to be sung not only with piano, but with several instruments or with an orchestra. For many of the songs he also wrote the texts. And often the texts were as touching as the melodies. Many of the songs are gems of simplicity and effectiveness. It is not unusual that they were early translated into foreign languages and sung in many other countries. It _isalso not unusual that many of the songs were well enough known in his own country to serve as basic folklore. It was he, more than anyone else, who brought songs to the lips of his people, who enabled them to revel in tender thoughts about their country and conditions surrounding them and their normal daily activities. In Suisse romande there were two other musicians who also contributed songs of the folk type: Gustave Doret (1866-1943) and Joseph Bovet (1879-1951). None understood the people and their surroundings as did this trio and, very likely, no one understood them better than did Jaques-Dalcroze. Doret enjoyed a wide reputation, having conducted various orchestras in Paris and elsewhere, but his greatest contributions were his choruses, which the Swiss loved so well, and the famous festivals, especially the Fetede Vigneronsof 1905 and of 1927. Abbe Bovet, ordained in 1905, held many church music positions in Suisse romande, made many arrangements of popular songs, and wrote the music for festivals throughout the area. Now, a generation after Jaques-Dalcroze's death, one can accurately evaluate the master's contributions and determine that his greatest genius 21

RHYTHM AND LIFE

as a composer lay in the production of simple songs. These songs touched the hearts not only of his countrymen but of others as well. Although his operas and symphonic works had their day, and the grand conception, la rythmique, had its round-the-world fling, eternal warmth and significance lay in his tender songs. The chansons show the humanism and understanding that the composer felt for his fellow man. Ideas for these songs came to him at all times. Even when he was engaged in private conversation, a faraway look would appear in his eyes, indicating that something was forming in his mindsomething to be completed at the very first opportunity. The heart of his works lay in their texts-warm, tender and touching. He found inspiration in nature, in his mountains, lakes, gardens, animals, little children. No one expressed better than he the life which surrounded him in his romand country: the city, the little village, home, the work of his friends, the games of children, the religious fervor, the stories and legends of old. In spite of generalities the songs remain for a particular place and a particular time, yet they have universal appeal. The melodies were so simple one could take them to heart immediately. In some areas they became so well known that people denied that they were written by a contemporary, insisting that they were ancient tunes. What greater compliment than this! The chanson harmonies were simple and romantic, somewhat like those of Massenet in the earliest songs. The treatment was fairly classic in that the cadences, resolutions, and forms were standard. In the later songs, about 1920, he ventured into more modem sonorities, patterned after Debussy, taking special care in writing the piano accompaniments, which were always expressive and entirely playable. Pervading the songs was a bright spirit, a light humor and a freshness of expression. These qualities reflected the same principles that were in the man, characteristics which made him so beloved by his students, by children everywhere, and by his fellow citizens. "In writing the music for my chansons," he said, "the words come to me at the same time." He also avowed, "I have had remarkable interpreters. But never, never, have I been totally satisfied, never has the singer expressed all that I would have wished and as I would have wished it." These words were given to Ruy-Blag who related theminanarticleintheTribunedeGeneve (1 July 1965) inoneofthemany tributes to the master on his centenary. The statement illustrates a point which is well known to the public but is really felt only by the composer: the composer possesses within him more than he can express outwardly and more than an interpreter can reveal completely.

22

MATURING COMPOSER, 1892-1908

The songs being as popular as they were, it would not be unusual to encounter them in various places and under different conditions. JaquesDalcroze recalled hearing one of his songs being sung by a street gamin in Sierre in the canton of Valais. The boy was singing a passage, incorrectly rendering the rhythm. The composer, not revealing his identity, sang the song for him as it should have been sung. The boy disagreed with that version and continued to sing his own way. "You know," Emile reflected, "you may be entirely right." (Whether the composer made any alteration in the publication of that song is not known but most likely, he did not.) The popularity of the individual songs and those written for plays and festivals, and particularly the exact expressions of the spirit and temperament of the Romands which Jaques evoked, earned for him consideration as the "Felibre of Romandy." 1 The Felibrige was a literary school created in 1854 by a group of Provern;al poets led by Frederic Mistral ( 1830--1914). Their purpose was to maintain the purity of the literary dialects of the langue d'oc, the language of the 13th- and 14th-century troubadours of southern France. Interest in reviving the old dialects actually was spurred a century earlier by the research of Lacurne de Sainte-Palaye and his disciple, the Abbe Millot.2 Mistral selected the term "Felibre" from a line in a medieval prayer: Eme li setfelibrede la lei (with the seven felibre of the Law).3 An even more meaningful appellation may be ascribed to JaquesDalcroze, particularly for the way his compatriots took his songs to heart; he could certainly be called the Stephen Foster of Switzerland.4 He performed his songs himself in both formal and informal settings. 5 He sang without pretense, lacking a distingnished vocal quality, but with excellent diction-a carry-over from his dramatic experience-and with a sure support from the keyboard, his own accompaniment. He also scored success Stierlin-Vallon, "Jaques-Dalcroze, pere de la musique romande," RevueMusicale188 Oan.-Feb. 1939) 41. 2Emile Ripert, Le Felibrige(Paris, 1924) 7. 3Alphonse Roche, ProvencalRegionalism(Evanston, 1924), 214. Souchon claimed that a copyist's error confounded the meaning and that the original reading should have been: Erne lou Sepher, libre de la lei (with the Sepher, the book oflaw). The Hebrew word Sepher(book) was sometimes used to designate the Book of Genesis. See Paul Souchon, Mistralpoecede France (Paris, 1945) 86. 4Hilda M. Schuster, The AestheticContributions of DalcrozeEurythmicsw AmericanEducation (unpublished thesis, Duquesne University, I 938) 33. 51bere were counterparts in France. The poets Maurice Rollinat, Theodore Botrel and Xavier Privas also set their poems to music and performed them themselves quite successfully while playing their own accompaniments at the piano. See Eugene de Boccard, Anchologie despoecesde la Suisseromande(Paris, 1946) 61. 1Henri

23

RHYTHM AND LIFE

a

upon success as public entertainer by making up songs on the spur of the moment. Actually, he could have made a career of improvising songs had he not had more serious ambitions. Opportunities present themselves in various ways. Emile was seated with his family for dinner one night when they heard a knock at the door. A visitor, visibly distraught, sought Jaques-Dalcroze's assistance to avoid a possible catastrophe. Leopold Ketten, conductor of the Conservatory Choral Society, had become ill just one day before a scheduled public concert. On such short notice no qualified replacement had, thus far, been found. Could Emile, the visitor enquired, take over and carry the chorus through the program on the following evening? At first Emile also refused, on the grounds that he did not know the works to be performed; however, he eventually acceded to the request, studied the music, and the concert came off successfully.6 The next day the society wrote him a letter of appreciation for having saved them embarrassment, and offered to perform a work of his own which, in itself, might serve as an inspiration to a composer. Within a short time they sent, for his consideration and examination, a poem by Jeanne Thoiry. It pleased the composer very much, and a text was prepared by Jules Cougnard and Edouard Schure, with a contribution by the composer on the poetic idea. The resulting work, La Veillee, remained one of the composer's favorite compositions.

La Veilleeconsists of nineteen numbers. It expresses the feeling of the villagers as they meet on a fall evening to pass the time in complete peace and relaxation, the work for the season having been completed. Their thoughts cover a broad spectrum, the mysteries of nature, and their real and imaginary considerations. A lightness and tenderness surround the piece, with sumptuous orchestral colors and effective vocal devices, all based on a simple, popular melodic style. For all its variety and force it approaches the form of a secular oratorio. The music historian Karl Nef indicated that Jaques-Dalcroze inaugurated a new genre, a sort of domestic oratorio, where one could observe a modest romandeoffshoot of the Seasonsof Haydn. 7 La Veilleehad some success in the years to follow and came to be well known. He made some changes in it and, in the new version, it came to be performed again at the Salle de Reformation in March 1909 by the Societe de Chant of the Conservatory and the Ketten Chorus. The piece had been 1n the succeeding two years Jaques-Dalci-oze conducted other concerts of the society. Nef, "Le Chant choral du moyen age ~ nos jours," Paul Budry, ed. La Suissequi chant (Lausanne, 1932) 175.

6

7Karl

24

MATURING COMPOSER,1892-1908

dedicated to Monsieur Ketten. Mme. Jaques-Dalcroze and Dr. Zareh Cheridjian, a good friend, had solo parts. Edouard Combe spoke of its various uses of the chorus, the alternating dialogues, and the several numbers with sure effects, particularly the chanson Petitnavire.He recounts how warmly the large crowd received the work and how enchanted they were with its young, abundant, and popular music, in spite of some of the complicated harmonies and difficult vocal parts. He spoke of this as a work of youth, meaning not only the tender age of its composer, but the freshness and spirit that it contained. 8 The piece was soon performed in London and in Berlin, also with success. Later in 1893 Jaques-Dalcroze collaborated with Alfred Pouthier in preparing a text for the opera Le Violonmaudit. The work, alas, remains in manuscript and has never been performed in its entirety, although parts of it were presented in 1909 along with La Veilleeat the Salle de la Reformation. In the following year another large-scale work had its premiere: the opera Janie,in three acts, produced by the Geneva Opera on 14 February 1894. Listed as an idyl,Janie was dedicated to the composer's sister, Helene Brunet-Lecomte. Philippe Godet provided the libretto after the novel Flutaireby Georges de Peyrebrune. The German version, published as Der Leiermann,was created by Felix Vogt, who also translated La Veillee,as Der

Winterabend. In the story, a prize of 1000 gold pieces is offered to the most virtuous young woman in the area, provided that within one month she chooses a husband. Giraud, Janie's father, owes Longuet, President of the City Council, exactly that amount. He plans to have his daughter marry Longuet and thus clear his debt. Janie, however, is in love with Noel, the bagpipe player, who earns a marginal living as a basket weaver. The third act presents the big village scene, with bands and peasants and merry making, on the day that the prize is to be awarded. But Janie chooses Noel and gives up the prize which had practically been arranged for her. Before all is straightened out, we hear some marvelous scenes: the bagpiper expressing his love, the plotters Longuet and Giraud blaming the tum of events on Janie; and, while the priest sings his praises of Janie, the village clock sounds an ostinato that is backed by delicious music. The villagers then acclaim the couple. JaquesDalcroze made good use of folk tunes and simple melodies, and also used the March from Rossini's WilliamTell, adding to the abundant good humor of the work. Combe, "La Veillee," Gazette de Lausanne (16 March 1909). Also see Journalde Geneve (13 March 1909) . 8Edouard

25

RHYTHM AND LIFE A critic writing under the name of Willy9 in La Mouehesdes Croches, said that he went to see Janieon the advice of Vincent d'Indy who was struck by all Swiss music. Nothing, he said, appeared in France that compared with this musical idyl of which the characters are French, the sentiment Swiss, and the orchestration German. On this candid scenario M. Jacques-Dalcroze [sic] composed a very successful score, original and always conscientious, sometimes excellent; it is the only lyric comedy that I know expressing musically every-day ideas and feelings without bombast and without cheapness, equally remote from exaggerated melody and French operetta muddles. I would reproach him perhaps for certain orchestral misinterpretations where the brass is too loud if not tetralogical, when their Wagnerian gloss does not apply to an epic text as do those of the master of Bayreuth; on the other hand, M. Jacques-Dalcroze may consider me impudent if I confide to him that his lovers seem to me unreasonably frigid. How come? Here is a fellow and his fiancee who are in love, they are all alone, they drink a cup of wine, they sing in the key of E, which appears to me always too aphrodisiacal, and their duet, otherwise charming [suffers from] its canonic entrances. 10

Above all, he liked the third act for its picturesque instrumentation, so fitting to the good humor of the village mayor, conscious of his responsibilities,who performs his civic duties while the band plays the WilliamTell March. Although the performance of Janiein Geneva was highly successful it was not done to its best advantage. When it was given in Frankfurt in February 1895, however, the production was thoroughly professional.II Equally good was its June presentation in Stuttgart. A report in the Neue Musikzeitungstated that Jaques-Dalcroze came from the Wagner School, and highly praised the second-act duet. The same performance was praised in Le Journalof Paris, where the critic expressed the hope that the work would soon appear in France. The Schwiibischer Merkur (24 February 1895) reported that the last two acts were particularly well received. The work returned to Geneva in 1895, this time with a few changes and with an improved presentation. Gil Blas (20 March 1895), mentioned Henry Gauthier-Villars, critic for Revuede Revues,La Paix,Art et Critique,L'Echode Paris, and other periodicals wrote under the name of "Willy"as well as under other pseudonyms. In 1893 he married Gabrielle Colette and influenced her to write the well-known Claudine stories which she published under his pen name, Willy. After 1913 she signed her works "Colette,• becoming the first woman member of the French AcademieGoncourt. 10L'0uvreuse du Cirque d'Ete (Willy), La Mouchedes Croches(Paris, 1894), article 8 April. Another writer, Alfred Ernst, who wrote weekly in .Echode Paris,also used this pseudonym. Willy frequently misspelledDalcroze'sname by inserting the letter c as Jacques. 11Hl"l~neBrunet-Lecomte, ]aques-Dalcroze Sa vie,son oeuwe (Gen~ve, 1950) 107. 9

26

MATURING COMPOSER,1892-1908

several new airs, and described the one in the second act of Longuet, sung by M. Dauphin, as "truly great." This journal on 24 March spoke of the presentation as a complete reissue and a grand success. "M. Dalcroze," it said, "is in Switzerland one of the most devoted protagonists of the new young French School." Arthur Smolian, writing in the Journalde Geneve, commented upon another production in Stuttgart, saying that the music hails from Wagner. "Dalcroze uses, like Humperdinck, popular melodies, some good humor and good musical treatment." Humperdinck himself, commenting in the FrankfurterZeiting (27 June), dealt with the general success of the piece. Interestingly, however, when Janiewas first given in Bremen later in the year, the Neue Musikzeitungreported the work "from the hitherto unknown Jaques-Dalcroze." Years later, in an article in La Suisse,Mooser recalled the successful

Janie. This admirable score by a musician who was not always so fortunate, for, as only too often, he surrenders inexorably to an unbelievable facility, would again receive the esteem today at the Grand Thei'itre that he received in Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Bremen and other cities where he was often played. 12

Then he speaks of Dalcroze's personal style where his lyric comic action, his spirit and allure, stemming from French influences, mixes with his Germanic polyphony and striking cross rhythm. He quotes from the article by Willy, cited above, including the following passage: Above all, I admire the third act, a prodigious tour de force of picturesquely realistic instrumentation, fitting for underlining a clap-trap speech of the village mayor who, conscious of his responsibility, extols his civic duties and praises the republican virtues of the outgoing deputy. Here there is some admirable buffoonish work, and some bassoon passages which left me dreaming.

Mooser looked to the future and asked if in the year 2000, with the rebirth of the Geneva Opera, would Janiebe remembered as having played there for the first time, revealing an impulsive talent and verve of a musician who was never so inspired as when he palpitated the soul of the Geneva countryside, as in the Jeu de feuillu, or when he translated into music the authentic and savory spirit of the land, as in the Poemealpestreand in several of the first Chansonsromandes.Mooser also recalled the debut of Clothilde Bressler-Granoli as Janie, with her simple and touching charm of youth and her spontaneous nature. 12R.-Alloys

Mooser, "Plaidoyer pour Janie," La Suisse (16 March 1958).

27

RHITHM AND LIFE

For another type oflight entertainment Jaques-Dalcroze reached back to earlier experiences as a student of theatre, as a Bellettrien, and as a popular and facile improviser of songs and gay comedy. In the latter years of the nineteenth century these talents resulted in organized entertainments held at the hall of the Amis de l'Instruction, to which considerable crowds were attracted, and at private homes. These soirees were called revues. Jaques-Dalcroze wrote the words as well as the music, as his original spirit, sometimes malicious as well as irreverent, appealed to the light heart. Although these revues were not as professional as those played at the normal theatres they did have a sentimental twist and a certain mockery that pleased the spectators. The participants usually were students of voice at the conservatory-students of Leopold Ketten. The leading lady was often Mlle. Marie Genaud-as pretty as she was articulate-an amateur singer who later married a Lyon dentist. Jaques-Dalcroze was frequently the pianist for these occasions where he interspersed his deft accompaniments and improvisations, always in a decisive, lively manner. Songs of this period, like Les Garcons d'Yverdon, Les Bonnes Dames de Saint-Gervais and Le Grimion, became widely popular and were printed in his first volume of Chansonsromandes.The Bibliotheque Publique et Universitaire in Geneva owns an album of photographs representing these entertainments, with principal scenes and ensembles. 13 It was at this time that a financial crisis was affecting many people in Switzerland; M. Jaques, the father, being one of them. Although he had accumulated a reasonable bank account when he returned with his family from Vienna, it had now dissolved, and he found himself unable to make payments on loans he had assumed; he faced bankruptcy. Emile decided to double his efforts to earn money in addition to his salary paid him by the conservatory and from royalties collected for his compositions. He asked for, and was granted, permission from the conservatory to schedule all of his classes on the first four days of the week so that he could be free the last three, including the weekend. He then arranged concerts of his chansons in the various cities and towns of his area. He sang the songs himself, providing, not a formal concert, but an informal evening of entertainment with commentary between the numbers, and with piano improvisation accompanying it. The programs were successful, the halls usually sold out, and Emile was able to earn enough money to pull his father out of deep financial difficulties. Yet the work was a great physical strain on him; often he found himself performing Sunday evening at some distance from home

13AI.

[oys] Mooser, "Les 'Revues' de Jaques-Dalcroze," La Suisse (4 July, 1965).

28

MATURING COMPOSER,1892-1908

and returning to his teaching assignments on Monday morning having had very little sleep. At times he dozed on the train, slouched uncomfortably on the seat, or on a bench in the railroad station while waiting for the train. The vigor of youth saved both the young composer and his father. In 1896 the Swiss National Exposition was to be held in Geneva, a gala affair with much emphasis on music and a fine orchestra assembled under the direction of Gustave Doret. One of the highlights of the Festival was the Poe-mealpestrewhich Dalcroze composed on the text of Daniel Baud-Bovy. He dedicated the work to his friend, the French composer Vincent d'lndy. It calls for chorus and orchestra as well as special choruses of men, women, and children. The work had an excellent reception. At the Exposition, and immediately following, it had thirteen performances before moving on to London and to other cities. It was with the Poemealpestrethat Jaques-Dalcroze became firmly established as an important composer and representative of his own people. Paul Seippal explained that the secret was his originality and, above all, his ability to understand, to interpret, and to create, at need, the Swiss popular song. 14

Poemealpestreis in two parts. Part I symbolizes the mountains: nature, the spirits, the fairies, gnomes, elves, shepherds, shepherdesses, and other mountain folk. The second part pays homage to the country and to its honest work. The audiences loved the children's songs and dances, the horn calls with its echoes in the mountains, and the popular Ranzdesvacheswhich floated throughout the orchestra. Also, the Hymne au travail,Hymne a la patrieand the well-known song La Suisseest belledelighted the listeners. But the final hymn to liberty literally brought down the house. In 1945, upon the occasion ofJaques-Dalcroze's eightieth birthday, it was again played at Victoria Hall in London under the direction of Samuel Baud-Bovy, son of the librettist, and formerly a student of Dalcroze. Another large work completed during this busy period, 1896, was the lyric comedy Sancho Panca in four acts and eight scenes, dedicated to Eugene Ysaye, first performed at the Grand Theatre in Geneva in December 1897. The librettist, Robert Yve-Plessis, follows the Cervantes story fairly closely. Quixote himself has but a small part in this story, with the Squire Sancho Panca bearing the brunt of involvement and delightful farce. In this "lyric comedy" there is no spoken dialogue as there is in operacomique. 14SemaineUtterairede Geneve, 30

May 1896. In an item in the Tribune de Geneve, 2 June 1896, it states that the second hearing produced an even greater impression than did the first. The Geneva perfonnances were covered in periodicals of Lausanne, Nantes, Zurich, Neuchatel, Paris, London, also in the Swiss Ticino.

29

RHITHM AND LIFE

Sancho is the French equivalent of the German Meistersingeror the Italian Falstaff.15 In reviewing the field of musical theatre from Robin et Marion to Die Meistersingerand Falstaff,Alfred Ernst, the passionate defender of Wagner in France, singles out SanchoPancaas a very significant work. He regarded Jaques-Dalcroze as the most noted composer of the new Swiss school, along with Gustave Doret and Otto Barblan. 16 Certain critics found various objections to the piece such as the use of triplets in the woodwinds and quadruplets in the brasses simultaneously. Francisque Sarcey found the work devoid of melody and regretted the use of "modem formulas" such as syncopations and exceptional meters in the ballets. 17The work was repeated in subsequent seasons and attracted listeners from other countries who wished to hear how the Wagnerian leitmotiv technique was being carried out. Sancho is highly contrapuntal and the orchestration is somewhat heavy, as Dalcroze overscored for low instruments and thus lost a good balance of color. His use of muted trombones was an early innovation in opera, but something which he had already done in Janie.As did Wagner, Jaques-Dalcroze indicated his leading motives with identities at the beginning of the score. Of the eighteen themes, five relate to Sancho, six to his daughter Sanchette, two to Quixote. Even in isolation, as here presented, character and beauty are readily indentified. Characteristic Sancho

Island

~ wi jJ J:_JJJ Wta J.----Wr M

&FrJ(ij

t±@U')I; J

Destranges, Chic Comedielyriquefraru;aiseSanchod'Emile ]aques-Dalcroze(Paris, 1897) 6. In the separately published libretto Robert Yve-Plessis gives a bibliography of Sancho citing 31 works written between 1629 and 1869, the latest being an opera by Ernest Boulanger on the text of Jules Barbier and Michel Carr~, the librettists of Gounod's Faust. See his Sancho (Genhe, 1897). 16Alfred Ernst, "Sancho," Re11ista Musicaleltaliana5, fasc. 2 (1898) 2. 17Henry Gauthiers-Villars, "A Propos de Sancho," Revueintemationalede musique7 (1 June 1898) 385-94. 15Etienne

30

MATURING COMPOSER,1892-1908 Knighthood

0

Dulcinee

f Sanchette

Carrasco's Love

} ,~-fl Ji f Teresa (Ambition)

Judgment

Business brought Jaques-Dalcroze to Paris in February 1898. The city was agog over the trial of Emile Zola who, on 13 January wrote the flaming "]'accuse" letter, printed in L'Aurore, in which he denounced the French General Staff for their handling of the famous Dreyfus case. Zola was prosecuted for libel and on 23 February was found guilty. The following day Dalcroze sent him this impassioned letter:

31

RHYTHM AND LIFE Paris (Geneva) 24 Feb. Monsieur, I happened to spend a week in Paris to give a concert. I arrived the day your sentence was given. I felt my soul shattered and wondered if I wouid have the courage to do what I had to do to assure my personal satisfaction. We are many in Geneva who have followed all the details of your trial with aroused spirit, with soulful disgust. You, Monsieur, are a victim of infamous proceedings: I commiserate with you with all my heart, I admire you with all my strength, and I beg of you-after the Swiss manner-permission to embrace you sincerely, in assuring you of my deep respect, of my ardent admiration and of my fervent sympathy. s/ E. Jaques-Dalcroze Composer, Professor of the Conservatory of Geneva 18

This touching expression of sentiment must have given the famous writer some comfort and much satisfaction. The same business trip, however, led to some happier circumstances. In the course of one of his rehearsals, none of which seemed to go well, he made a small mistake which drew ridicule from some of the choristers. But one young singer did not share the reaction; she spoke indignantly to the others, rebuking them for their lack of manners and cooperation. That evening, speaking of the young conductor, she confided to one of her friends in the chorus, "Some day I shall marry that man." This singer was Nina Faliero, a young Italian girl who was building a career as a professional. Her real name was Maria-Anna Starace. She had studied in Geneva, and then moved to Paris to work with Mme. Gabrielle Krauss. Her career began in 1895 and her first appearance in England was favorably reported in The Standard (15 May 1897). Her repertory included selections from Fidelio, Barberof Seville,Marriageof Figaro,Idomeneo, the roles of Elizabeth and Marguarite, works of Saint-Saens, Borodin and Franck, songs of Schubert, Brahms and Grieg, as well as her native Neapolitan folk songs. In the spring ofl898 she became better acquainted with the composer and sang his songs in her many programs. In a short time he became her accompanist and played for her on her long tours through western Europe. On the day after Christmas in 1899, Nina and Emile were married in Geneva.

18Biblioth~que Nationale, "Correspondance Emile Zola, VIII, C-D," FR Nouv. Acq. 24517, #275.

32

MATURING COMPOSER,1892-1908

After her marriage Nina's musical activities multiplied. Ernest Giovanna wrote of a popular concert she gave at the Salle de la Reformation in Geneva in June 1901,19and also of a program in Neuchate 1 one month later, accompanied by her husband, of ravishing songs of the 17th and 18th centuries. 2° From Dalcroze's, works she sang selections from Janie and Sanchoand numerous songs such as La-bas,Larmes (with orchestra), and Avril. After a concert in Warsaw in which songs ofDalcroze were included, the WarsawCourrier (15November 1900), spoke ofJaques-Dalcroze as "a composer of talent." Jules Cougnard said that the menage of artists was the nicest menage in the world, just like a story book. So he described the association of the charming young wife of the most popular of romand composers, the petite Neapolitaine who sings, plays the harp, and the piano. 21 Continuing in the spirit of the Poemealpestre,which exemplified Swiss life and character, Jaques-Dalcroze composed, in 1900, Le Jeu de feuillu. With the onset of spring in the canton of Geneva the people always responded with a festival (lefeuillu)to embrace the season. It recognized the greening of the trees, the floweringof the gardens, and the joy and happiness that they brought to the canton. In early May, or even before, the school children went from house to house, then to the outlying villages, and sang songs and performed dances in recognition of the new season. They traveled by carts decorated with flowers, branches, and other joyous symbols of spring. Emile also wrote the text for this simple, delightful work, which calls for soloists, a chorus, and a small variable orchestra. One song in particular, the "Chanson des Ma'ientzettes" became one of the all-time successes of the area. A theme appears throughout the work which reaches a climax at the end, in the chorus "Joli mai, joli mai." As productive as Jaques-Dalcroze had been around the tum of the century, writing many small compositions in addition to his major works, he still had the energy to participate, with Alexander Denereaz (18751947) and others in the organization of the Association of Swiss Musicians and to undertake the editorship of La Musiqueen Suisse,the periodical to which he made numerous contributions. He put out two issues per month from his residence at #20, Cite, in Geneva. After the first year of publication Giovanna "La Musique ~ Genhe, • La Musiqueen Suisse1/6 ( I 5 Nov. 1906) 69- 7 I. Giovanna "Chronique musicale de Neuch1ltel," La Musiqueen Suisse 1/8 (15 Dec. 1901) 93. 21Jules Cougnard, Emile Kuhne and Henry Spiess, Le NouveauPantheon(Genhe, 1908) 30. 19Ernest

20Ernest

33

RHYTHM AND LIFE

the violinist Henri Marteau (1874-1934) joined him as co-editor-in-chief. They dealt not only with music of Switzerland but also with activities of Swiss musicians in other countries. Marteau had much to do with the promotion of two of JaquesDalcroze's major works, the Violin Concerto in C Minor and the String Quartet in E. The Marteau Quartet-Henri Marteau, Eugene Raymond, Woldhemar Palinke and Adolphe Rehberg-in 1901, gave the first professional performnce of the latter work. They repeated the work numerous times, showing that its composer was "an innovator, a leader of a school," and that the future would prove it.22 Once, from La Chaux-de-Fonds, Edmond Beaujon, questioned Marteau's audacity in playing three quartets in one evening, to an inexperienced audience--Saint-Saens' opus 112, Jaques-Dalcroze's E Major, and Mozart's F Major. He expressly pointed out Marteau's inspirational performance of the ; movement, Allegro scherzando, of the Dalcroze work.23 The String Quartet in E was composed for and dedicated to Antoine Martin, an amateur quartet enthusiast, of which there were many in Geneva at the time. Another early playing of the work (1897), also featured in the same program, the talents of the charming young singer Nina Faliero.24 A performance of the quartet the following January elicited comments concerning its polyphonic nature, which was not in the spirit ofFrench chamber music of the day, pointing out canonic developments, frequent enharmonic changes, perpetual modulations, and often some verbosity. The writer, however, also alluded to charming rhythmic discoveries, a passage sometimes in 84 , sometimes in 1,without regular alternation. This presentation was given by the Parent, Lammers, Denager, Baretti quartet. 25 Some forty years later, on 23 November 1938, a newly formed quartet consisting of members of the Orchestre de la Suisse romande-Frarn;ois Capoulade, 26 Chil Neufeld, Willy Kunz and Henri Honegger-performed it at a concert at the Geneva Conservatory, the entire program being devoted to works of 22Giovanna, 23Edmond

"Chronique ...," loc. cit., 93. Beaujon, "Lettre de La Chauz-de-Fonds," La Musiqueen Suisse,1/8 (15 Dec. 1901)

95. 24L'Ouvreuse du Cirque d'Ete, Accords perdus (Paris, 1898) 92. The same publication contains comments on a program in Paris which included Jaques-Dalcroze's "Serenade," op. 61, for flute and string quartet with Georges Barrere, flutist (250f). 25La Colleaux Quinces,30. Armand Parent (1863-1934), Professor of Violin at the Schola Cantorum from 1900, and his famous quartet championed the newest chamber music of the young French school: Debussy, Faure, Roussel, Chausson, Lekeu. Earlier, in 1892,.he had formed another outstanding ensemble. 26Copoulade had also played the Violin Concerto.

34

MATURING COMPOSER,1892-1908

Jaques-Dalcroze-all new compositions except for the venerable quartet. A week later, on 30 November, the Orchestre de la Suisse romande, celebrating its twentieth anniversary, performed the program it had presented at its initial concert in 1918 in which Jaques-Dalcroze's Rondes printaniereswas included. Concerning the quartet, Karl Storck, writing in La Musique en Suisse (1 March 1902), romanticizes that it be entitled Suite pour Instruments a Cordes. He quoted from his article in DeutscheZeitung: The first phrase is the most serious. A low theme sounding the Di.esIrae fights against another lighter, more joyous theme. This could be interpreted as a battle between enthusiastic and joyous youth and the grave resolutions of ripe age, the hard experience of life. The joy of life triumphs and the three following phrases express these sentiments of lightness in three episodes. The second phrase (love) is admirably melodious. By contrast, the third, which expresses the joy of energetic work, falls a little. The last is a Caprice of a playful allure, full of disarranged humor and delerient imagination. By coloring the voices of the quartet he gives the allusion of a full orchestra. 27

About the time Jaq ues-Dalcroze was finishing his work on the quartet, he became acquainted with the great Belgian violinist Eugene Ysaye (18581931) in Paris. Emile had been friendly with Ysaye's brother Theophile, Professor of Piano at the Academic de Musique in Geneva, whom the violinist frequently came to Geneva to visit. On such an occasion the Schorg Quartet was also present to sight read a new work of Jaques-Dalcroze, Paysagesentimental,for voice, violin, and piano, on a text by Louis Duchosal. Nina, who was to have sung the soprano part, was ill and did not attend the rehearsal. Taking her place, Eugene sang the poem in so poignant a manner it brought tears to the eyes of the listeners. Shortly after this meeting Theophile, who had frequently played concerts with his brother, became ill and had to cancel his participation in a forthcoming extended tour of Europe. He suggested that Emile replace him. Thus, for a season Emile became Ysaye's accompanist. As a result their friendship deepened, and both musicians benefitted from the association. From Ysaye, Jaq ues-Dalcroze learned much concerning the violin and the style of playing of that master of the rubato. Joseph Szigeti ( 1892-197 3), Professor of Violin at the Geneva Conservatory from 1917 to 1924, succeeded Marteau in that post. He recalled dining with Jaq ues-Dalcroze when

27Karl

Storck, "Lettre de Berlin," La Musiqueen Suisse 13 (I March 1902) 152£.

35

RHITHM AND LIFE

the composer was relating some musically significant information concerning his playing with Ysaye. "Ysaye enjoined him," Szigeti wrote, "not to accompany him too flexibly while he was in his eloquent tempo rubato mcxxls; that is, that Dalcroze was not to follow the fluctuations in tempo too closely but was to preserve the rhythmic framework in spite of these minute deviations from the established tempo. This is significant because it is somewhat identical to what Mozart wrote about his left hand keeping the basic tempo in spite ofliberties that the right hand might be taking. "28Thus the piano was to keep a steady rhythm in the Kreutzer Sonata,while the violin fantasized. In the Faure Sonata,Ysaye advised, "Phrase like you breathe, thinking of it, without thinking of it. "29 Jaques-Dalcroze constantly took notes ofYsaye's comments in a small notebook; then he transferred certain statements to a larger notebook at his leisure. 3°For example, Ysaye commented, "Sonority should penetrate us completely down to our visceral organs and rhythmic movement should animate our entire muscular system without resistance nor exaggeration. 31 Dalcroze continues to quote the violinist, but the words seem to come from Dalcroze himself, so close were they to his own fundamental precepts. He speaks of Ysaye's prodigious memory. The violinist was to play Jaques-Dalcroze's unpublished Nocturne at the first concert of the Orchestra of the Societe des Musiciens Suisses at Zurich. After trailing him from city to city, the manuscript had not yet reached him when he departed for a tour of England. The music finally caught up with him in Paris on the day he was to leave for Zurich. During the night he studied the work on the train and played it from memory at the rehearsal at the T onhalle the following morning. At the concert in the evening he hesitated for a moment before beginning a long virtuosic passage, but he magnificently improvised his own display for which Jaques-Dalcroze received great, but undeserved, praise.32 Besides his virtuosic accomplishments Ysaye was a very sympathetic proponent of new composition. He stated, 28Letter from Joseph Szigeti, 14 May 1965. Mozart made the comment in a letter to his father, which included a passage penned by the composer's mother also, 23 and 24 October I 777, from Augsburg. See Emily Anderson, The Letters of Mozan (London, 1938) II, 497. 29E. Jaques-Dalcroze, "Eugene Ysaye quelque notes et souvenirs," Revuemusicale188 0anFev. 1939) 30. 30 Ibid., 33. 31lbid., 31. 32Ibid., 29.

36

MATURING COMPOSER,1892-1908

The works which I had the happiness to reveal constituted for me the esthetic and spiritual nourishment without which I would have remained exclusivelyin my shell as a virtuouso...Franck, Saint Saens, Faur~, Debussy, d'Indy, Dalcrozeand others were for me guidesand teachers without, perhaps, their suspectingit.33 A direct result of the experience with Ysaye was the composition of the "Violin Concerto in C Minor" which the violinist featured in his concerts. Marteau also played this work with success. Of his playing the concerto at the Beethoven Saal in Berlin, withJaques-Dalcroze conducting, Marteau wrote in Musiqueen Suisse (October, 1901)of the public reaction to the piece. Its success was colossal and justified, something of which the composer could be proud. The press was divided into two camps, as is frequently the case. The most enthusiastic of the critics was Otto Lassman, whose judgment over a thirty-year period of astute criticism was justly admired by Marteau. And among the dissenters he spoke of a curious article by one whose name he chose to "ignore," who commented on the horribly sensual quality of the finale. Karl Storck, still the romanticist, regretted that the work was called simply a concerto. He found it more like a symphonic poem for violin and orchestra, more like Berlioz's Haroldin Italy, with the program left to the fantasy of the listener. He projected it as the "Life of an Artist": 1stmovement: agitationsof the worldwhich preoccupythe soul of the artist until love comes to dominate the soul. 2d movement: the soul is riper, richer with ideas, it sees outside of life, bu~ the artist knows his way in life and followsit with energy.34 The Hungarian violinist Steffi Geyer 35 played the Concerto in 1919. Her performance was discussed in the Neue ZuricherZeitung (9 October 1919) as being in the French style, with pathos and happiness, yet occasionally a little brutal. In spite of a finer technical form and a warm, full, temperamental expression, her playing lacked the inspiration and personality of Marteau. Marteau, who left Geneva to serve at the Berlin 33Emest

Christen, Ysaye (Genhe, 1946). Jaques-Dalcroze wrote the preface of this volume. "La Musiqudl Berlin," La Musiqueen Suisse7 (I Dec. 1901) 79. Storck quotes from his article in DeutscheZeirung16 Oct. 1901. 35Steffi Geyer (1888-1956) was a pupil of Hubay. Bart6k composed his Second Violin Concerto at her request, but the work was dedicated to Zoltan Szekely who gave its first performance in 1939. Bart6k was madly in love with Steffi and when she broke off the affair in 1909, it shattered his life to the extent that he even contemplated suicide. Later Miss Geyer married the Swiss musician Walter Schulthess. See Hamish Milne, Bart6k his Ufe and Times (Tumbridge Wells, 1982). 34Karl Storck,

37

RHYTHMAND LIFE

Konigliche Hochschule from 1908 to 1915,succeeding the great Joseph Joachim ( 1831-1907),was still remembered for his renditions of the concerto. Miss Geyer may have been the last to play the work in its complete version until it was done by Ruggiero Ricci with the Orchestre de la Suisse romande under the baton of Ernest Ansermet, as a tribute to its composer in the centennial celebration of 1965.Joseph Szigeti considered programming the concerto; however, he never managed to perform it. He recalled Jaques-Dalcroze coming to his apartment in Geneva in 1917, ringing his doorbell before 8 o'clock in the morning, with eight manuscripts in hand, begging that he give public performances of the works.36 When a new collection of his Chansons romandesappeared in December, 1901,it recalled the earlier collection and attracted warm comments from a number of writers, locally as well as in Paris. Colonel Edouard Secretan who at a later date became director of the Gazette de Lausanne now wrote an article on Jaques-Dalcroze, calling attention to the area's own poet-musician as a man of the land who loved his country and the people with whom God put him to live.37Edouard Combe attested to the genuine quality of the songs of the Alps: no artificial gaiety, no made up rustic dance qualities, but a certain depth without sadness, serenity without frivolity, qualities which make up the mountaineer character, which Dalcroze caught so sincerely.38 The chansons were especially popular in France and in Germany. Translations had been made into other languages, including an African tongue. Professor Eugene Pittard, visiting a national education center in Asia Minor, heard Dalcroze's songs sung in Turkish. "This proves," he said, "that the children of our grandchildren may forget his name, but not his songs. "39 Even as Jaques-Dalcroze's notoriety spread abroad so did his popularity increase at home. Thus, with confidence in the local musician and with memories of the notable Jeu du feuillu still alive, the people of his area entrusted him with the writing of a festival, which subsequently became the most successful work of his career, the Festivalvaudoisof 1903. The Yaud festival of 1901, organized hy Eugene Couvreau, was presented on 4 July at Vevey. It was planned on a modest basis and consisted of orchestral works of Justin Bischoff, Edouard Combe, Gustave Doret,

36Szigeti letter,

loc. cit. Secr~tan, "Poete nationale," La SemaineLlttfraire 10 (18 Jan. 1902) 148. 38Eduoard Combe, "Chansons de l'Alpe," Gazettede Lzusanne (14 Aug. 1902). 39Eugene Pittard, untitled article, RadioActualitis 52 (s.d.) 1640. 37Eduoard

38

MATURING COMPOSER,1892-1908

Alexandre Denereaz, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, Pierre Maurice and Henri Plumhof, and was performed by the orchestra of Mulhouse under various conductors. It was regretted that an orchestra had to be imported from France, but since the Swiss towns fostered bands and wind players, they lacked string players for orchestras. 10 In 1902 Gustave Doret was summoned from Paris to prepare the

Festivalvaudoisfor the celebration of the next year. The poet Henry Wamery had already been charged to do the project. He prepared the work for an ordinary closed theatre, however, when the promotion committee decided to do an open-air project his work was considered unsuitable. Immediately another committee was formed which, on 15February 1902, commissioned the poem and music from Jaques-Dalcroze without the least regard for Wamery's new work, Le Peuplevaudois.Doret wrote the score anyway, and he enjoyed eighteen performances of Le Peuplevaudois before packed houses. Wamery, on the other hand, was woefully disappointed, his health failed, and he died in the spring before any of these performances took place. 41 The saga of Swiss festivals is not widely known. The country's history began in 1291 with the confederation of three cantons, Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwald. The remainder of its twenty-three cantons joined the confederation over time, the last ones being Geneva, Valais and Neuchatel, in 1815, making twenty-two. The Canton of Bern, divided almost equally between a French and German speaking population, after generations of controversy, split into two cantons in 1974; further recent divisions have brought the total to twenty-six. The country is small and, although well united politically, has no complete cultural affinity.The country has three officiallanguages, German, French, and Italian, recognized by the Constitution of 1874, and an additional fourth language, Romansh, spoken in the inner Alpine regions, and recognized in 1938. Swisscharacteristics are best defined by the language of the major countries they represent and which the speaking zones border. Thus, in the French-speaking area lifeis more aligned with French habits than any other quality that could be called Swiss.This is true only to a slightlylesser degree in the German-speaking zone where, in actuality, any cultural association with Germany is spiritedly denied by the chauvinistic Swissnatives. Within the limitations oflanguage the Swissare fiercelypatriotic. They have grown up under prosperous conditions-namely a system of small business establishments, as well as a number of large

Musiqueen Suisse 1 (Sept. 1901) 14. Doret, Temps et contretemps (Fribourg, 1942) 128£. Dalcroze's commission was announced in La Musiqueen Suisse (15 Feb. 1902). 10La

41Gustave

39

RHYTHM AND LIFE international complexes in industry, banking,and insurance. Even so, the people have learned to live and to think in small realms.Their ideas of political neutrality-actually isolationism-tends to enhance this quality. In general, the Swissdo not emerge as important world figures;with fewexceptions, they tend to range in importance only within their own borders. Together with the Swiss love for dramatic display is their historic love for singing. It is the singing of a happy people, with unanimous sentiment in group singing. This feeling is spontaneous, and it incites from heart to heart. The most popular theme involved in group singing is their love of country. 42 The people are attracted geographically. The air of mountain mystery is essentially Germanic; the French have mountains too, but the people are not drawn together to sing. Thus they are monodists or soloists; in a group they sing in unison. The Swiss, however, sing in harmony. Choralism is in their blood. 43 Performances in large numbers, with thick textures and much volume, became more important than the quality of the piece sung. Zurich, in 1843, held a huge choral festival. In 1870 Neuchatel staged one. The Mdnnerchor (male choir) became an institution of German Switzerland. Jean Bernard Kaupert (1786-1863), a German pastor, farmer, and musician, came to Vaud in 1911 and established a large chorus at Tolochenaz. In 1833, he went to Geneva where he organized a chorus of 4000 persons that gave a concert in the open air at Plainpalais. Johannes Niederer and Johann Georg Tobler, disciples of Pestalozzi, formed a choral society in Geneva, the Societe du Griitli, which later became more important as a political discussion group. Branches were formed all over the world. They operated until 1925, at which time they were absorbed by the Socialist Party, therefore having no further need to exist by themselves. Other important choruses were established by Hugo de Senger in Geneva, Gustave-Adolphe Koella in Lausanne, and by Henri Plumhof in Vevey. The romand, however, is actually a monodist like his French ancestor. For him, folklore in parts was created by Gustave Doret, the Abbe Joseph Bovet and, of course, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. The Swiss spirit of togetherness resulted in the forming of patriotic societies which emerged during the 1830s: shooters, gymnasts, students, the Zofingue Society, 44 and so on. Singing societies came along only after the patriotic societies. Various areas Troyon, "Avant propos,• Paul Budry, La Suissequi chance(Lausanne, 1932) 3-8. Budry, "Le Chant et le peuple,• idem., 9-11. 44Zofingia was a Swiss student literary society founded in Zofingen in 1819. See Schweizer Lexikon (Zurich, 1945) VII, 1614. 42Charles 43Paul

40

MATURING COMPOSER,1892-1908

developed their own type of songs, e.g., the farmers songs from Appenzellchanscmsde house(literally ox or cow dung). From Valais came the traditional songs of Doret, such as Allonsramasserlesepislaisses(Let us go gather the left-over com), Bovet's La-hautsur lemontagnel'etaitun vietu:chalet(Up there on the mountain there was an old chalet), and from Jaques-Dalcroze a fun song of sorts, Le coeurde ma mie (The heart of my loved one). The original primitive song is the jodel, reported as early as the fourth century by Emperor Julian the Apostate, who heard barbaric songs which resembled the singing of birds. The cries of the yodlers, also known as Lobe, Dreckler,Loch!,Kubereibenand Schnetzler,emit the pure exuberance and exaltation which possess one in the thin air of high altitudes, the air which literally tears a whoop from the throat-the vocalization of dizziness. Before the Reformation a mystery play was performed in the area which praised the "red wine of Valais." Players and plays came to the little country from other parts of Europe-from France, Italy, Germany, even from Hungary. In the 16th century the vine growers in Switzerland formed an association. They had inspections, and every three years they awarded prizes. Accompanying the distribution of the prizes was a cortege which they called the Bravade.By the 18th century the citizens of Neuchatel, Canton of Vaud, showed a definite preference for the performances of amateurs rather than the work of professionals. It was more on their own level-the kind of thing they enjoyed and could do themselves. It was a type of freedom that they understood and practiced in their daily living. The free exercise of imagination led to a vital expression iri the form of festivals devoted to some aspect of daily life. Love of their country and of their liberty sparked so many of their spectacular entertainments that Rousseau said, "Plant in the middle of a place [public square] a peg crowned with flowers, then assemble the people and you will have a festival. Better than that: give the viewers a spectacle." The festival, Festspiel, became a big event in the lives of the people of the country. They frequently featured parades or processions, acrobatics and shooting contests. The plays at Coppet, Ouchy, Geneva and Unspannen, near Interlaken, inspired the painters August Baud-Bovy (father of Daniel, Jaques-Dalcroze's librettist), Charles Giron, and Ferdinand Hodler, who featured these exploits in their paintings. Pestalozzi, in his expression of freedom as an educational reformer, wrote, "For my part, destroy all the theatres which have stages and create for me popular festivals under the open sky." He loved to organize festivals among his students and to see the joy which accompanied the execution of original scenes.

41

RHITHM AND LIFE

By 1706 different procedures were used, including a banquet of the vignerons(wine growers) at Vevey. In 1730 Bacchus figures were introduced into the cortege, and in 1747 they added Ceres, the Goddess of the Harvest, which normally was played by a young man. The first time the part was played by a woman was in 1762. Eleven years later four men, representing vigneronspreceded the cortege. This was the first demonstration of the future practice of representing various groupings by occupations. In 1778 Bacchus was followed by Silenus, God of Sleep, who was mounted on an ass. Noah's ark was also mounted on a platform and was drawn by hand. The cortege stopped at various places to present popular dances. Later the seasons were represented in the cortege. In time the dances and certain popular songs, such as Ranz des vachesand the Valseof Lauterbach, became traditional. 45 In 1851 a new procedure was established. A single composer, this time Frarn;ois-Gabriel Grast (originally Gras), wrote the music, as he did again in 1865 at Vevey, with a triumphal march and with Switzerland symbolized at the head of the procession. Then followed three allegorical processions, each entering from a single area. When all were in place, three soloists, the priests of Bacchus, Ceres, and Pales, were introduced. After the crowning of the first vigneronthe four seasons filed through; in succeeding presentations the order of the seasons varied. Each group had its own allegorical chariot with a divinity upon a throne, and each divinity had its own priest or priestess. Other than Grast, only two musicians had composed for major festivals: Hugo de Senger in 1889 and Abbe Joseph Bovet in 1905 and 1927. These festivals had thousands performing and audiences of 10,000 or more. Except for specially composed festivals it was usual to adapt the spectacle to some existing music. The first patriotic festival began as a cantata in 1869, the cantata on the theme of Sempach by Gustave Arwold- Siegsfierder Freiheit,subtitled the WinkelreidKantata. It was performed in Lucerne in 1873 with nine numbers for male chorus, soloists and orchestra. It was again presented in Lucerne in 1886 for the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Sempach. In 1891 the city of Bern feted the seventh centenary of its founding with the Grundsfierder Stadt Bern, 1191-1891, a dramatic Festspielin six groupings. In this presentation each group was costumed and recalled a particular historical event, with animated dialogue and music, composed by Carl Munzinger. In Geneva the long history of international existence 45Edouard

Combe, "Le Festspiel," Budry, op. cit., 198.

42

MATURING COMPOSER, 1892-1908

tended to preclude the development of native style up through the 19th century. This is also true of the other romandcantons. Then along came Jaques-Dalcroze who, by his intense activity, revived the folklore of his area and established a spirit in music comparable to the efforts of Hans Georg Nageli, the leading musician of Zurich and the founder of the Singing Society of that city. With a real pedagogical instinct, Jaques-Dalcroze composed at first for children, but adults took equal pleasure from his songs. The Chansons romandesand the Rondes are authentic products of the romand territory and gave it a high mark of culture which until then had, for the most part, to do with translations and foreign songs.46 The next step in the evolution of the Swiss Festspielwas in Swiss Romand in 1896. The Poeme alpestreof Daniel Baud-Bovy and Emile Jaques-Dalcroze presented a new fusion in the art. They used singing almost exclusively, supressing the spoken dialogue. For the first time the spectacle was given in a closed and covered locale, with curtain, stage, and large area for chorus and orchestra. The chorus was everywhere: before the stage, on it, and behind it; divided into groups of costumed singers. The whole spectacle was music and dance. The only professionals in the performance, besides the orchestra, were a tenor and a soprano, while the remaining performers consisted of the "people." Act One was pure fantasy. Act Two passed in review all forms of the nation's activity-a kind of national exposition. In the history of the Swiss Festspiel,1896 is the decisive date, for the Neuchatel Suisse was an inferior performance.47 In 1903, the centennial year of the entrance of the Canton of Vaud into the Swiss Conferation, a great celebration was in store. On 14 April, Wamery's historic play with music by Doret was performed at the Lausanne Theatre. But in July, at the Place de Beaulieu, a greater event took placethe famous Festivalvaudois,in which Jaques-Dalcroze served as poet and composer, stage director and conductor. It was a spectacle of grand proportions, and it attracted huge crowds. At age thirty-eight Jaques-Dalcroze was at the height of his career; well known nationally as a composer of intimate songs beloved by the people. They could hardly have called upon anyone else to produce their spectacle, for Jaques-Dalcroze had merely to allow his heart to speak. More than 2500 actors, singers, and participants were called upon from all sections of the canton to display, in five acts, the history of their country.

46Karl

Nef, "Le Chant choral du mayen age 1lnos jours," idem., 175. in Budry, idem., 212.

47Combe,

43

RHITHM AND LIFE

Over a pericxl of six months each act was prepared by a group of districts. Teachers and choral directors worked feverishly for the entire pericxl under the direct supervision of Jaques-Dalcroze. On 3 July they all assembled in Lausanne, together for the first time, under the supervision of a professional stage manager, Firmin Gemier, director of the Theatre de l'Odeon in Paris. In twenty-four hours he gained control of the movements of all 2500 persons and the first of three performances came off the following day without a hitch. (At the rehearsal, however, the scenery of the church of Moudon fell over, but it was quickly repaired.) On Place de Beaulieu a monumental scene had been assembled, facing a graded platform seating over 13,000 persons and with room for 5000 to 6000 standing spectators. The stage had an area of 600 square meters, framed by pylons which were as tall as the churches. The admission charge was from two to twenty francs for the seats. Standing room was available for one franc, the same cost as a bottle of festival wine. Act One, The Vine, features a pagan ceremony at the foot of the slope of Lavaux, a bare and desolate scene. A cortege of workers and priests is intrcxiuced, followed by a procession of women and girls. All ask God to save them from drought and ruin. The apparition, "La Vigne," appears and sings an effective solo. Act Two, Moudon, 1368 (date of the truce in which the Hapsburgs acknowledged the admission of Zug to the Swiss League), the Green Count and his gocxl city of Moudon enter to the solemn Marchevaudois.They are accompanied by a glistening entrance in rich costume and armor. They enact the renewal of the franchise between the Chancellor of Savoie and the Bishop of Lausanne. The scene of the Court of Love is presented with Paul Boepple, Sr. singing the role of the clown. The girls of Moudon perform the Dance of the Biberli. The act closes with the beloved PatrioticPrayer. Act Three, Lausanne, 1556, opens with the BerneseMarch. Presently the]eu du Feuillu unfolds with the king and queen of May, preceding a scene

of students' merry making, of the belaboring of the watch, and the joyous wine. A ravishing ballet follows, then the moving cortege of the old men. Pierre Viret, who brought Protestantism into Yaud from France, quiets the rebellious students. A muted variation on the Marchebemoisends the act. Act Four, Rolle and the Blue Leman, 15July 1791.Enter the Bouebes. The stir of the French Revolution gives to the Vaudois the will for independence. For the shooting festival and other manifestations of freedom come shooters from Morges, Lausanne, and Aubonne, then the riflemen of Nyon who enter the scene on a raft by way of the lake, to which the back

44

MATURING COMPOSER,1892-1908

of the stage opens. A delicate barcarolle is sung. A toast by Amedee is sung and then the riflemen ofJoux arrive carrying a wolf suspended from a JX)le, humming La Carmagnole.There is a brilliant close with bands playing the

Marchevaudois. Act Five, The Alps, more specificallySwiss than Vaudois, gave JaquesDalcroze scope for richness in the domain of fantasy and rhythm. There are songs of the flowers and fruits of the Alps, a ballet of mountain dwarfs, and native love songs of the shepherds. A marvelous succession of dances rises to a finale with all participants on the stage in front of the scene. On the mountain appears Helvetie. People sing the CantiqueSuisse,taken from the Poemealpestre,among moments of true splendor. Jaques-Dalcroze brought in ninety professional musicians from a German military band, and two other bands-theJurassiennes from Sentier, and the Harmonie Lausannoise-served as stage musicians for the acts of Moudon and Rolle. A great success was the staged choral part, sung by the 350-voice Choeurvaudois,and also the singing oflarge groups of children. No one could make children sing as could Jaques-Dalcroze. After the first performance the participants formed a merry parade through the city. During the third performance a storm broke out, forcing the public to run to the canteens for shelter. However, Jaques-Dalcroze, undaunted in his dripping, white linen suit, continued at his conductor's JX)St.Luckily, the storm soon blew over and the last two acts revealed an enchanting spectacle, never to be replicated. The actors and other figures, recruited from the entire canton, achieved such a comprehension of the art-of artistic feeling-that the Vaudois people showed in this spectacle a new and unexpected spirit; a spirit that has been long sustained. In 1961 many fragments of the performance done by their great-grandfathers continued to be JX)pular and remained in the local singers' repertory. In that same year a presentation was given on the radio three times in one day. Among the pieces played were those which were used in the national school song books;Let Us Plant the Vine, Marchof the GreenCount, Songof Queen Bertha,and a dozen more. Such a glorious, artistic triumph has not been seen in the Vaud since that memorable production. A year later, still glowing from the success of the Festivalvaudois, Jaques-Dalcroze attended a symJX)siumof Swiss comJX)sersheld in Berne on 25-26 June. He SJX)keon the question of a Swiss national art, emphasizing that "Swiss musical art in the proper sense of the word can only arise when comJX)serswork out a style tying together, mixing and joining, the

45

RHITHM AND LIFE

technique and inner expressions of the German and French schools stemming from Swiss folk music or from themes grown out of it." He mentioned that Joseph Lauber and Otto Barbian came close to attaining some vestige of a national style, and he stressed the need for native composers to hear more of each others' works in order to draw together and to unify styles, thus more quickly approaching a national art. 48 Meanwhile, Jaques-Dalcroze's songs were enjoying continued success. One group of songs had their 500th public performance in Basle under the direction of Paul Boepple. He was experiencing artistic accomplishments as well as ample financial renumeration, while he was intensifying his work with rythmique.At the conservatory he had enlarged his experiments with his classes and had asked that regular classes be instituted in the curriculum to test his new ideas. Although his principles were not entirely popular with the staff, consent was granted and officially recognized courses in rythmique were begun. On 21 October 1906, the Gazettede Lausannereported that Dalcroze had departed for Berlin to attend the debut of his opera Le BonhommeJadis. This was rather a disappointment for the composer, as the debut of this work had been scheduled for Paris but was delayed due to illness of the singers portraying the leading roles-Mme. Mathieu-Lutz and the talented baritone Fugere. Also on the Berlin bill, with Dalcroze's work, was Doret's two act opera, LesArmaillis. The Paris presentation of Le BonhommeJadis,took place at the Opera Comique on 9 November under the direction of Albert Carre. The Doret piece was also given, and a third work, a one act opera of Saint-Saens, PrincesseJaune, completed the bill. On the day following the performance the Paris newspapers had much to say for the works of the two Swiss composers, but little comment for the Saint-Saens opera. Alfred Bruneau wrote in Le Matin: Le Bonhomme Janis is full of heart, has a rare frankess, an irreducible loyalty.

It says neatly and deliciously what it wants to say. It adapts itself to the text (subject of Henri Murger) with ease and with an extraordinary agility. It is rightly and spiritually in the key of comedy and does not seek to rise above it or to puff itself up. It is discreet without timidity, gay without tumult, modulating without pedantry, melancholy without darkness, rich without ostentation. 49 48Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, 49Alfred Bruneau in

Das filnfte schweizerische Tonkunsiler-Fest(Bern, 1904) 29.

Le Matin ( 10 Nov. 1906).

46

MATURING COMPOSER,1892-1908

He also compared Dalcroze with Doret as an "active and devoted propagandist for our young composers." Jean d'Udine in the Gazettede Lausanneand Paul Londay in L'Elairalso had praise for the Dalcroze work. Writing in Gaulois,Jean-Louis Fourcaud indicated that he knew Dalcroze from his StringQuartet and from the ViolinConcerto.Of the opera he said: I regret that they allowed to be performed for the first time at the O~ra-Comique the most outdated play and the least tuneful in the world. Assuredly, even attached to such miserable vaudeville, his score is of a brightness to interest us. It shows a musician gifted for the theatre. But why did he not pick a story befitting his qualities? Imagine a beautiful dress on an absurd model. The model spoils the dress.

The very astute Willy, in Echode Paris,said that the opera "has verve, very correct musical sense of humor, constant joviality in the orchestra, and ironic instrumental swiftness. The dialogues are old fashioned and savoury. The bassoon rails the inflections of the Bonhomme while the clarinet comically plays the ends of the phrases. The whole orchestra gives forth bursts oflaughter making an infinitely light and pretty show." Gabriel Faure, in Le Figaro,reiterated Fourcaud's remarks by saying that it was a miracle that Jaques-Dalcroze could dress the poor qualities of the work with music that was always interesting, spiritual, moving, often inspired, and full of rhythmic feeling and orchestral activity. Unlike Fourcaud, another writer, in Le Figaro,who signed himself "Monsieur de 1'Orchestre," said, "I do not know the musician, M. Jaques-Dalcroze, but I would be quite astonished if he did not have also spirit to the end of his fingers He found a way to make us laugh at the burst of the bassoon or oboe. ,:i Performances of a major work in Berlin and in Paris, almost at the same time, are a great boost to the career of any composer. It should have signaled a rise in fame-the opportunity that occurs only rarely in a composer's career. In Paris during the period of rehearsal, there was much interest in the opera, and M. Carre gave assurance that this was the composer's step to certain fame. As it turned out, however, Jaques-Dalcroze continued to devote attention to his other interests as well as to composition, and this certainly must have limited his powers and progress as a composer.

Additional commentary appeared in other journals: Georges Gaulis and Ca tulle Mend~ in Journalde Geneve, Edouard Terradin and Adolphe Jullien in Journaldes Debars,Albert Dayralles in Annales Politiqueet Uttiraire, Pierre Lalo in Le Temps, and Jean d'Udine in La Suisse.Jean d'Udine, pen name of Albert Cozenet, became a devoted follower of rythmique. ,:i

47

Gustave Doret, Romande composer

MATURING COMPOSER,1892-1908

The scheduling of works by three composers on one program gave rise to some comparison, as was inevitable. Saint-Saens was already an established figure; Princess]aune,on a text by Louis Galet, was his first opera and was first performed at the Opera-Comique on 12 June 1872. The fact that his work proved to be of minor significance removed him from controversy. But the two Swiss musicians became protagonists. Doret and Dalcroze both came from the Canton ofVaud. At the time of the dual productions, they were forty and forty-one years old respectively-both in the prime oflife. Their reputations as composers in the national spirit were nearly equal. Doret's Fete des Vigneronsof 1905 paralleled Dalcroze's Festivalvaudoisof 1903. Whereas Les Armailliswas Doret's next significant dramatic work after 1905, Dalcroze had produced numerous compositions in this genre. Dalcroze was now teaching at the Conservatory of Geneva and was establishing a system of music teaching that was to become of major importance. Doret was in Paris conducting the concerts of the Societe Nationale, was first conductor at the Opera-Comique, and was in demand as a guest conductor throughout Europe. Doret was the better known musician in France, while they shared similar popularity in Switzerland. Doret's significance in the history of music in Geneva is indirect, whereas Jaques-Dalcroze figured heavily as a local composer. 51 Emile Huguet, Director of the Theatre de Geneve produced Le Bonhomme Jadis four times in the 1907-08 season; however, he gave Les Armaillis twenty-seven times, and Doret's Nain de Haslifourteen times. LesArmaillis received its 100th performance in Geneva on 9 March 1916.52 The two composers crossed paths several times, including an occasion in 1904 when the citizens ofMezieres decided not to produce Jaques-Dalcroze's new opera L'Eau Courante,possibly because of their having done La Dfmeof Doret and Morax the year before and not wishing to bring the works of these two men so close together. The double production in Paris highlighted a situation that had been seething for some time. Comparisons were inevitable. The battle of the Dorettistes vs. the Jaquistes prevailed; not as colorful as the Brahms-Wagner controversy, nor so significant as the Guerre des Bouffons, but vocal enough to bring anguish to Emile. During this same period ( 1903-07) an exchange of letters between Jaques-Dalcroze and the Swiss novelist Edouard Rod took place. The two men were collaborating on the writing of

Choisy, La Musiquea Geneveau xzxn• Siecle (Geneve, 1914) 52. Dupfoer, GuscaveDoret (Lausanne, 1932) 79.

51Frank 52Jean

49

RHYTHMAND LIFE Jaques-Dalcroze's opera based on Rod's novel, L'Eau Courante.Through the letters we learn that Dalcroze did not seem to mind the critics' opinions regarding the comparative values of the two Swiss composers. Yet when he was accused of contributing to the opposition to Doret through the writings of some friendly critic, he raised objections. He wrote: There are some who think I am an accomplice to the letter of Uean d'] Udine. I cannot even speak of the stupidity of such a supposition. If Udine were consulted by anyone of my enemies he would tell them that he is known for his sincerity, that he criticized my Kermesse, played at Lamoureux, and that he was not in the habit of dictating his articles. They hurt me also with the article of Willy. I have not read him nor have I corresponded with him for four years. Then to beseech him not to let go his personal animosity and to recognize the beauties of Sept Parolesof Doret which he was coming to hear in Geneva [is unthinkable]. If the criticism of Doret by Udine condemns me, should one admit then that the violent articles of criticism of my Festivalvaudoiswas inspired by Doret? I do not think any of my friends would make such a suspicion, and meanwhile, Doret, being responsible for the criticism in the MondeMusicale,was replaced by his friend Feyles, who did not trouble himself to crush my work. I have never answered any criticism and I have never made a campaign against Doret. The proof of this is that until now Doret has never received a bad press in Suisseromande,meanwhile, I do have journalistic friends. It would have been easy to make an intrigue if I had wanted to do so. These accusations wound me deeply. I would like them to accuse me publicly and I would then demand an inquest. I telegraphed Doret (then wrote) after reading the Gazette that I was disposed to return immediately to Paris for an interview. No answer! It seems to me quite fair that one hears the accused before condemning him! What should be done? From where comes this hatred? What is the motive, or example, of the antipathy of M. Bonnard against me, since I hardly know him, and he must know the great admiration I have for his articles? What are the motives of hate of Doret's friends against me? I assure you that the Jaquistes (if there are any) have never made a campaign against these adversaries. There must be some driving force which calumniates me in a cowardly way and attributes to me a character which was never mine. It is really very painful, dear friend, to feel that from here and there, at Paris as at Lausanne, there are people, whom I esteem, who do not value me on the faith of absurd gossip. I count on you to establish the truth when you will have the occasion. 53

Knowing Dalcroze's nature one could sense the hurt he felt in such a development. Being kind by disposition and naive in the ways of personal agandizement through publicity, as he admitted, one can readily understand 53Pierre Meylan, Jean-Samuel Curtet

eds., Feuillesmusicales,special number (May-June,

1960) 108f.

so

MATURING COMPOSER,1892-1908

his position and the unfairness of the situation. To further complicate matters, it is known that Doret welcomed the chance for Le BonhommeJadis to be on the program with his Amiaillis, feeling that it would dispel the public's idea of enmity between the two musicians. Frequently he referred to Dalcroze as "mon collegue et camarade suisse," and he often praised his work. 54 Years later, in 1920, when Doret was invited for the second time to conduct the Augusteo Orchestra in Rome, he played an all-Swiss program which included a work by Jaques-Dalcroze. 55 The Rod-Dalcroze opera, L'Eau courante,was finally performed in 1907, but only after much difficulty. The novel had been published in 1902. Their letters show that much thought and hard work had been done prior to 1903. The interest in publication was due to local concern since Rod was a native ofNyon, where the action of his novel takes place. In a forward to the publication, Alfred Michaud, a municipal magistrate ofNyon, explained that the opera was scheduled to be performed in that city in 1903 and that now was the time for instructing the people of its musical past, with the hope that interest would be aroused for another staging in the theatre or on the radio. By this time, it was acknowledged, people were no longer reading Rod's works but the songs of Jaques-Dalcroze were being sung and would continue to be sung, even in the next century.

L'Eau Courante tells a country tale (probably based on fact), which took place in a village called Ravinel, which may actually have been Givrins, where Rod lived much of the time not spent in Paris. Other towns with fictitious names can also be identified: Nyon (Bielle), Saint-Cergue (Palaiseau), T relex (Brenex). The Bertigny family owns a sawmill on the edge of a stream of which they also own the source. Louis Bertigny, the father, married Marguerite Vionnay, the daughter of a vine grower. They have three sons and a daughter: Louis-Auguste, intelligent and thoughtful; Salomon, a good worker, but violent and careless; Etienne, still young when the story begins; and Henriette, pretty and pensive. Further along the river is the mill of the Chantenilles, an old family feuding with the Bertignys. The father, Alexander Chantenille, is a patriarchal figure-honest and a good worker. His wife Catherine, a good Christian, is modest and dull. Their son Ami is a shifty, restless, conniving sort; in Justine he found a wife of his own kind. Starting with a heavy mortgage on his property, the affairs ofBretigny go from bad to worse after the death of his wife, while the fortunes of the 54Doret,

op. cit., 141 op. cit., 76.

55Duperier,

51

RHITHM AND LIFE

Chantenilles continue to grow. Exasperated, the violent son, Salomon, decides to divert the water from its source in order to obstruct his enemies. There is a trial. In spite of the efforts to make a conciliation the case goes to court where the Bertignys are ordered to pay a heavy indemnity. Since they are near bankruptcy they have to leave their property, which Ami Chantenille, now head of the family since the death of the father, acquires. But on the day they leave the mill, Bertigny in an act of desperate madness sets fire to the house and drowns himself in the neighboring swamp. To make a musical adaptation of Rod's novel was most likely JaquesDalcroze's idea. At the beginning of the correspondence there is much discussion between the writer and the composer on the subject of construction of the work. Dalcroze's suggestions are numerous and often pertinent. As much as he felt it necessary, Rod fended them off courteously. The final outcome, however, is more what Jaques-Dalcroze wished. First they agreed upon divisions of the piece into a prologue and five acts. Later changes were adapted to allow for more or less activity in various scenes. The opera was hardly completed when the two collaborators already thought of producing it. Although the staging did not transpire until it was done in Lausanne in 1907, they had plans for productions in the Swiss towns of Cossonay, Parroy, Nyon, Morges, Mezieres,and even in Paris. The project went furthest at Nyon for, on 10 November 1903, a society was formed to organize the spectacle. To assume the expenses, they issued shares costing twenty francs each. The head of the committee was Louis Bonnard, Mayor ofNyon. The city architect, Louis Dorier, planned a theatre seating 2000 persons. An announcement in the Gazettede Lausanneon 20 January 1904 stated that five performances would be given on a budget of 30,000 francs, but, due to the committee's incomprehension, difficulties arose very early in the proceedings. A part of the population of the city of Nyon was hostile to the undertaking because it showed the community under adverse conditions. One Samuel Brignon announced in the 15 January 1904 edition of the Journalde Nyon that he was withdrawing his subscription and giving the money to charity. On 29 February the project was discontinued; Rod withdrew his manuscripts and was given freedom to produce the work elsewhere. A presentation at Mezieres was intended, but that city, too, decided not to proceed with L'Eau Courante.Having given La Dfmethe previous year they may have had multiple misgivings.They may not have wished to do another major work wherein local participants were so involved, or felt that they needed a longer period to recover from their previous efforts; they also may

52

MATURING COMPOSER,1892-1908

have developed the same distaste for the subject matter as did their neighbors. In spite of all these struggles, on 4 February 1907, Muse, a dramatic society in Lausanne, actually staged the opera. They too had difficulties. The staging was done by Marcel Neuillet, with Jaques-Dalcroze and Emile Birnbaum as conductors. Solo parts were taken by M. and Mme. Charles Troyan, who had frequently performed music by Jaques-Dalcroze, and the mixed chorus and symphony orchestra of Lausanne participated. Unfortunately, it was doomed. The actors were lacking in skill and the musicians were insufficiently rehearsed. "This sombre tragedy made many laugh," a local journalist wrote. The last ofJaques-Dalcroze's major dramatic works of this period was the two-act opera LesJumeauxde Bergame,with a text by Maurice Lena, based on a play by the famous eighteenth-century French fabulist, JeanPierre Claris de Florian. It was played for the first time (1908) at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels, under the direction of Sylvain Dupuis, with Nina Jaques-Dalcroze in the role of Rosette. This work, differing from Sancho, stressed lightness and variety rather than complicated polyphony. Here the music moved through measures of varying meters such as ~ , §•mixed with measures of and ~ exhibiting the rhythmic deftness Stravinsky introduced some five years later. The difficulties incurred in rehearsing the piece were considerable, so much so that the conductor to whom the rehearsals were assigned threw up his baton and refused to conduct this "Satanic" music. 56 Another conductor stepped in and after eight more rehearsals, for the orchestra alone, the work came off. Later, when Edmond Appia recorded the opera with the Orchestre de la Suisse romande, he needed but one rehearsal; the recording session was handled with perfection.

J,

t

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Italian opera, in opposition to the influence of Wagner, subscribed to subjects that represented everyday life and everyday people. This was termed verismo-in English, "realism," or, to use a word coined by Donald Grout, "truthism. "57 Mascagni ushered in the change in 1890 with his startling success CavalleriaRusticana. In the same vein came Leoncavallo's Pagliacci,another very popular opera, of 1902. In between these two gigantic works came Puccini's La Bohemein 1896, and an opera on the same subject by Leoncavallo in 1897, which was

56Brunet-Lecomte, 57Donald

op. cit., 106f. Grout, Historyof WesternMusic (New York, 1972) 659

53

RHYTHM AND LIFE

overshadowed by Puccini's masterpiece. They were based upon Henri Murger's Scenesde la Vie de Boheme,published in serial form from 1847 to 1849. The French counterpart to Italian verismowas termed naturalisme.The idea was introduced in the eighteenth century by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the glory of literary France. What he termed "return to nature" became romanticism at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The leading proponents of naturalism in French literature, in addition to Murger, were Guy de Maupassant, Emile Zola, and Gustave Flaubert. Dalcroze's early affinity to Murger and his personal feelingtowards Zola (which have already been mentioned), precluded his entrance into the main stream of operatic style. By nature of its libretto, the first naturalistic French opera would be Bizet's Carmen, produced at the Opera Comique in 1875, but the work normally identified with the French parallel to Italian verismo is Charpentier's Louise of 1900. The operas of Jaques-Dalcroze- Janie, Le BonhommeJadis,and L'Eau Courante-fall into the new popular category. The later Jumeaux de Bergamefollowed a more classical genre and was written in 1908, by which time the trend had already run its course. Thus Dalcroze's specificallySwiss folk ideal coincided with the existing trends in both French and Italian opera styles.

54

CHAPTERIII

Rythmique: Experimentation, 1893-1906 The materials which Jaques-Dalcroze had developed from the beginning of his tenure as Professor of Solfege were first published in 1894. The publication of the complete "method" in five parts, in 1906, went much farther towards accomplishing the aim of every instructor in the musical world: that of improving musicianship. Yet something was still lacking. Qualities of musicianship--sensitivity and expression-were yet beyond the grasp of most of the students. Were these imprecise characteristics entirely outside the realm of the classroom and the student-teacher relationship? Was it true that a student, born without these powers would forever find them elusive? Could some educational process be devised to alter this course? The question of musicianship arose in two ways: the failure to perform with understanding and sensitivity, and the lack of feeling for the music to which students were listening. Dalcroze felt that he had hit upon at least a portion of the solution. He observed, ... the musical progress of a certain number of pupils, whose ear developed at normal speed, appeared to me to be retarded by an incapacity to estimate with any exactitude variations of time and rhythmic groupings. The mind perceived the variations, but the vocal apparatus was unable to give effect to them. I came to the conclusion that the motive and dynamic element in music depends not only on the hearing, but also on another sense. Presently, however, a study of the reactions produced by piano-playing, in parts of the body other than the hands-movements with the feet, etc.-led me to the discovery that musical sensations of a rhythmic nature call for muscular and nervous response to the whole organism. 1

1Ernile Jaques-Dalcroze,

Rhythm, Music and Education,tr. Harold F. Rubinstein (London,

1921) xiii.

55

RHITHM AND LIFE

\.

In the French solfege system the action of beating the tempo with the hand was well known and widely practiced. By the tum of the century, the use of the feet and other members had not yet been exploited. One pupil had difficulty in beating time with his hand or in tapping rhythms with his fingers; he was considered a-rhythmic. One morning Dalcroze encountered this student as they descended from the tram at Place Neuve, just a short distance from the conservatory. It was raining lightly and, since they were both late for their classes, they started off towards the classroom at a run. Unconsciously the professor changed speed, and immediately the young man fell into the same rhythm with him. After a few deliberate changes of pace and speed, with the student keeping up in syncronous steps, a whole new concept arose in the master's mind. He raised the question of the boy's so-called a-rhythm and concluded that whereas he was unable to demonstrate rhythmic responses by hand motions, he was perfectly capable of doing so by foot. This incident took place in 1903. Years later Emile spoke of it to Paul Boepple, who related it to his son, Paul, Jr., who in 1965 passed it on to this writer as the occurance which was directly responsible for the exploitation of rythmique to its full-blown glory. Jaques-Dalcroze began to organize total body responses to musical rhythms. Toe· exercises began with walking, at first in two- , three- , and four-beat measures. Then came considerations of accent and arrangements of rhythmic figures within the measure, using the arms to delineate other rhythms. On a prearranged signal certain changes in the procedure took place. In succeeding lessons more complicated figures were introduced: new tempos, moods, dynamics, memory exercises. The object was to develop an easy physical response to the music, or to the rhythm of the music, rather than a labored activity fraught with frantic mental calculations. He took the position that the body or the mind could accomplish prodigious feats. Where a particular function could not be performed there was a reason for the lack of effectiveness; something blocked its success. It would be necessary to discover the impediment, to remove it, and thus to allow the body to operate in a normal manner. If the difficulty were a simple physical feat, its solution would be easy. The required physical act need only be practiced until it became manageable. If there were some other inhibition, something, for example, that the mind did not readily understand, then the solution had to be approached from the mental standpoint. Should the difficulty lie in the relationship between the mental concept of the problem and its physical accomplishment, something had to be developed to connect these two stages. Thus the problem centered on the physical means for stimulating the mind, of activating the nervous system to the point where 56

RITHMIQUE: EXPERIMENTATION,1893-1906

it could respond to mental stimuli, of developing physical reflexes so that the muscles would do the will of the mind easily and quickly. The keynote to the process was freedom. Freedom in the positive sense was the opposite of inhibition, the negative sense. In keeping with this idea, freedom in movement was to be maintained by freedom in costume. For _theirlessons the participants changed from ordinary street clothing to blue serge knickers which came to the knee; their arms and feet were bare. Later the girls replaced the knickers with a light, .free-flowingtunic, also reaching to the knee. The boys wore a kind of bathing suit. From some quarters there was objection to the type of clothing worn in the performance of these exercises, especially if the participants were exposed to public view. The subject of stage clothing was discussed frequently in Europe and changes were beginning to take place, even in staid Switzerland. Isadora Duncan, the.,,.Americandancer, had upset the dance world with her new ideas on dance, dress, and other qualities in life, mainly for the expression of freedom. Concepts of the middle ages on nudity were being overcome and beauty unadorned was being accepted in Germany and elsewhere. In camps for sun worshippers the mode was to exercise entirely unencumbered by clothing. In addition to freedom, Jaques-Dalcroze perceived the need for something more in the musical-physical process. He searched for an embodiment that was both aesthetically and artistically logical. Looking into the dancers' world he studied those stances and poses that had flow from one position to another, and those positions of rest which were specifically dynamic. He worked on these problems outside the classroom and brought back ideas that were in need of demonstration or of further experimentation before he could assume them to be valid within themselves. In this occupation he was greatly assisted by a talented, cooperative student. Suzanne Perrottet, ten years old, was studying to become a violinist. The daughter of a prominent Geneva family in the pharmacy business, Suzanne was endowed with unusual beauty and grace in her movements. She served as his principal model as early as 1903. He directed her movements and, from time to time, had her hold a pose while he sketched the body position with special notice of the torso, legs, arms, and head. He experimented with the altering of body members both in movement and at rest, asking Suzy which position, movement or sequence felt most comfortable or most natural. He wanted to know how one could arrive at a particular position from certain previous positions and how ease and economy of movement and physical appearance were related. His sketches were neat and his inquiry thorough.

57

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62

Plate 6. Rythmique, first sketches

63

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64

Plate 8. Rythmique, first sketches

65

RHYTHM AND LIFE

He drew sequences of attitudes, giving them to Suzy to work through at home. After her private sessions, with the problems she presented him with and her reactions, he made decisions or other experiments. Eventually he devised certain fundamental positions and motions according to the varying degrees of force they contained and to their static and dynamic relationships. Body movement was coordinated with rhythmic patterns. Presently logic began to flow from these practices. The more he worked the more he learned about establishing principles and about ideas to be investigated further or to be discarded entirely. Jaques-Dalcroze's interest in freedom-in originality and movement as a vital force-led him to acknowledge the exploits of Isadora Duncan, who was then reaching her artistic height. In the 1 June 1903 issue of La Musique en Suissethere appeared a lengthy discussion of Miss Duncan, which carried over into the following issue, 15 June. The article is unsigned, but it certainly stems from Jaques-Dalcroze's ideas, even though reference to him is in the third person. His notions of body movement related to music and rhythm and, united by aesthetic rules, were remarkably similar to what Duncan's ideals appeared to be. The writer of the article dwells on beauty, freedom, creativity, and the language of the body as manifested in Isadora Duncan's work, as well as commenting negatively on the contemporaneous principles of dance and ballet, principles to which Miss Duncan also did not adhere. In the second half of the article the author practically forgets the lovely Isadora and focuses on the educative qualities of movement, especially when combined with music, and particularly with songs. For some time Jaques-Dalcroze had been attracted to the prospects of widening the scope of his ideas as they applied to general education. He explored the field deeply, finding scientific explanations for his intuitive observations. He delved into the writings of native educators and psychologists as well as those of France and Germany. Edouard Claparede (1873-1940), a Genevan and an important psychologist, helped him immeasurably by leading him to appropriate source readings and by providing the proper terminology for him to express his ideas.2 The idea of education through movement certainly was not the main concern of Isadora Duncan, and it did not originate with Jaques-Dalcroze except as he pursued the notion 2Claparede,

along with Pierre Bovet, founded the InstitutJean-Jacques Rousseau in 1912, the bicentennial year of the great French writer, also born in Geneva. The institute is now administratively incorporated into the University of Geneva. According to Claparede the art of education was first founded by Rousseau on a scientific conceptof the child. He considered Rousseau the Copernicus of pedagogy. See Alfred Berchtold, La Suisseromandeau capdu xx• siecle (Lausanne, 1963) 175.

66

RITHMIQUE: EXPERIMENTATION, 1893-1906

in his own way. But the concept of rhythm as a special force in education, and body movement as a manifestation of rhythm, was definitely one of the great theories he developed over a long period of time. Modem society stresses a "well-rounded" educai:ioh,-but with emphasis on economic problems or various other competitive factions, this ideal is not always attained. The classical Greeks, too, sought a balanced education, the details of which are sketchily known. Plato recommended proportionate attention to physical and mental training. At first, military exercises, of which physical training was an important element, were practiced with great concentration. Later, the Greeks found that education for peace was just as important as training for war. Gymnastics stressed not only physical fitness but exercises in poise and grace. The other side of education consisted of a curriculum that included reading, writing, simple arithmetic, poetry recitation, and music. Music did not consist of the same elements by which we know it today. In fact, the term music, as a noun, did not exist. The Greek word musike, from which the Latin noun musica derived, was an adjective which meant muse-like, or pertaining to the muses. That discipline included the study of poetry and recitation, chanting or singing along with instrumental accompaniment, and acting, dancing, or pantomime. What was known of the relationship of tones, the scientific aspect, belonged to the study of arithmetic. In their poetry the Greeks gave us a codification of rhythms and meters. Since their language was rather exact (i.e., the words were not subject to shading of interpretation), it was the chanting or the quality of recitation that gave the poem its particular artful character, and this was aided by whatever instrumental reinforcement the narrator or the professional accompanist contributed to it. In the pursuit of physical fitness, dancing was an important part of the training, as was wrestling and the use of weapons. In dancing, which represented combat, a descriptive technique was followed: The Spartans cultivated with particular zeal the Cretan form of weapon dance which in Greece was called the pyrrhiche,"[dressed in] red"; they practiced it from the age of five on. All the various meanings expressed in the art appear together in this dance. Outwardly it belongs to the category of the strictly imitative dances: a genuine guarding and fighting distinguished from gymnastic exercise only by artistic movement, rhythm, and musical accompaniment (short, equal, metrical units). It was justly regarded as a real preparation for serious warfare. The complimentary observation was occasionally made that such and such a man owed his military successes to his skill in the weapon dance, and Socrates's famous dictum that the best dancer is also the best warrior is understandable in this connection. The placing of

67

RHYTHM AND LIFE fighting and dancing on the same level, which is characteristic of primitive peoples, prevails absolutely. 3

The interdependence of Greek music, acting, and dance has come down to us through language. The Greek word orkestrameant the "dancing place," or the place where instruments were played to accompany dancing. The English word orchestrahas come to mean the group of instruments, but also the part of the theatre in front of the proscenium. In the ancient Greek theatre that space was used by the chorus. A corresponding semicircular space in the Roman theatre was used for seating important persons. 4 Even though we know so little of the Greek use of movement-gymnastics, exercise-as an educative force, we may surmise that JaquesDalcroze approached it in his organization of body movement as an artistic activity coupled with intellectual discipline. When he had developed his techniques nearly to perfection and these ideas had reached England, about 1912, the professors of classics at Oxford University became very excited about them. They believed that, for the first time in modern society, the ideals of classical Greek education had been recreated. Interest in physical activity was rife at the turn of the century; it was an age of athlecticism. The famous Olympic Games, discontinued for about 1500 years, were reinstituted in Athens in 1896 and four years later were conducted in Paris. Athletic clubs, turning societies, and special systems of physical education became popular. Emphasis on health programs, first noticeable in Germany, quickly spread to other countries. The classical dance enthusiasts, crying for a much needed change in the stultified condition of their art, gathered, with open arms some of the ideas of the American dancer Isadora Duncan. Her Berlin school, opened in 1904, and her tours with children delighted her audiences and had wide international appeal. She fulfilled the marked need for freedom, for a new vitality, for a new creative emphasis. Jaq ues-Dalcroze had a plan for promoting a joint venture with her to illustrate her ideas in conjunction with his; however, nothing came of it. In fact, the two modern exponents of music and movement never met. Would the Dalcroze method have emerged as effectively as it did had it been brought to light in a different age or in a different place? Probably not. Switzerland, with its background of the educational theories of Rousseau and of Pestalozzi, was ever eager for advancement in learning and in the theories oflearning. In Germany, a half century after Froebe!, there was still a tremendous interest in the development of young children. And in Rome, at ap3Curt Sachs,WorlaHistoryof theDance,tr. BessieSchonberg(New York, I937) 237f. Sevemh New CollegiateDictionary (Springfield, 1967) 593.

4 Webster's

68

RITHMIQUE: EXPERIMENTATION,1893-1906

proximately the same time as the appearance of the Dalcroze method as an educational entity, the first Montessori School was established. The practical work of combining music and body movement was begun at the consetvatory, at first within his regular classes, and then with the cooperation of other students. As Dalcroze broadened his scope he tried out his techniques both with adults and with very young children. The more he experimented the more he found need for enlarging the extent of the exercises. He required a larger room, furnished with mirrors, and facilities nearby for changing clothes and for showering. The consetvatory authorities and his colleagues had no quarrel when he inaugurated his ear training method, neither from the standpoint of its theoretical value nor for its integration with that nebulous characteristic, musicianship. But when he began working out the concept of rhythm and body movement as a musical and educative force, trouble was brewing. His request for improved facilities was rejected. The administration referred to his activites as singeries(monkeyshines) and considered them to be outside the realm of responsible music teaching. The people of Geneva, however, in the spirit of their great Swiss educational tradition, continued to give him support and, best of all, they sent him their children so he could continue in his efforts. Undaunted by initial setbacks, he sought space outside the consetvatory to carry out his experiments. He rented a large room at Victoria Hall, not far from the consetvatory, and then, across town, at the Salle de la Reformation and, still later, at the Casino Saint-Pierre. He no longer had the protection or the blessing of the consetvatory; the responsibilities were entirely his own. It did not take long for Dalcroze's theories to become known abroad. Louis Nicole said that he used Dalcroze principles in his teaching in England as early as 1903, and that in 1906 he was teaching rhythmic gymnastics in a girls school on a regular basis, a regimen already known as the Dalcroze system.5 Arthur Sometvell earlier had pointed out the value of rhythmic teaching in music education, stressing the classical Greek parallels to Dalcroze's pedagogical ideals and the need for imagination and beauty in everyday life.6 The approach to musicianship so far discussed was traversed by two educational paths, both novel in their content and application: ear training (solfege) and body movement. And behind these paths was a common source 5Louis

Nicole, "Rhythmical Gymnastics," Proceedings of the MusicalAssociation, 36th Session,

1909-10, 1. 6Arthur

Somervell, "The Basis of the Claim of Music in Education," Proceedings of theMusical

Association,31st Session,1904-5, 149-59.

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for unification: rhythm. In Jaques-Dalcroze's ever-penetrating search for totality he incorporated another musical discipline: improvisation at the keyboard. With his own great powers of improvisation he enabled his pupils to respond to all sorts of musical moods and ideas with considerable ease. Would it not be useful, he asked himself, to permit the pupil, who could give vent to musical expression through movement, to reverse the process, to take the body experience, the sentiment and intellectual organizations, and transfer them to music? Would it not be valuable to learn to transmit inward sensations, made visible by body movement, into audible pictures? With this concept he had come full circle. Another integrated element entered the ideal system. The student gained the ability to lead as well as to follow, and this ideal opened an entirely new dimension to the already broad phase of his teaching. It also provided a means for self-propagation, a way to disseminate the method to ever greater proportions. The heart of the Dalcroze method was to embody the three components within a single entity, each contributing to the other, each reinforcing the other. It was a delicate balance. The students, as well as the instructors, usually found themselves more proficient in one, pa;sibly two, of the techniques and failed to bring the three in balance. Solf'egehad been thought of as a separate discipline and had been pursued as such in most courses in the teaching of music. As a rule, improvisation was not taught at all except for some drill on chord progressions, transpositions, and left-hand accompaniment patterns, all of which had value in piano playing and harmony skill, particularly at the keyboard. Body movement was new and work was concentrated on this aspect. But lack of unity in working with the Dalcroze method invariably resulted in shortcomings. While J aques-Dalcroze was developing his system of study he was forced to use words in order to express his ideas. The problem was that the French language did not offer a vocabulary to suit his needs. To embrace the concept of music and body motion he employed at first the expression gymnastique rythmique,actually a word of his own invention, for the term rythmiqueexisted in French only as an adjective. To complicate matters somewhat we find that the expression rythmique, as Jaques-Dalcroze used it, does not translate cognately into English. To overcome the problem John Harvey of the UniversityofBirmingham initiated the word "eurhythmics." Percy Ingham, who became the director of the first Dalcroze school in London, used the word eurhythmics, implying the good feeling that is associated with the performance of rhythmic activity. He explained that eurhythmics is like being in a centrally-heated English house, and that unless you have been in one you cannot understand what it is.

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The word eurhythmic was first used in 1624 to apply to architecture where, as an adjective, it meant well-proportioned. In 1721 the word was taken over into medical parlance in relation to a well-regulated pulse. A modem dictionary definition (Webster), gives us the word's meaning as harmony between mind and body so as to secure rhythmic motion of the limbs.7 Although the term eurythmics has become ensconced in the English language it still lacks the definite association that the musical-educative practice, which Dalcroze invented, requires. Another unfortunate etymological innovation, especially in the United States, is the use of the term" Dalcroze" to mean the entire Dalcroze system or that portion of it which relates to movement. Such a designation is both incomplete and inaccurate. In the present study, the word rythmique is taken from the French and employed as a bona fide English word (pronounced rithmek, an anglicised pronunciation) to imply the principle which incorporates body movement and music, only one of the elements which comprise the Dalcroze method. If Dalcroze was at a loss to find the exact terminology for the particular process he had in mind, his students were not. They referred, in the perennial wisdom associated with students, to the exercises as lespasJaques Qaques's figures, steps) in the same way they used suite romane, to mean Dalcroze's system of Roman numerals to identify melodic tones and other devices in the solfege system. Rhythmic movement, with emphasis on body expression, opened another dimension in the new practice. It differed from the dance in that it remained closer to musical dictates. It differed from dance in that it eliminated the stylized motions and poses of ballet and concentrated on newer, freer techniques which, however, became stylized in their own way, and came to acquire characteristics generally labelled deprecatingly as "Dalcrozian." From the portrayal of a piece of music through interpretive movement a specialty gradually evolved, referred to as plastique. The aim was to complement the music with the particular body activity that utilized feeling, emotion, a beauty of movement in the rhythmic sense. Once more, in search of vocabulary for a novel enterprise, Dalcroze employed, in tum, the terms plastique rythmique, plastique animee, plastique corporelle.Plastique meant expressive movement; the additional words, rhythmic, lively or animated, using the body, were redundant. Plastiquealone sufficed. 70p.

cit., 287. The spelling "eurythmic" is given first, "eurhythmic" is given second. In the

HaroardDictionaryof Music the term "eurhythmics" is omitted. In Robert A. Rosevear's article on "Music Education in the United States," however, Jaques-Dalcroze is mentioned for contributing rhythmic and creative activities. See Willi Apel, HaroardDictionaryof Music (Cambridge, 1969) 556.

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In its original concept plastiquewas a mere exercise, one in a pattern of exercises. It was, however, a visible, satisfying, emotional expression, an activity with which a passive audience could identify. Since it embodied the combined arts of music and physical expression, innocent spectators regarded it as dance. Jaques-Dalcroze denied this allegation. He was, he claimed, perfecting a training only to improve musicianship by stressing rhythm and the use of the body to recognize and to demonstrate musical, emotional projections. If this process could not be identified historically with the Greek concept of physical-mental training of the whole personality, it did, however, go beyond Delsarte's ideas of relating movement and feeling. In the fine arts, plastic art referred to the technique which involved working with malleable materials: sculpture, wood carving, ceramics. But presently another concept surfaced which used that term. It would be interesting speculation to associate the ideas of Piet Mondrian ( 1872-1944) with those ofJaques- Dalcroze in terms of painting. Around 1913,by which time Mondrian had settled in Paris, and may well have become familiar with Dalcroze's rythmiqueand plastique,the famous Dutch painter had conceived the idea of "neo-plasticism," about which he initially wrote in 1920.8 His neo- plasticism was a search for what he called a clear vision of true reality, an impersonal art unconditioned by subjective feeling and conception. 9 It is also possible that Mondrian took the idea, which he called, in French, neo plasticisme,from the expression nieuwe bee/dingused by his friend M. H.J. Schoenmakers, the theosophist and former Catholic priest, in his New Imagesof the World. It may be, however, that the words of the Dutch philosopher and the Swiss musician registered equally in Mondrian's thoughts. His pamphlet, LeNeo-Plasticisme, went practically unnoticed; but in i925, when the Weimar Bauhaus published a German translation, Die ncue Gestiiltung-a better translation-Mondrian became known in Germany, and, one year later, his fame spread to the United States. 10 A gathering of Mondrian's most important theoretical writings, Plastic Art and PurePlasticArt, was published after his death in New York. Therein he explained the shortcomings of Cubism, which he had abandoned early in his career because it failed to achieve the expression of pure reality, which could only be established through pure plastic. His expression "pure plastics" ("pure plastic art") is the equivalent of neo-plasticism. When Mondrian and his colleagues founded, in Holland, the artistic and aesthetic Mondrian, Le Neo-Plasticisme(Paris, 1920). Mondrian, PlasticAn and PurePlasticAn and Other Essays (New York, 1945) 10. 10Frank Elgar, Mondrian, tr. Thomas Walton (New York, 1968) 163f. 8Piet

9Piet

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movement called De stijl,the plastic idea was also incorporated in architecture. Mondrian said that "painting offers the artist a means as exact as mathematics of interpreting the essential facts of nature. 11Another idea had come from Schoenmakers's Towardsa PlasticMathematics.Elgar explained: The expression plasticmathematicssignifies true and methodical thought on the part of the creator. Only now are we learning to translate reality in our imagination by constructions controllable by reason in such a way as to recover these same constructions eventually in the concrete attributes of nature, thus achieving a penetration of nature by means of plastic vision. 12

Jaques-Dalcroze would have hailed some of Mondrian's ideals for they were in tune with his own. For example: Every expression of art has its own laws which accord with the principal law of art and life: that of equilibrium. It [plastic expression) is the clear realization of liberated and universal rhythm, distorted and hidden in the individual rhythm of the limiting forrn. 13 In life, sometimes the spirit is over-emphasized at the expense of the body, sometimes one has been pre-occupied with the body and neglected the spirit; similarly in art, content and form have alternately been over-emphasized or neglected because their inseparable unity has not been clearly realized. 14

Soon after Jaques-Dalcroze moved his students outside of the conservatory he found that there was more work to do than he alone could handle. He invited Nina Gorter, the tall, gaunt Hollander, whose work in Berlinhe had known and admired, to come to Geneva to assist him. Miss Gorter became one of the ablest and most dedicated of numerous assistants whom Dalcroze was to gather about him to support his work. The development of rythmique progressed rapidly. Dalcroze had acquired sufficient expertise and confidence as early as 1903 to expose his work to a curious public. He arranged demonstrations, first in and around Geneva, then in other Swiss cities, notably in Basie and, eventually, in other countries. The successes which the demonstrations scored cannot be overestimated. No publicity was necessary; no words of praise, exaggerated or not, were announced; no claims were proposed. The public was to make its own 11Ibid., 104.

12Ibid. 13Mondrian,Plastic ...,

31.

14Ibid., 53

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evaluation. Tickets were sold in advance, often to standing-room-only audiences. In his first long tour, in 1904, his little group visited areas as diversifiedas Eindhoven and Amsterdam, Stockholm and Goteborg and then Prague. Tours in the next four years included five major Swiss cities, four in Holland, fifteen in Germany-starting with Berlin, and eventually London, Paris, and Brussels. Among the staunch troupers who accompanied him were those who, as adults, continued to support and to carry out the training: Edith Naef, Fernande Payrot, Clara Brooke, Charles Faller, Marcelle Moynier, Germaine Pasche, Monica Jacquet, Joan Ward Hicks, and Vivian Soldan, among others. His traveling groups usually numbered four students, sometimes as few as three or as many as six. When not touring, the group might include as many as twelve to eighteen students at one time. Demonstrations were meant primarily to show what his training accomplished. The purpose was not to show off the student for his or her talents, although those could not be hidden. Each demonstration opened simply: Jaques-Dalcroze played the piano, the students walked unceremoniously but rhythmically, responding to his alterations of tempo and dynamics and carrying out other directions that he gave them verbally. They then exhibited other techniques: they divided long notes into shorter ones, limited the space in which they were operating, or showed other devices contained in the method, such as the use of memory and concentration. Eventually the students took over completely. One played the piano, another beat the meter, another sang, and still another, or the remainder of the group, walked, ran, or performed other standard motions. Exercises in different meters followed, going into fairly complicated alterations of meters. There would also be response to a standard musical composition, perhaps a Chopin prelude or waltz. Another practice involved one student singing a melody while another clapped hands in counterpoint, or one student beating unequal meters and varying tempos with his hands in conductor's fashion while another improvised a melody. The students referred to the second half of the demonstration as "the terror of the evening." Monsieur Jaques explained to the audience, in brief, his system of solfege, and then proceeded to show how the students performed the exercises he asked them to do. Initially they sang all of the scales in order. Then they varied the action by singing upward in one key and downward in another key. A student, designated at random, or the master himself, sang a part of a scale and the rest of the group continued at the point where the scale was stopped. This they did in any key. Exercises using various melodies with students supplying harmony, ·either at the

74

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piano or by singing, and exercises involving complicated modulations preceded the climax of the evening, usually a prepared example. The students memorized a Bach fugue or invention and, as Dalcroze played it, they realized the music in movement. An individual, or several persons, executed the musical line and as the imitation occurred in the next voice the second individual or group imitated the first in similar action. Occasionally Dalcroze called upon his little band to execute a four-part fugue which he improvised. Usually the students performed this feat very impressively, causing some doubts among the observers as to its unrehearsed status. In such cases, Dalcroze merely repeated the example, the same theme but a different treatment. Fortunately, he could do all this with ease. Members of the audience were frequently invited to submit a theme for either the master or the students to manipulate. They called out letters or syllable names; Dalcroze organized the notes into a reasonable melody, and the work proceeded from there. If a competent musician happened to be among the spectators, he would be invited to write a theme on the blackboard. On one such occasion a musician supplied a rather complicated theme. To everyone's amazement and satisfaction the students read it accurately at sight. Immediately Dalcroze asked them to face away from the board and to repeat the theme from memory. Once more they were successful and the audience was duly impressed. Employing audience participation was an effective device which brought warmth, sympathy , and deeper understanding from the viewers. From time to time Dalcroze asked the audience to sing and even to come to the stage to do some of the exercises along with his group. In a small town in Provence he noticed the six uniformed firemen at the rear of the auditorium. He had them come to the stage, sing French songs, play rhythms on small percussion instruments, improvise rhythms of their own which the students used for further development, and even improvise melodies. The experiment was an explosive success. At a demonstration in Manchester, England, there was such a small attendance that a feeling of insecurity, apathy, and discontent prevailed. The audience, all ladies, were seated in the rear of the hall leaving the front seats vacant. Dalcroze asked the ladies to move to the front, but to no avail. So he asked them again, not with words, but with gesture of his hands. Now they responded. As the first few left their seats Dalcroze broke into the Mendelssohn WeddingMarchexactly in time with the ladies' walking. The incident broke the spell; the demonstration proceeded with immediate rapport. The requirements of travel took more and more time away from Dalcroze's responsibilities at the conservatory, and the management grew

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more and more impatient with him and with his "monkeyshines" even though his work was not being carried on under foot. This silent censure did not seem to dampen Dalcroze's sense of humor and hyperbole as shown in this letter, written following a demonstration in Munich in 1906, to Ferdinand Held, Director of the Geneva Conservatory: My dear Held,

It was an unforgettable evening!-each piece had to be repeated five or six times amidst delirious exclamations ...Special guards were carrying away spectators who, under their feet, succumbed from emotion. Throat rattles of voluptuousness mixed with cries of admiration to the thunder of clapping hands. The concert began at 7:30 in the evening and did not end until 3: 15 the next morning.Completely covered with perspiration I was carried on the shoulders of the excited crowd to my carriage, which was unharnessed in 35 seconds and dragged to my hotel, and to the King Leopold himself, magnificently rigged out. In my room, filled with the rarest flowers, 79 ladies of the court were waiting for me, who, after anointing me with perfume, read to me until five in the morning. My sleep was further soothed by their bewitching choruses and their delicate caresses. The king slept next to me (room 249) in order to be the first to greet me at my awakening and to bring me chocolate. At this very moment of my writing an orchestra is serenading me under my window. In the distance I hear the reverberations of the trumpets of the royal guard. The noise of the cheers of 1700 people reach me without exciting me. One becomes rather blase as a result of these displays so often repeated. 15

Throughout Europe demonstrations served as the principal means of spreading the word on the newly emerging method for improving musicianship. Sometimes referred to as concerts, they were given for almost two decades, as far west as London, as far east as Russia. From 1927 until the outbreak of the Second World War the demonstrations rarely left Switzerland.16 Monica Jacquet describes one of the later programs, in 1937 in Marseilles, where the audience was sceptical of Dalcroze's endeavors. As Dalcroze walked on stage to begin the second half of the program, and the audience was still on the way to their seats, one person remarked in an audible

15Alfred Berchtold, "EmileJaques-Dalcrozeet son temps," Martin and others, EmileJaquesDalcrozel'homme,le compositeur,le createurde la rychmiques(Neuchatel, 1965) 79f. 16 Ibid., 23f. Tibor Denes, in his chronologyof events relating to Jaques-Dalcroze,indicates but four tours: Poland, 1927; Germany and the Netherlands, 1929;Scandinavian countries, 1937.

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whisper, "C'est un four complet" (This is a total mess!). Dalcroze, who was just about to play something at the piano in preparation for his first exercise, picked up the pitch, inflection, and rhythm of the epithet just uttered, and played the motive which fit it exactly.

t# Jt?) [C'est

un

J) four·

¥

Ir com -

) plet)

He repeated the phrase, transposed it, and turned it into a fascinating improvisation. The audience, at first embarrassed by the remark, recognized the composer's quick humor and immediately the tenor of the whole affair turned around. Applause and laughter rewarded Dalcroze's spontaneous feat. Marie Adama van Scheltema was part of a demonstration group for several years; one which traveled a great deal. She tells of a demonstration in Munich which impressed the large audience not only by the skill of the participants, but also by their ability to change from one activity to another upon the utterance of a simple signal, the word "Hop." Among those present were two important musicians; she identified one as Max Reger and, although unsure about the other, thought that it might have been Wilhelm Furtwangler, the conductor, who later personally benefited by Dalcroze training. After witnessing the various exercises, especially those in solfege, one man (Reger?) asked his companion, "Could you do that?" "Not at all," was the brief reply, "could you?" Reger assured him that he could not do it either. This presentation covered the usual scales, intervals, chords, and the realization of a figured bass and upon the signal "Hop," they immediately exchanged parts. Then Dalcroze erased the bass from the board; the students continued just as before. Certainly the most significant demonstration which Dalcroze offered was one given for a conference at Soleure, of the Association of Swiss Musicians, an organization which he helped to found in 1900. The demonstration, prefaced by a lecture entitled "The Reform of Music Education in the School," took place in July of 1905, yet everything that he uttered then is still applicable today. 17 17Emile

Jaques-Dalcroze, La Reformede l'erueignememmusicd l'ecole(Lausanne, 1905).

77

Marie Adama van Scheltema

RITHMIQUE:

EXPERIMENTATION, 1893-1906

He asked three basic questions: 1. Shall we keep music education in the school curriculum? 2. If so, is the way we teach it right? 3. If it is not, how shall we replace the method? He lamented the fact that the good ideas of Pestalozzi and of Froebel were taught only in isolated places, and that the rhythmic ideas of Matthis Lussy,from whom he got most of his inspiration and method, were not taught at all. Another complaint was that professional musicians were not called in to advise on music teaching. The spirit of music, he continued, is expressed in a special language which educational authorities do not know how to read. Unfortunately, it is they who choose teachers and methods, and that is why music does not progress like other branches of instruction; why students cannot sight read, phrase, notate, or sing. He asked, can fifty percent of the primary students, after three to five years of instruction, read with words the first and second parts of a popular song? Can they sing by heart twenty or more national songs? After five or six years of study do fifty percent of secondary school and older students have this proficiency? And, in addition to that, can they write from dictation an easy melody sung to them the first time, or a more difficult melody which they know but have not seen in notation? Can they improvise four bars in a single key? Appreciate a modulation? Discuss and put into practice a single rule of musical prosody? A single rule of phrase and nuance? Can they name three celebrated composers and their most important works? Explain differences between song, sonata, and symphony? These questions are not unreasonable. A foreign language student, for example, is expected to perform comparable tasks in his specialty. Further, he observed that education authorities were incompetent in musical matters, that teaching personnel were not professional musicians and not applying themselves to the duties of their jobs, that gifted students were hampered by being taught in association with poorer students, and, most important of all, that methods were incomplete. He then proceeded to discuss each item separately. The main tenet of his discourse was that all music teaching should be based upon hearing, not upon imitation or digital proficiency. The demonstration featured examples of ear training, improvisation, and rythrnique. Those attending, most of them competent musicians, were amazed at the proficiency of his large group of students, especially when they learned that these were not selected individuals, merely the ordinary pupils. They were further delighted by an exhibition of plastique animee,a four-part fugue ofBach, realized in motion before their eyes. By this time Dalcroze's ideas and practices had already spread beyond the confines of his immediate surroundings; certain alert musicians and teachers knew about them as well. On this particular

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occasion the universality of his methods was proven. He was urged to publish the ideas that grew out of hisexperiments in order to make hiswork more widely known. One should not assume that the success of the demonstrations was due entirely to the talents of the students or to the soundness of the method, or even to the combination of the two. Dalcroze's personal involvement alsoplayed an important part. A portion of the triumphs came from his special charm and ability to entertain the audiences, innate qualities directly related to hisdramatic experiences. Dalcroze continued his classes in Geneva for children, mostly between the ages of five and nine, as well as hisclasses at the conservatory. Occasionally, in hisclasses of rythmique, older persons, even adults, participated, and he arranged special classes of short duration-for one, two, or three weeks. In the summer of 1906 he inaugurated the first summer course at the Salle de la Reformation. He then began to think of developing courses to train teachers, in order to perpetuate his ideas. One of his most efficient candidates was Annie Beck, a native of Holland. Her work at Geneva was so competent that Jaques-Dalcroze eventually took her to Germany with his new staff and gave her important teaching responsibilities there. She later helped him in staging the FetedeJuin in Geneva in 1914, and she became one of the early teachers in the London school when it was opened. With Miss Beck came her friend Marie Adama van Scheltema. 18 Marie was not a musician in her early girlhood; she thought she would venture into the field of dance and pursue the Duncan ideas, not having heard of Jaques-Dalcroze. But Annie had witnessed a demonstration, was fascinated by it, and wished to take the plunge. She suggested to Marie that they both go to Geneva to try out the work and see if they would find it worthwhile. Marie agreed, and it proved to be the beginning of a new career. Elfriede Feudel, another devoted disciple-one who was largely responsible for the propagation of the Dalcroze method in Germany-also received her introduction by way of a demonstration. Frau Feudel (nee Elfriede Thurau) was a serious piano student and instructor at the Hochschule in Berlin. She lived in the home of Rudolph Christians, a friend of the Crown Prince, and she served as a tutor in English for Mr. Christian's two daughters. Her employer had witnessed a demonstration which he felt was astonishing, and he gave her a 18Adama van Scheltema is the family name. Marie's brother Carel (1874-1924) was a national poet. His book Foundationsfor a New Poetry(Rotterdam, 1908) is a major contribution to the field. See Adriaan J. Barnouwt "Adama van Scheltema, Carel Steven," Horatio Smith, ed., ColumbiaDictionaryof EuropeanLiterature(New York, 1947) 6.

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RITHMIQUE: EXPERIMENTATION,1893-1906 ticket for the program of the followingevening. Elfriedewatched the demonstration in amazement; its impression so vivid that she could not get it out of her mind. Wandering about the city ma;t of the night thinking about it, she wondered how she too could followthe path of rythmique. It was not until 2:00 in the morning that she returned home, still in a daze,but determined that this was the career for her. Later in the morning she went to the office of Hugo Kretzschmar, Head of the Hochschule to request a leave of ah.ence to permit her to study "something." "What is it you wish to study?" he asked. "I do not know. It is something I cannot explain," Elfriede replied. She proceeded to tell him about the demonstration of the previous evening, how it affected her, and her desire to delve into its secrets and to improve her own teaching through paths which had been revealed to her. Herr Kretzschmar asked her to come before the school board to discuss the question since it was their approval which was required.

It was the greatest ordeal of her life, Frau Feudel said; standing before twenty-five "beards" and attempting to explain something which she herself did not understand. For the second time she said she wanted to learn "something" from a man named Jaques-Dalcroze, and she found that any further explanation was futile. She described some of the exercises that she witnessed, and tried to beat a duple meter in one hand and triple meter in the other, as she had seen the students do the evening before. The board members tried it in tum. They found that they could not do it either, were amused by the exercise, and eventually gave their approval for a two-year leave to learn that elusive "something" that she seemed to be seeking so earnestly. One of the first persons of influence to recognize Dalcroze's work was Paul Boepple--singer, choir director, and teacher in a girls' school in Basle; later, professor of solfege at the conservatory of that city. Boepple worked incessantly to further the use and development of Dalcroze's system. He translated into German several of Dalcroze's works and incorporated his ideas in his teaching in Basle. Boepple was instrumental in influencing the conservatory to offer Dalcroze a pa;ition so that he could transfer his work there, where, Boepple thought, it might prove to be more effective. Dalcroze, however, did not accept the position. Boepple's son, Paul Jr., earned his diploma at the Geneva Dalcroze Institute in 1919 and became a distinguished choral conductor, as well as probably the ablest of Dalcroze's disciples. In 1908, Otto Blensdorf came from Jena in Germany to Geneva and, like Boepple, matured into an important teacher of the method. Among his students was his daughter Charlotte who later became one of the most notable forces in the movement in Germany, and one of the founders and president of the International Society of Dalcroze Teachers (UIPD). 81

RHITHM AND LIFE

Another father-daughter team was not so mutually enthusiastic. Joseph Marie Erb, compa;er and director of the Strasbourg Conservatory, gave this advice to his daughter Jane: "You may enjoy rythmiqe as a career, but you will alsolead a lifeof starvation." Nevertheles-5,Jane Erb made it her career, the high point of which was her appointment as director of the ballet of the Paris Opera. Joseph John Findlay, Professor of Education at Manchester University, recognized the value of Dalcroze's work as an educational force. When he served as Dean of the Faculty of Education of the university and as a member of the Teachers' Registration Council, he instituted the first Dalcroze courses and eventually a degree in teacher training at Manchester University. Findlay wrote articles on rythmique and invented the phrase "the body as a musical instrument," an expression used by many other devotees. He encouraged his daughter Elsa to follow a career in rythmique. Elsa Findlay studied at Hellerau and for many years was a lively force in sustaining Dalcroze's ideas in the United States. 19 A few other family teams who figured prominently in Dalcroze practices in the years which followed may be mentioned. Emile's sister Helene (Mme. Brunet-Lecomte) took her training at the Dalcroze Institute at the age of forty-five and became a professor there; his cousin Laure Wagner practiced rythrnique at her private studio in Lausanne. Adolphe Appia's brother Theodore worked at Hellerau and taught in Brussels, the United States and elsewhere. The Braun sisters, Lili,Jeanne andLeonie, were very talented artists butthey made their mark in the dance world. Daniel Baud-Bovy wrote texts for some of Dalcroze's larger works. His son Samuel, conductor and director of the Geneva Conservatory, acknowledged the values he received from rythmique as a child. When the organist and compa;er Henri Gagnebin became director of the Geneva Conservatory in 1925 he reinstituted Dalcroze courses, and when Monsieur Baud-Bovy succeeded him in 1957 the courses were continued. Ernest Ansermet, long-time conductor of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, was on intimate terms with Jaques-Dalcroze and very sympathetic to rythmique. His understanding, however, may have come by way of his sister, a qualified rhythmician. In England there were the sisters Natalie Tingey and Joan Bottard, Ethel and Ann Driver, and Vera James and her daughter Patsy. More will be said later of the Inghams of London, the Dohrns ofHellerau, and the Couvreux of Paris. We have noted that the most significant demonstration Dalcroze ever gave was the one at Soleure, accompanied by a lecture, for the meeting of the Association of Swiss Musicians. This program resulted in the demand 19Infonnation

relayed by Elsa Findlay in a letter 5 October 1966. Also see Who Was Who, 1929-1940 (London, 1941) 445.

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EXPERIMENTATION,1893-1906

for the publication of his method, which led to its adoption in several conservatories and in some public schools. It attracted the attention of numerous persons, including the German educator Karl Storck, who wrote positively about Dalcroze's work. Yet another demonstration may have had an even greater impact, for it lead to an important expansion of the training and another dimension to its effect. Dalcroze received this letter from T rolaz, a suburb of Geneva: Trolaz, May 1906 Monsieur, After your demonstration of Saturday evening I would have wished to come to see you. Not having done so, do permit me these few lines. The exteriorization of music-(that is, after all, to restore it to its original state)-is an idea which I envisioned for many years. Each of us has his point of departure and his special faculties--yours allowed you to seize possession of the idea and the normal course towards its realization through pedagogical means, and that with quite necessary tenacity and with grace, which is equally indispensable. It is impossible for you not to feel (success notwithstanding) the almost immeasurable force of your influence. While suppressing my emotion I followed you at the Casino-always saying to myself, "Doeshe suspect what he is doing!" You will better understand my enthusiasm if I express my profession of faith: Music, in developing its technical resources without measure, when the purpose of its expression remains stationary, becomes something which strongly resembles a solitary vice. Nothing can save it from this sumptuous decadence if it is not its exteriorization; it must be dispersed in space with all the salutary limitations which that process allows for it.

On the other hand, life of the body extends to confusion, consequently to ugliness; and it is music which has to liberate it while imposing upon it its discipline. Your instruction makes music a thing which concerns the entire body, and thus resolves the problem in the most practical way. No more do you consider the body and its posture: you seek out unity. In this sense your idea will succeed, after several generations, in altering the brain, and one can expect from this a real renaissance. To you we owe the good fortune to perceive this future--and you, Monsieur, have the responsibility of making it a greater future by your constant efforts. May you also discover along the way the means to do it. I remain entirely devoted to you. With my warmest regards. s/ Adolphe Appia 20

20Edmond

Stadler, "Jaques- Dalcroze et Adolphe Appia," Martin, op. cit., 417f.

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Adolphe Appia (1862-1925) studied music in Geneva, Zurich, Leipzig, Paris, and Dresden. Eventually hisinterests turned to the theatre, particularly to the work of Richard Wagner in wha.e dramatic pieces he saw the stage of the future. He witnessed some presentations at Bayreuth, where he made the personal acquaintance of the master; he then devoted a great deal of thought to the ideas which Wagner introduced. Following some essays written in 1891-1892 on the Ring, he wrote a great work, La Mise en scenedu drame 21 and followed this with his masterpiece, Die Musik und die Inwagneien, 22 four years later. szenierung, In Wagner the desire to create in a homogeneous form the integral expression of human drama and all its purity and depth, was many times more imperious than the influence of the opera itself. But he could not embrace everything. He could not achieve the ultimate until the idea of sacrificing a little of his prodigious musical powers was accomplished. Thus, he did not know how to dominate the cruel conflict in which he was involved (more or less sulx:onsciously), between music, which found neither its adequate exteriorization in the living body of the actor nor this kind of expression under penalty of suppressing itself, and the necessity, nevertheless, of simultaneously presenting both this music and this body. Wagner, in freeing music from its egotistic and perverse isolation-in unifying it with the poet, who should give birth to it-made the first step, the decisive step. He neglected the human body, however. He considered the body as the visible carrier of the dramatic action, without questioning the break which separates rhythm and musical duration of the body, conserving, in spite of all, its own life outside of this rhythm and of this duration. He made of it all, from the beginning to the end, a manifest violence. In liberating the body we simultaneously liberate the music. This necessary stage is now behind us: the poet will become a rallying point, one which consecrates the divine union of music and the body.23 Eleven years after his first pronouncement Appia discovered in the rythmique of Jaques-Dalcroze, which was in its early stage, the synthesized answer to his passionate desire. In closely following this body-musical discipline he discovered the living germ of a dramatic art. Here the music, without further isolating the body in illusory splendor (at least during the performance, and without serving it), directs it towards an exteriority in space which confers upon it the very first rank and supreme scenic expression to which all other Appia, La Mise en scenedu drame wagnerien(Paris, 1895). Appia, Die Musik und die lnszenierung(Munchen, 1899). 23Stadler, "Preface," La Mise..., op. cit. 21Adolphe

22Adolphe

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factors of the presentation would be subordinated. The discipline of rythmique, he found, was the only one which first awakened the will and the ma;t dominating aspirations of the human being in order afterwards to give them the means to expand them with joy and freedom in space. Beauty is not its objective but its result; it assures us of the purity of our objective. We see that the harmonious culture of the body obeys the profound commands of a music intended to conquer our passive insulation and thus be responsible for collaborating in some implicit way to effect the demands of the production. Appia's publication, L'Oeuvred'art vivant, is dedicated to "Emile Jaques Dalcroze [sic] / the faithful friend to whom I am indebted for providing me with an aesthetic realm." On the second page he gives homage "to you Walt Whitman, who will understand me since you are LIVlNG-always." 24 Movement, mobility, is the controller which regulates simultaneously on a given point on the dramatic art, and as it manifests itself singularly and indispensibly it will regulate hierarchically these forms of art, subordinating one to the other, to the end that one looks in vain for that which it alone has. The problem is how to do it-how to apply movement, words, music-things which are immobile in space. Movement is not in itself an element; it is a state, a way of being. We accept the fact that the supreme work of art is the union of all arts-the stage. The body of the actor is the representative of movement in space. He carries the text (with or without music). On the one hand he is master of the text; on the other he holds in one bundle the art of space which he reunites and creates the integral work of art. It is the living and plastic body from which we have to start out in order to return to each of the arts and to determine its place in the dramatic art. 25

Dalcroze responded to Appia's letter and the two lunched at Dalcroze's home shortly thereafter. Their meeting and subsequent collaboration was a stroke of fate which benefited both parties. Rythmique as a stage technique was one of the important developments that grew out of the alliance. In his work, seeking musical solutions, Dalcroze had an instinct which was drawing him closer and closer to the final truth; it is doubtful, however, that he would ever have achieved it. His genius kept him searching without really understanding what he was seeking. A less devoted person, a less inspired person, would have given up before implementing any major breakthrough. Appia recognized the fact that Dalcroze had the ability to work out the details which he himself identified as being important. As one of the seventy-seven participants in the firstsummer course of rythmique that year, Appia offered his new idea of working 24Adolphe

25lbid.,

Appia, L'Oeutn'e d'an vivam (Gen~ve, 1921),dedication page.

19.

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Jaques-Dalcroze family in space, a concept of resistance. Taking his suggestions,Dalcroze experimented with placing blocks of differingsizeson the floor, as well as staircases. A way had to be found to work around the obstacles, or to move over them. This became an important manifestation of Appia's ideas on staging, thus enabling the work in rythmique to proceed more meaningfully. Through his own interests he inspired excursions into realms equally important but outside the direct sphere of music. As Jaques-Dalcroze was working out his ideas of rythmique at the conservatory there was, indeed, opposition to the activities. He had been forced to move the experimental classes to another meeting place because the conservatory could not afford the space and facilities that were required. Nevertheless, when it came time to renew the lease for the Reformation Hall, where the activities then took place, the board of directors told him he would again have to seek other space for his classes. They were reluctant to discuss the reasons for the decision. Eventually the discomfort was identified: they objected to the costumes worn by the young people who had recently presented a public demonstration of their work. The staid Genevans were horrified by the children's bare arms and legs. Nina Jaques-Dalcroze, who was present at the negotiations, asked directly, "What seems to be the difficulty? Don't you like the bare arms of the young ladies?" Sheepishly, the men replied that, in fact, they did like

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them. "So, why is there a problem," she asked. Silence. There was no problem; the lease was renewed. There were, however, other obstacles towards his developing program. On 13 July 1905, less than two weeks after the important lecturedemonstration at Soleure, he wrote a letter to the newspaper complaining of the lack of publicity for that venture. The letter had no effect at the time, but it was acquired by Nicholas Rauch, a collector of autographs, at a public auction in 1957. It stated: I would like to know for what reason the Journalde Genet>e disdains to announce certain musical events under the pretext that it does not wish to make publicity while announcing with emphasis, without taking the least trouble to hide from the world all the events of the progres.5of the Christian Union, of the Consistory, and of the Blue Cross; why it reports all the religious brochures and no musical works, why it gives 10 columns to the Unionist Congres.5and two lines to the Congress at Soleure- and why, finally-while admitting that the publishers do not love music and suppose consequently that no one else is interested in it-refuses to mention an absolutely new course, originated in all aspects by a local man for the first time in this world, while devoting 25 lines to announce that the Garde Repubicaineand all that are going to do a fantasie on the Fetede vignerons,to say nothing of all the notices on plainchant, of the Madeleine, and of the Christian Union already mentioned. Meanwhile, let's have a little justice, which even the devil [is due]. 26

Dalcroze's pique with regard to inadequate publicity can readily be understood. The GazettedeLausannecarried an item in the 24 September 1906 issue under the heading, "At the Institute of Music," which stated that Mlle. de Gerzabeck was to give a course in gymnastiquerythmiqueafter the remarkable method of M. Jaques-Dalcroze given at the conservatory. In addition to its utility for all ages, this course was especially addressed to children between the ages of six and eleven. It had as its aim the development of musical rhythmic mentality and to give the child control of his whole lxxly so that he could realize spontaneously and automatically any rhythm or combination of rhythms. It went on to mention that all who had seen the work of the students of Jaques-Dalcroze were astonished at the immense progress realized by this

26Thisletter

was preserved by Mooser and was printed 4 July 1965 in La Suisseas one of three items he wrote in conjunction with the Jaques-Dalcroze centennial. At first Mooser was critical of Jaques-Dalcroze, both as a musician and for his new educational system. Later, probably through his friendship and professional relationship with Prince Wolkonsky, a devoted Dalcroze follower,his ideas changed and he became less vehement in his opposition.

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RHYTHM AND LIFE method of musical education for the young generation. The same issue announced the foundation of an independent institute for gymnastiquerythmiqueby Mlle. LouisaRoos and Charles T royon, Charles Mayor and Paul Bally at the Ecole de Commerce, opening the following day at 4: 15 p.m. There would be classes for children of the ages six to ten and age twelve and over, and the public was invited to attend. The following day the JournaldeGeneve announced a course of gymnastiquerythmiqueto be given at the Petite Salle de la Reformation (instead of the Casino), from 3 October to 15 May on Wednesdays and Saturdays for children, girls and adults. Amidst this flurry of commercial announcements there also appeared an article by Adolphe Appia and his cousin Henri Odier entitled "L'Experience du rythme." It said, in part: In the words of certain physiologists, the excess of muscular development works to the detriment of the intellect; this assertion can be argued in the question of sport or athleticism; gymnastiquerythmique,on the contrary, has for aim and for result to bring this perfect possession of itself which is fixed in the adage: mens sana in corporasano (a sound mind in a sound body). Sportive gymnastics is a virtuosity which has its end in itself: beauty is only accidental. In gymnastique rythmique it is an educative virtue which predisposes the individual to a wise economy of forces. The realisation of beauty is always the natural consequence of it ... As one communicates to the body a musical problem, it [the body] is transfigured. 27

Other instructors of Jaques-Dalcroze's method were identifying special attributes of rythmique.Anne Morand, offering a course in Lausanne, stated: "The committee of the Ecole Vinet is persuaded that the teaching of the method of] aques-Dalcroze, which concentrates on the formation of rhythmic and musical feeling, presents a marvelous edification of volition and will become a general practice in all schools with the same validity, as singing or drawing.28 Paul Gennaro, one of the method's early antagonists, printed an announcement: Coming soon/ Paul Gennaro/ Battle against the ideas/ of M. Jaques-Dalcroze /net price .75 fr/ [to be] sold at Foetisch Freres/ at Lausanne, and in all music stores. He further pursued his quarry in the Gazette de Lausannewherein he disputed Dalcroze's explanation, in the same issue, as to why music instruction should begin with the study of rhythm. Under the headline "Gennaro against Jaques-Dalcroze," the writer said that he had to 27Adolphe Appia

and Henri Odier, "L'Experiencedu rythrne,"Journalde Geneve, (25 Sep.

1906). 28GazettedeLausanne,(3 Oct.

1906).

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repudiate because of the immensity of the enterprise, the columns of the paper which contained errors in his brochure Combatcontre lesideesde M ]aquesDalcroze,29 the sale of which had been previously advertised. He said he would defend his ideas in another methcxi, by giving a series oflectures on the subject which was so close to his heart: the rational basis of musical instruction. Gennaro's comments were personal and sarcastic. Occasionally he referred to specific points, but his manner of disputing them was not convincing. For example, he mentioned that Dalcroze, in arriving at some of his ideas concerning technical approaches, consulted such musicians as Joachim, Weingartner, Schillings, and others-men, he asserted, who had made no contribution to the teaching of music. On the statement of Dalcroze, that music education tends to divide elements and to.destine each one to teach something in particular, he (Gennaro) had said the same thing twelve years ago. On other questions Gennaro based his opinions on current practices or prejudices. For example:

Dalcroze:Frequently mothers allow the child to play the piano before he understands or appreciates music.

Gennaro:Of course. How can one know music without having played the piano?

Dalcroze:The child should not begin to play the piano until he has developed a feeling for music, can analyze to some extent and can coordinate some movements. Gennaro:Impossible. Can you analyze a sentence before you learn to read?

Dalcroze:Before playing the piano the child must understand and experiment with natural laws of meter and rhythm. Gennaro:Can a child after one month know more than a man of 26 years (his teacher) with 20 years of piano study? Dalcroze:The child will like scales when he knows how each one differs from one another. After he plays, for example, a scale in A-flat have him play "J'ai du boo tabac."

Gennaro:Jaques-Dalcroze should hang out a sign reading "Pharmacy for little souls and spirits." Dalcroze expressed the thought that when a pianist thinks of the key of A-flat, it evokes certain responses which cause the second finger to reach for A-flat, the third for B-flat, and the thumb for C. No, said Gennaro, himself a pianist, the key evokes no fingers; yet he hears A-flat whether it l 9Gennaro,

Paul, "Combat contra les idl!es de M. Jaques-Dalcroze.

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RHYTHM AND LIFE is produced by the piano, the orchestra, or by any instrument or a singer. Gennaro stated some of his own theories based on the educational principles of others-Herbert Spencer, for example. Open criticism, such as Paul Gennaro's, did little to harm the growth and expansion of Dalcroze's work, and it did nothing to irk him either. Dalcroze was bothered only by quiet, insidious criticism due to misunderstanding or misinterpreting all he was attempting to accomplish. He was proud of his ten years of work and experimentation and especially of the demonstrations he had been conducting for the last three of these years. The apex of his achievement was, of course, the publication of the complete method.

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CHAPTERIV

La Rythmique: Ear Training, 1892-1906

The years Jaques-Dalcroze spent at the Conservatoire de Geneve (18921910) saw him engaged in three activities, each one equivalent to full-time production. First, he was Professor of Harmony, Solfege, and later, Composition; secondly, composer of numerous large scale works which were performed locally and abroad in very distinguished circles; thirdly, the most important operation, the concept, development and propagation of his method, which came to be known as la rythmique.These were not separate accomplishments but integrated functions, any one of which led to incor poration of the other two practices. By this time the conservatory was well developed. Fran~ois Bertholoni had founded it in 1835 and on its first staff was Franz Liszt, who was responsible for organizing the piano department. The program, based mainly on the techniques established at the Paris Conservatory, makes it even today one of the strongest on the continent in musical training. The Bavarian musician Hugo de Senger (1832-1892), after completing his musical studies in Munich and Leipzig, arrived in Switzerland as a choral director in 1860. He came to Geneva in 1869 to conduct the symphonic concerts and, in 1872, he replaced Ernst Wehrstedt (17951876) as director of the Sacred Music Society. Appointments as Professor of Theory and director of the male choir at the conservatory came in the same year. This sincere musician had much to do with the training of numerous Swiss musicians, including Jaques-Dalcroze. His death in January 1892 left a void which was filled in April of that year by the almost unanimous vote of the appointments committee in favor of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze and Otto Barblan (1860-1943) to share the courses in theory. Barblan also took over direction of the Sacred Music

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Society and the teaching of organ. 1 Born in the Orisons, Barbian, along with Jaques-Dalcroze, made major contributions to the productions ot important Swiss Festspielen.In a short time a reorganization of the theory program at the conservatory took place, and Dalcroze was also assigned the advanced course in solfege. Originally the term solfege (Italian solfeggi.o) meant a work to be sung without words, primarily for the sake of vocal training and as such came to be composed for this special purpose. This type of music is now more popularly known as "vocalise" (Italian vocalizzo).In singing without words, either a neutral vowel, a or o (ah, oh), or the solmization syllables were used. At present the term solfege is used to denote special exercises, even courses, in the rudiments of music, advancing to work of considerable difficulty. The nearest equivalent in American musical training would be courses in sight singing, or music reading, where the goal is to develop the ability to sing unfamiliar music at sight. In Europe the training goes much further. Solfege is a course designed not only to enhance the student's ability to read music but also, through it, to improve his hearing ability (ear training) and to improve his harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic skills, i.e., to "hear" the music inwardly. Solfege in European conservatories may take as long as four years of study. It may also be a fundamental course given prior to the student's exposure to other musical study. In Geneva, for example, a child in a public school who wishes to join the violin class is not given his instrument until he has completed a certain level in solfege, a course which normally takes two years to accomplish. In American schools no similar system has been adopted; schools use methods of their own which are supposed to produce the same results, to enhance the student's facility in handling musical elements and advance his skill in music reading (sight singing). Sometimes these exercises are included in theory courses, but more often the subject is presented by itself without relating to an overall, or integrated, musical concept. Both methods have advantages depending upon how deeply involved the subject becomes and how skillful the instructor is who trains the students. Although the teaching of solfege is widespread in Europe there are questions as to its suitability in terms of interest to the student and what he accomplishes as compared to the time taken to learn the technique and the usefulness of the training by itself. For the most part it is conceded that 1Under Barblan's direction the society gave first performances in Geneva of such important choral works as Bach's "Magnificat," "St. Matthew" and "St. John Passions," "B Minor Mass," Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis," and Brahms's "German Requiem," Franck's "Beatitudes," oratorios of Handel and masses of Mozart.

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European training in solfege is superior to American trammg in that European students generally seem to be better prepared to inwardly hear harmonic and melodic passages as well as to express these passages outwardly, vocally.2 This result is apparent even with students whose interest lies in instrumental performance. Karl Gehrkens (1882-1975), a leading figure in American music education, claimed to have incorporated many of Jaques-Dalcroze's ideas even before the Swiss educator systematized his method. Gehrkens, however, did not agree with the stress on solfege, probably because it was too disciplined an element for American practice. He also believed in accepting parts rather than "all or none" of the method. 3 Prior to his formal appointment at the conservatory, Jaques-Dalcroze was well known in Geneva. A full program of his works had been given at the conservatory in 1889, and earlier, in 1885, he had given a formal piano recital in Lausanne. 4 He had been called upon to do part-time teaching in music history and he had lectured on the subject in other cities in the area. His courses were substantial and well attended. Comfortably established in his parents' spacious quarters, he settled down to teaching and composition, as well as accepting private students in diction, solfege, harmony, and composition. At one time or another in every composer's career, including that of Jaques-Dalcroze, one encounters neutral or negative reactions to his work. When he exhibited his first ideas on rythmique, and even when the techniques were highly developed, disagreements and objections were thrown into his path. As a teacher, however, there never were questions raised concerning his ability. In fact, the actual teaching qualities which he possessed found in rythmique a vehicle for further producing the results he sought in the classroom. Foremost among his pedagogical attributes were his personal characteristics: kindliness, understanding, humor, sincerity, and honesty. Next came devotion to his task and energy sufficient to face the problems and to solve them. His own professional background and understanding of musical 2Frederick Louie Ritter (1834-1891), choral conductor, composer and writer, commented on the situation. See his Music in America, new ed. (New York, 1895), particularly the chapter "Survey of the Present State of Musical Activity," 4 75-506. Ritter had moved from his birthplace, Strasbourg, to Cleveland in 1856 and then settled in New York in 1861. 3Karl W. Gehrkene, "A Page or Two of Opinion," Educational MusicMagazine29 (Sept.-Oct. 1949) 8. 4Edgar Refardt, Hiswrisch-Biographisches Musiklexikonder Schweiz(Leipzig, 1928) 148.

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and artistic difficulties, combined with a rare sense of integrity, drove him to seek solid, uncompromising results. Recognizing differences in each student, he sought means to reach the individual person and his unique circumstances. Never did he seek to throw the entire student group into a mass and project his line of instruction to the average, or to any single level, of that mass. He was never lax in his own attitudes and he would not permit laxity in his students' work. He knew that he had the ability to meet any teaching situation without specific preparation for that encounter, to "wing it," as the modern academic expression is understood. Yet he made extensive notes and gathered a quantity of information relative to the objectives of each class he approached. By being thoroughly prepared himself for his lessons he set a fine example for the students to follow. Emile's ability to play, at the piano, just about anything that a situation required was one of his greatest assets. If it was a Strauss waltz or a Chopin prelude it came out deliciously. Be it a Bach fugue or a Mozart sonata it also came out with distinction. And if it were an invention of the moment, an improvisation, there was that inimitable facility for which he was so greatly admired. He was able to demonstrate any mood, any technique, any idea that needed to be produced. The ability to do this was not limited to music alone; he could do the same with words or with sketches. Even if the problem was one of harmony, he could, at the spur of the moment, turn out a verse of topical interest, perhaps referring to a student in the class-Marie's new shoes, or Anne's red dress--dever in itself, yet furnishing an illustrative example to highlight the particular problem in harmony. The students reveled in such demonstrations of spontaneity and skill. One of his students habitually came to class late. As she entered the room one day, Emile was pointing out a particular figure at the keyboard. Immediately he picked out her footsteps and put them into his left-hand rhythm, accelerating just as did the student's steps, until she reached her seat and sat down; even that motion was indicated in suitable musical language. This student, it is said, never arrived late again. On another occasion Emile was writing notes on the blackboard, illustrating a problem of the moment, when the janitor, believing that the room was not in use, opened the door and was about to come in. He immediately noticed that he did not belong there; a look of consternation overcame him, and he quickly withdrew and shut the door. Scarcely stopping the motion of the chalk, Dalcroze sketched the man's face with that momentary look of bewilderment, definitely recognizable, which served again as a singular entertainment for the class. Such a combination of talents as Dalcroze possesssed was rare indeed.

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Sometimes, when examining students' papers, along with formal remarks, he would include a small sketch, a limerick, or a similar eye-catching device which would make a lasting impres.sionby way of criticism. These little tricks caught and sustained the students' interest and enthusiasm, helping to underline certain points most effectively. In fact, his gift for sketching caused him to join a club of painters, Sapajou, in 1895, where he served as caricaturist. One unit in the solfege course dealt with the sound and other qualities of the various orchestral instruments. He arranged for students of the conservatory, proficient in performance on their instruments, to come to the class to demonstrate their instruments and to comment on their characteristics, range, fingerings, limitations, effects they could produce, solo literature, and passages from the orchestral repertory. For his own major contribution, he assigned Beethoven's Eighth Symphony for study. Each student was given an instrumental part to study, memorize and learn to sing. A conductor was appointed from the student group, and then the score was put together in the classroom, each student singing his assigned instrumental part without a score before him-a novel and effective exercise. Later, in demonstrations of rythmique, Emile used the same idea with body movement, each instrumental part of the symphony being performed in person, on the floor, instead ofby singing the part. For the unit on instruments, Jaques-Dalcroze demonstrated another timely accomplishment. He composed a set of variations for orchestra on the popular Swiss melody La Suisse est Belle,each variation featuring a particular instrument, demonstrating the special characteristics of that instrument. The formal composition, XIII PiccoleVariazioniOrchestrali/Sulla canzonepopolare/LaSuisseest belle,5 turned out to be one of the composer's more popular works, predating by about fiftyyears Benjamin Britten's Young Person'sGuide w theOrchestra.In this case it showed that the teacher could do as well as teach. Throughout the conservatory, but particularly in Jaques-Dalcroze's classes, the emphasis was on musicianship. To develop the quality of musicianship to a high degree, he concentrated on the use of the ear, certainly the most useful musical attribute one possesses. This premise was not new. To produce a tone vocally one had to hear it, or to think it, internally. To sing, play or write harmonic progressions one had to exercise his capability to hear, even to use his capacity of anticipatory hearing. All 51nEnglishthe

melody is known as "Lifelet us cherish,• in German, "Freut euch das Lebens.•

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problems in music-whether they are practical or theoretical, producing a tone with the voice or an instrument, recording a symbol which represents a tone, distinguishing differences of meanings even within a single soundinvolved the use of the ear and emphasized the need for ear training in its various manifestations. By 1893, the second year of his tenure at the conservatory, JaquesDalcroze had already developed ideas concerning the approach to improvement of the students' hearing in the solfege classes. This ear training method was published under the title Exercicespratiq_ues d'intonationin Paris, Leipzig and Neuchatel by Sandoz, Jobin in 1894. Then, an improved and expanded edition, Scalesand Keys, Phraseand Nuance, divided into three volumes, became the third part of his method, published in 1906. In the opening paragraphs of ExercicesDalcroze emphasizes the fact that the method is based upon the hearing of music as much as upon the production of it. The instructor's first aim is to have the child thoroughly understand the difference between the tone and the semitone. He also stressed the value of "perfect pitch," the ability to recognize a tone by its sound, similar to the recognition of a color or an object by viewing it. Perfect pitch is not inborn, as is often believed, but can be learned if study is begun early and if it precedes the study of an instrument. Leaming the tone-semitone difference begins with the comparative study of scales.6 In common practice, each scale was formed by the same succession of tones and semitones, always in the same order. Thus the scale of A-flat is only the melody of the scale of C, transposed, and the relationship of the two scales escapes one. But if one follows the sequence of notes in the A-flat scale,

6 It is not only the difference in size between the tone and the semitone but also the placement of these intervals that constitute a system, whether it be the 18th-19th-century major-minor system, the hexachordal mutation system generally attributed, to Guido d'Arezzo (c. 9951050) or the 9th-century church modes. These are western tonal organizations; numerous eastern systems are based on other considerations. Recognition of the semitone, the heart of western systems, was noticed early in musical history with the development of notation. About the 11th century a line was drawn above the written text. This line was a pitch reference. The various signs (notes) placed on the line, above or below it at different levels on the page indicated higher or lower pitches in relation to the line, the equivalent of F, normally the center of the average melody compass. Thus the E-F semitone was clearly established. Even without staff lines the the single line F may be regarded as a clef sign. Presently a second line drawn above the F line came to be used. It designated the pitch C, also highlighting the semitone B-C. Later, letters were written on the lines (F and C) and, with the addition of more lines, in between (A), above or below, a stable staff came into use. By shifting the clef sign (letters For C-it was unneccesary to use both signs), a fairly wide compass could be accomodated by the notation.

96

LA RITHMIQUE: EAR TRAINING

beginning on the note C, tonic of the scale of C, one finds that the melody differs from that which characterizes the C scale and that the tones and semitones are not in the same place. In a relatively short time the student thus learns the scales, and the fundamental tone C becomes engraved in his memory. Taking dictation, i.e., naming notes, either orally or by writing, as produced by the instructor or another student, is also important. The study of scales requires a long period of time-two to three years or more-but must not be neglected. All other musical studies, except the study of rhythm, are associated with scales and will become childs-play: intervals-parts of scales; chords-superposition of tones of the scale; resolutions-satisfaction accorded suspended notes of the scale as they continue their movement; modulation-joining of one scale to another. All that concerns melody and harmony is contained implicitly in the study of scales and it is only a question of terminology and classification. Before beginning the practical exercises to develop hearing, JaquesDalcroze expounds on the importance of teaching nuance and phrasing, as exemplified in the important writings of Mathis Lussy. They are necessary and desirable steps toward developing the student's creative instincts and improvisatory facility. Four drills are initially proposed: 1. To coordinate the sound of a note with the name of that note. Each day the student sings a number of notes and speaks out the name of each note. To enhance concentration this is done with the eyes closed. 2. Each day, upon awakening, the student attempts to sing the pitch C and then checks his accuracy with a pitch pipe, tuning fork, or an instrument. He repeats this as frequently as possible during the day. 3. The student tries to name pitches of everyday nonmusical sounds (automobile horns, the tinkle of glasses, a door bell) and checks with a pitch pipe or other means. 4. The student strikes Con the piano and attempts to pick out the tones of the resulting harmonic series.7

7 In this

report, reference to a general note is made by the capital letter. Designation of pitch by letter willbe made according to the following method:

:,: 3va

II

e

e

C'

C

,,

0

~

e C

c1

c'

c2

b'

97

c3

RHYTHM AND LIFE Exercises to develop agreement between hearing and vocal presentation: 1. Instructor plays, on piano or other instrument, tones outside the singing range. The student responds by singing that tone in his octave.

instructor plays

-.-~..-)o-;,~•~---_-_-_

student sings

ts========= '!,

or

6

2. Instructor writes on board a melody using skips of one to three octaves on a treble staff, wider skips with treble and bass ranges; student sings in his octave ir,structor plays

tpt ~:

student sings

--=~

¥ti

U'

0

~

=

0

~--

•

0

,i-

0--

Exercises to practice memorization follow. In one of these the instructor dictates a melody, measure by measure, verbally, i.e., naming the notes and giving the rhythm, but without singing. Next he connects the measures, 1 and 2, 2 and 3, etc., then the students sing back the complete melody. Dictation is given, with the instructor singing a melody one note at a time (each note of equal rhythmic value), and the students write each note as it is sung. Then the students sing the entire melody, still in equal note values. The instructor then indicates the meter by singing the melody with strong accentuation on the first beat of the measure while the students write in the bar lines ahead of each accented note. The instructor verifies the bar line placement, then sings the melody in rhythm, measure by measure, as the students write it. Three-and-a-half pages of melodies are given for dictation drill, to be completed in this way. Progress seems to be slow, but one notices intense concentration on each element which exercises hearing ability. Sufficient drill is included not only for expanding hearing capacities but also to exercise the process of visual symbolization for what is heard, recognition of individual notes, their movement in series and rhythmic

98

IA RITHMIQUE: EAR TRAINING

isolation-the complete process. Emphasis on a single technique at a time further enforces the training. The next chapter intrcxiuces the all-encompassing system of scales and their differentiations, again at a slow but thorough pace. JaquesDalcroze designates the degrees of the scale by Roman numerals as well as by their harmonic names: I = tonic, II = supertonic, and so on. He explains the appellative and resultant qualities of the semitones which occur between the degrees III and IV and between VII and VIII of the major scale. He also explains the alterations of the degrees by single and double sharps and flats. Special names are given to the alterations. The new exercises commence with the singing of the C major scale in simple, even rhythms of two, three, four, six and nine notes to the beat, ascending and descending. Then instead of even rhythms some arbitrary

n .

patterns are given, e.g., J. } J The scale of C and other keys are sung in this rhythm, extending the range to d 2 ascending, and to b descending, to accommcxiate the rhythm pattern so that c 1 is sung on the strong beat. An additional 40 rhythmic patterns are given for drills in

!

f

meter, 32 for! and 30 each in~ and 1 and 60 for practice in~At this point he turns attention to drills in musicianship, as a rule of nuance is presented: 8 make a crescendo in an ascending passage, a decrescendo in a descending passage. Melcxiies featuring scaler groupings are given for the purpose of drill, observing this rule. Another type of melcxiic exercise appears indicating rhythms with note values, but scale degrees are given by Roman numerals only. With the completion of the foregoing practices and the scale tones 3-4, 7-8 (III-IV, VII-VIII or I in text language) semitone relationship firmly impressed, the raised fourth degree, still built upon c 1 is intrcxiuced. The instructor sings the scale of C, ascending and descending, then again with the fourth degree, F, raised to F- sharp. He repeats one or the other; the students indicate whether F or F-sharp is sung. Now he sings a number of scalar melcxiies with either F or F-sharp and the students respond by identifying the III-IV interval as being either the semitone or the whole tone. The two scalar successions are then compared: three tones, semitone, two tones, semitone-scale of G; two tones, semitone, three tones, semitone-scale of C. Then the students sing, beginning on the V degree, the succssion of rules occurring in this and succeeding volumes will be stated at the end of the chapter.

8The

99

RHITHM AND LIFE

former succession. They recognize the satisfied feeling of the note G as the tonic feeling, and thus they note that F-sharp has become the appelative note instead of the note B, and the tonic is now G. Continuing, the students sing the scale c 1 to c2 interpolating the sharp for the fourth degree, and complete the exercise by appending the note G, the new tonic. They learn that, as a convenience, the sharp can be put into the signature instead of writing it in place on the staff for each F which is to be altered. Previous exercises for the key of C, with the many rhythmic and metric variations, are repeated, this time interpolating the sharp on the fourth degree. For the purpose of interest, one or two students may replace the instructor in singing the studies. More melodies in Roman numerals are presented for realization in varying rhythms in the key of G. The scale of D is introduced by altering C to C-sharp in the G scale, still in the usual range except for the C-sharp alteration. For the new key similar drills are added to those studied previously. Several additional rules of nuance are presented along the way, and also a new series--rules of phrasing-is introduced. The insertion of these rules and the examples and accompanying drills serve to bring into play attention to artistry and interpretation. These are tailored to provide further work in scalar theory but are a welcome and valuable divergence. In similar fashion the other sharped keys are learned. Before going into the study of the flatted keys, Jaques-Dalcroze offers two rules which apply to changes of measure by virtue of the positions of accented notes. The examples illustrate his point by presenting melodies barred in measures of two, three, or four beats, without indicating meter signatures, but wherein each measure is correctly constructed according to accent-strong or secondary-but without syncopation. He allows for differences according to interpretations by competent musicians, and states that verbal texts best determine proper accentuation. For practical work along these lines the instructor offers various verses to which the students will determine accentuation of the syllables and set the verses to melody. By this time (1906) Jaques-Dalcroze had become a keen observer of rhythmic principles, astute enough to cite a fallacy in the notation usually found in the popular song Au clairede la lune.

Au

claire , de

la

lu-

100

ne,

Mon

a-

mi

Pier-

IA RITHMIQUE: EAR TRAINING

'44 -rot,

J IJ=~-F iBftEJj

IP Jl Ji Eij Pre- te-

me, Pour

moi ta plu-

e- crire

un

mot.

which, more correctly, should be barred as follows:

Au claire

de

la

ne,

lu-

Mon ·a-

mi

J -rot

Pre- te- rnoi ta plu- me,

Pier-

II Pour

e- crire

un mot.

To introduce the scale with a flat, the instructor sings the scale in C, descending and ascending, then he repeats it, but lowers the seventh degree to B-flat. Various exercises are given, concentrating on the B-B-flat problem and, as in the case of the earlier exercises developed to learn F-sharp, the students now learn where the flat occurs. A series of melodies is sung, sometimes in C, sometimes in F. The students note the altered seventh degree and whether the last note of the scale (C), offers the quality of completeness, finality, and tonic feeling. Following this are systematized presentations in the flatted keys, treated similarly to the exercises previously studied, again using given rhythmic patterns, melodies notated and also indicated by Roman numerals. The octave scale is extended when required and, to avoid confusion, the figuration is clarified: 18 , 118-the superscript indicates extension above the usual octave-and VIII8 , VIl8-the subscript indicates tones below. JaquesDalcroze resorts to an interesting expedient. As part of the exercises for flatted scales he refers to previous drills, written in C, which had been employed with F-F-sharp alterations, which now are to be sung in E-flat or A-flat by altering the appropriate notes. He frequently acknowledged the writings and teachings of his mentor Mathis Lussy. Now, feeling the importance of Lussy's 1903 publication, The Anacrnsis in Modem Music,9 he concentrates on the anacrusis (upbeat, note or groups of notes preceding the initial downbeat) in connection with one of his rules on phrasing. The 9Mathis

Lussy, L'Anacrousedans la musiquemoderne (Paris, 1903).

101

RHITHM AND LIFE

exercises involving the anacrusis at first contain breath marks to delineate the phrase, but later these are omitted, thus allowing the student to find the place for the breath or phrase distinction. Double flats are briefly discussed before giving a table of all sharped and flatted keys, written c 1-c 2 with the proper key signatures indicated, and with the positions of the semitones marked. The last section of volume one offers review: all of the scales; questions asked of the students by the instructor with answers to the problems; and scales in any key to be sung by the instructor, repeated by the student, but with an ending on the key tonic. There are additional changes for emphasis, such as prearranged responses of the students, and singing with varied rhythmic patterns. A short section treats melodic sequences, with examples, and exercises to be sung with displacements occurring at various intervals. This is followed by drills employing melodies sung, not in sequence, but transposed to other keys. The final thirty pages consist of melodies to be sung in observance of all of the preceding rules-and exceptions to the rules-of nuance, phrasing, double sharps and flats, metrical measure changes, and anacruses. The concept of drilling on scales and keys within a singable range-always the same range-is noteworthy. It constitutes a tremendous contribution to the area of teaching music theory; probably the most significant idea of the century, because it stresses hearing, the most neglected aspect of musical training. The care and attention devoted to the numerous single elements to which each problem is reduced is a tribute to Jaques-Dalcroze's devotion to detail and to thoroughness. Each of the hundreds of melodies given for the various drills applies to a single problem on hand and allows for interesting variations to further emphasize the solution to the problem. One is amazed to observe the distinct musical quality of the melodies and exercises as well as the many original, unusual, resourceful, and effective devices employed as drill techniques. Throughout the volume there is attention not only to the techniques of the moment, but also to the pursuit of complete musicianship. Jaques-Dalcroze performed, as did Mathis Lussy, a particular service in delineating certain qualities of musicianship inherent in performance, in analyzing them, and then verbalizing them in scientific order. The second volume of Scalesand Keys,Phraseand Nuance studies the major scale in portions of varying distances: dichords, trichords, tetrachords, pentachords, hexachords, and heptachords. There are additional "rules" of phrase and accent, as well as instructions to review the work of volume one. Exercises are to be sung by the student, not played at the keyboard nor written, thus intensifying the hearing and the learning process. He devised 102

IA RITHMIQUE: EAR TRAINING

a special symbolization for a part of the work now presented, indications of the starting note of the scale, the extent of the scale fragment and its direction.

i=

ascending dichord (two conjunct steps) on the tonic

'; 1= descending trichord (three conjunct steps or degrees) on the submediant. The symbols apply to all keys. The instructor varies the types of exercises: he sings a series of dichords, students identify the degrees of the scale upon which they are sung; students sing a series called for by the blackboard symbols; the instructor sings, in any key, a series inscribed on the board, students determine the key: the instructor sings a series in one key, students repeat the series in another prearranged key. The drills point out major and minor dichords (whole tone, whole tone-semitone respectively), ascending and descending. The system of symbols is altered for the trichord drills with a staff replacing the Roman numeral idea.

~ e.:

0-----

J

Wtr e.:

~I

J EE

Major (tone-tone) and minor (tone-semitone, semitone- tone) trichords are carefully studied in all keys and from each degree of the scale. The drills once more are varied and quite intense. Ai; the scale fragments become longer, and thus more complicated, the exercises have more variation, provoke more thought, and delve more deeply into tonal constructions. To expand the process of musicianship and to relieve the disciplinary tensions Jaques-Dalcroze periodically inserts additional exercises with spelled out "rules" in vocal improvisation upon given rhythmic and melodic formulas. From volume one, he continues the rules of nuance and phrase, and now presents a series of rules of accentuation, another technical device of musical and aesthetic significance. Chromatic alterations previously became familiar passages through scale formations. Now the chromatic scale is introduced very systematically-a chromatic insert between each diatonic interval, one at a time. This

103

RHITHM AND LIFE

deliberate approach, rather than exposing the complete chromatic octave all at once, is commendable. The study continues with tetrachords and pencachords-perfect, diminished or augmented, according to their positions within the scale. Studies of inverted tetrachords, pentachords, hexachords and heptachords (major, minor, or diminished) evoke further insights pertaining to scalar construction. As the study of portions of the scale proceeds to include larger and larger fragments, the student feels the position of the various degrees in ever increasing relationships. Whereas at first he concentrated on tones and semitones, he now has acquired the relative attractions of all of the intervals, the significance of the leading tone, the dominant and the mediant. The third volume continues the analyses of heptachords and hexachords, then proceeds to the study of minor scales and modulations. Jaques-Dalcroze classifies the heptachord into four species according to the conjunct trichords and four species according to the organization of the pentachords. This concept is entirely original and constitutes a penetrative study much more profound than anything attempted before, or since, including in this aspect of musical theory, Lussy'sstudies. Not only are there ample exercises to be done here, but additional material is employed from volume two. In the heptachord study the first species is always constructed on the dominant; and trichords, in order, are major, minor, minor. A table indicating the various species follows. 2d species (on VII)

1st species (on V) ~ajar

Minor

Minor I

F

~~;:;+~~~-~

-=:i

•

e;

3d species (on I!)

~-'~ Minor

_ l}

Major Minor ~

Minor

(on Ill) Major

--21~~c-:::-:i

. -. .

""?"'""'.IL

••

4th species (on I, key ofD) Major

~#;

Minor

...

Major

(on VI, key of F)

Minor

~

Minor

Minor

(on IV, key of B-flat): Major

Minor

tst~: r c s ,:9 ..s:z::A104

Major

Xi; 3 :.?!r;~

_

Major

:=:=:-

IA. RITHMIQUE: EAR TRAINING

Drills are performed in all keys, ascending and descending. Another organization within the heptachord is the pentachordal progression, one built upon the lower five notes of the heptachord, the other upon the upper five notes. Minor trichord

.... . •

(i) 7

\.--

Major pentachord

Diminished pentachord

The following chart summarizes the four species: Species

On

!st

V

major

diminished

minor

2d

VII

diminished

minor

minor

3rd

II, IV, VI

minor

major

major

4th

I, IV

major

minor

minor

Lowerpentachord

Upperpen- Connecting tachord trichord

Dalcroze develops still another innovative concept in the inversion of the heptachord according to the position of the trichords of which it is made. a)

2d tric.

'-. . .. G :: ~ 1st tnc.

c)

3rd tric.

2nd tric.

d)

3 tetrachord

die.

.5 hexachord

s: ~ I~;::•

4

3d tric.

6

b)

1st tric.

...

die.

.st:¥¥ 3rd tric.

die.

2 dichord

--.t ;;;;;;;----:

1st tric.

I

2d tric.

a) heptachord composed of three trichords b) 1st inversion: 1st trichord is inverted, the 2d trichord being the lower; hexachord (the two trichords) and a dichord, the latter being an inversion

105

RHITHM AND LIFE

of the heptachord. The 1st inversion is figured ~ which represents the position of the dichord, the 5th and 6th degrees. c) 2d inversion: The 2d trichord is inverted. The figuration is ; d) 3d inversion: The 3d trichord is inverted. The figuration is 2, the dichord is on the 2d degree. (The dichord is the inversion of the heptachord.) The study further expands the ~ hexachord into four species according to the make-up of the various trichords and dichords, or pentachord and dichord. min. tric. 1st species

-:;5:: iig

5

dim. pent.

~

rnc1j. die.

~~

~-•~~~

JFF!=.or

maj. die.

min. tric.

Whereas the 1st species heptachord is constructed on the 5th degree, the 1st species hexachord, which actually is its 1st inversion, being made up of the upper two trichords and a dichord, is constructed on the 7th degree. Thus, in the key of E-flat. • tnc. • mm.

min. tric.

~~ ~~-•

•

maJ.· d"1c.

~

r::

--

-

dim. pen ta

-~-i-1~

@.,

-

-•

~

ma1·.die.

£~--~~-

-

(One always sings the tonic tone at the end of the exercise.) In its descending form, on D, the hexachord is realized as: on the 2nd degrees. l!)

-....

maj. die.

min. tric.

min. tric.

The 2d species ~ hexachord is constructed on the 2d degree. min. penta.

min. penta.

in_c~'.f2553553 ;3 ~§B inD

min. tric. maj. tric. nrnj. die.

min. tric. rnaj. tric. maj. die.

106

IA RITHMlQUE: EAR TRAlNlNG

The 3d species ~ hexachord is constructed on the 1st, 4th, or 5th degrees.

~~ c#ff

inE, 1st degree

·---

-~--

4th degree

- -•~

--

@::

min trie. maj. trie. maj. die.

maj. tric. min. tric.

maj. die.

Inasmuch as the ; chord may be constructed on several degrees ot the sca1e, more exercises are presented for the study of the 3d species. The 4th species ~ hexachord is constructed on the 3d or 6th degrees. . .

min. 1rie. maJ.me.

. C

111

~ -·

' : on 3d degree

•

. d..

"~111• ic.

--,--F"----:;

_

=-= ~~~~;1=::::::==

min. pt:nta.

.

_

~--=

on. 6ch,-0:__ -•

degree

.@>..~t.1- --

--•--

.-- .. ::-~=--1:::~-•

·

·

The 2d inversion of the heptachord produces the ; hexachord of which there are also four species according to their inner construction. These are summarized: 1st species, on 2d degree: minor trichord, major dichord, major trichord; or perfect tetrachord and major trichord 2d species, on 4th degree: major trichord, major dichord ( = augmented tetrachord), minor trichord 3d species, on 3d, 6th or 7th degrees: minor trichord, major trichord (= perfect tetrachord), minor trichord 4th species, on 1st or 5th degrees: major trichord, minor trichord (= perfect tetrachord), major trichord The four species of hexachord 2 are summarized thus: 1st species, on 4th degree: major dichord, major trichord, minor trichord; or major dichord and major pentachord 2d species, on 6th degree: major dichord, minor trichord, minor trichord ( = diminished pentachord) 3d species, on 1st, 2d and 5th degrees: major dichord, minor trichord, major trichord ( = minor pentachord) 4th species, on 3d or 7th degrees: minor dichord, major trichord, minor trichord ( = major pentachord) After dealing with theory and practice of scales in major keys for more than two whole volumes, Dalcroze now addresses the minor scale. He explains similarities and differences between these modes, especially the augmented 2d, the 6- 7 dichord in the minor scale. His exercises, however, 107

d.

min. 1ric. nuJ.me. mm. ic.

min. pt:nta.

RHITHM AND LIFE

do not attack the augmented 2d directly, but its position in the scale is studied by noting its attraction to the tonic.

i ~

b-

~--L --IL

--~--m···

~~!:l :r :S-=~ - :o=-~ =-;:--=r-".1- .. ~:-:- .r-·----,1 i -·

-

1=-•1-.. ___ ~

3

~~--

+---

-

---

-

► a:==== ---.1\-··-·--·

3 .

~iffl-W~,~ The scales, ascending and descending, in flatted, then in sharped keys are written out and the instruction is given to sing the major scale first, then the minor scale. All examples are given in the usual octave c 1 - c2, with the exception of D minor, written from B-flat. The text advises ample drill in studying the octave scale prior to undertaking the fragments, trichords to heptachords. Another effective point is made in order to understand the distinction between major and minor scales. Emphasis is placed not only on the tonic (C) of the major and on the tonic (A) of the relative minor, but also on the dominants where the 5th degree in the major mode agrees with the 7th degree in the minor, which is altered as required. The trichord is studied both within and outside the context of the minor scale: first as a major third with three possible infixes: tone - tone; semitone - tone and a half (augmented second); tone and a half- semitone. The examples ascend and descend. Each successive trichord in the minor scale is studied, noting the interval size in each of the six cases. A rubric advises a restudy of all the exercises given for the major scale. The remaining scale fragments are studied in the same way. He still takes pains to illustrate each aspect of the various fragments, their makeup and their positions within the scale. Again the student is reminded to review the preceding major scale fragments. Additional exercises are presented for the studies of tetrachords, pentachords and heptachords. Elaborate groupings of scales are to be sung connectedly, key by key, as indicated in this section of more than eight pages, within the range c 1 - c2 (C- sharp or C-flat as required). 1. Major scales ascending and descending, beginning on C-sharp, proceeding counterclockwise around the circle of fifths (dropping one sharp each time, or adding one flat). 2. Major scales, beginning with C-flat, circling clockwise (dropping one flat each time, or adding one sharp). 3., 4. Harmonic minor scales, same patterns.

108

IA RITHMIQUE: EAR TRAINING

5., 6. Minor scales, same patterns: relative (pure) minor, then harmonic minor, in every key. All scales are done again preceded by the major scale. 7. Major scales followed by their parallel harmonic minor scales in every key, clockwise around the circle in sharped keys: C major, C minor; G major, G minor, etc. The exercise is repeated in the opposite direction, i.e., descending, ascending. The final grouping commences in F major, followed by F minor harmonic, and proceeds counterclockwise through the flatted keys. This group is also repeated in opposed direction, and also by reversing the order-minor scale followed by major. Modulation is introduced through a statement of six rules with appropriate illustrative examples and exercises. These rules do not differ from most theoretical concepts except in one respect. Jaques-Dalcroze bases his rules, and the accompanying material, on melodic lines rather than upon harmonic considerations. Thus he leads one to think of the tones 1, 3 , or 5 of the pentachord rather than the tonic (or dominant) chord. The idea fits his method of deepening the aural aspect of musical training through vocal expression. The first exercises require the student to repeat a two- measure melody in a neighboring key after the instructor sings it in his choice of key. Fourand eight-measure melodies follow. Melodies are organized in groups. In the first group the melody ends on the tones 1, 3, or 5 of the tonic; in the other the melodies end on 1, 3, or 5 of the dominant. A three-part musical form is then employed. The instructor sings a melody of period length ending on 1, 3, or 5 of the dominant pentachord, the students improvise the second period in the dominant key, ending on 1, 3, or 5 of the dominant pentachord, and then they complete the third period in the tonic key. Longer melodies are now employed, ending on 5 of either the tonic or the dominant, the students continuing by improvising a period in the dominant key and then another in the tonic key. The instructor sings a three period melody, tonic - dominant - tonic, and then indicates his starting note; the students determine the initial key and express the dominant key. The next process in modulation observes the common tone principle wherein the last note of the initial melody, the 4th degree for example, may be considered the 6th degree in the next key, and the melody so continues. In the following drill the instructor sings a modulating melody and indicates the initial key; the students announce the common tone and the key to which he has modulated. The practice of modulating to remote keys, e.g.,

109

RHYTHM AND LIFE from G to O-flat, using the common tone method, continues. Another method of modulation is presented whereby the last note of the initial period is the 1, 3, or 5 of the key in which the melody continues. There is a brief discussion of melodic and modulating sequences, the modulations being of one or two degrees higher or lower. Drill in this technique is required using exercises proposed previously in volume two. Further drill follows, employing trichords, tetrachords, and the other scalar fragments, singularly, and in combinations, to affect modulations as required in the exercises using a figuration system. There is some drill for the augmented dichord which is sung as such and also sung with two chromatic infixes within the outer tones. So far, references to minor scales have not used terminology to distinguish between the harmonic and the melodic genera. Work with harmonic minor has been given and now treatment of the melodic genus is introduced. There is a rubric which merely states that the term "harmonic" will be explained in the next volume. The ascending melodic minor scale, with the raised 6th and 7th steps, and the descending minor scale, containing unaltered tones (actually the tones of the relative scales), are studied next, then exercises requiring the singing of descending minor scales, followed by their tonic tones. With these scales, and with scales in D, D-sharp and D-flat (descending from C, Csharp and C-flat respectively), the instructor plays a chord reinforcing the leading tone as it proceeds to the tonic. The next series of drills asks for melodic minor scales to be sung ascending and descending, all beginning on c1, altered when required; the harmonic minor scale sung ascending, the melodic descending (the model gives the lowered 7th degree); the harmonic scale descending followed by the melodic ascending. As usual, the tonic is sung after each scale. There is a return to the Roman numeral system, with indicated rhythm patterns, in the next scalar exercises-harmonic and melodic-in all keys. Besides providing ingenuity in rhythms they contain melodic drill also, employing conjunct tones and skips of varying intervals. The final sixty pages of volume three contain melodies of great variety, minor modes, chromaticism and modulation, and sixteen additional pages of simpler heterogenous melodies. Since no universal "method" for studies of the more modem theoretical systems, such as serialism and microtonalism, is extant, the ear training ideas developed by Jaques-Dalcroze within the major-minor system remain the most extensive and the most valid technical studies produced to date. In commenting upon her master as one of the greatest educators of all times, Elfriede Feudel, one of Jaques-Dalcroze's esteemed disciples, explained it simply: "He was a musician." Her statement recognized the universality,

110

LA RITHMIQUE: EAR TRAINING

sensitivity, and discipline inherent in musicianship of high calibre. In understanding his powers as a theoretician and as a pedagogue, one can account for his excellence by acclaiming, in like manner: "He was a composer. " For convenience, the various "rules" interspersed throughout the three volumes are here summarized.

Rulesof Nuance 1. All ascending melodies must be sung with a crescendo, descending melodies with a diminuendo.

2. In a strongly accented rhythmic passage the nuances of crescendo and diminuendo must be lessened. 3. A prolonged note in an ascending passage receives a crescendo. If the note following descends, there is a crescendo followed by a decrescendo. 4. A crescendo occurs when a note is repeated several times. 5. When a repeated note passage brings back the initial melody, the crescendo also has a rallentando. 6. If a rhythmic and melodic group is repeated the second time, it should be sung with a different nuance. 7. The preparatory figure which leads into the return of a melody must be done rallentando. 8. Where a melody ends with a conjunct series of notes of the same duration, the last of these notes must be dotted (shortened). If these notes precede the return of the melody they must also have a rallentando. 9. When a succession of notes of equal value leads into the return of a melody whose first notes are of double duration, the rallentando of the connecting passage must be great enough so that its last notes become of double duration. 10. If a series of ascending notes of equal duration occurs, in a section composed of unequal notes, it is necessary to accent each of these notes. 11. When a descending melodic passage brings in a powerful theme, the passage is sung with a crescendo. When an ascending passage brings in a gentle theme, the passage is sung decrescendo. (Contrary to Rule 1) 12. In a piece ending with a series of isolated notes in measures containing rests there must be a rallentando in the rests. 111

RHITHM AND LIFE

13. In a pattern of two different slurred notes of equal value the notes are in an order of strong-weak.

Rulesof Phrasing 1. When a rhythmic group is repeated one must observe a slight break before the repetition. (Combine with Rule 6 of Nuance) 2. The final note of a figure, period, or phrase is followed by a rest, a breath, or a short pause. The sonority of this final note is lessened unless it is the final note of a crescendo passage. 3. A break precedes and follows a group of notes which serves only to fill in the measure after the end of a period or phrase. 4. There occurs a break between a note and its repetition. Exceptions are: a) when the two notes represent a feminine ending of a figure, period, or phrase; b) when the two notes do not occur in a feminine ending; are not the beginning of a figure, period, or phrase; or do not represent the final note of one and the beginning note of another of two figures or of two consecutive periods. 5. When the continuation of a series of conjunct notes or of small intervals follows a large interval (five or six degrees) it is necessary to breathe (break) before the second note of that interval. This rule applies only in slow passages and not at all at the beginning of a piece. 6. If a series of conjunct notes (or small intervals) ends in a large interval whose two notes constitute a detached feminine ending, and are of longer value than the preceding notes, one must breathe after the last note of the large interval. 7. When a melodic or rhythmic group of notes forming a pickup (anacrusis) recurs in a melody, it is necessary to precede it with a break. 8. When a series of notes of a certain value ends on a note of much greater value, break after this last note or after the note oflesser value which follows it (corresponding to a feminine syllable). 9. Break after the first note, or beat, of a measure if the following note constitutes a wide melodic skip. 10. Make a slight break between several groups of two notes when the first note is longer than the second. 11. With few exceptions, take a breath after the note of a phrase which has the feeling of repose (tonic) or semi-repose (dominant, or even subdominant).

112

IA RITHMIQUE: EAR TRAINING

12. Break after the first note which follows a run or a gruppetto (equal note values) if it is oflonger value than those of which the preceding group is composed. 13. Break between each repetition of a two-note group where the first note of the pair is of shorter value than the second. 14. Break before and after a group of notes whose role is to fill in an incomplete measure by an imitation, echo, or a transitional run.

Rulesof Accent 1. Accent strongly the last note of a measure if it is tied over to the first beat of the following measure. 2. Accent the first note of a group which falls on a weak beat when the preceding notes each take up a beat throughout the measure. 3. Accent a note preceded and followed by a rest, even if it falls on a weak beat. 4. Accent more strongly the first note of a measure if it is the same as the last note of the previous measure. 5. Accent strongly, even on a weak beat, the highest note of a descending rhythmic group. 6. A neighboring tone or appogiatura is slightly accented, even on a weak beat, if it is affected by an accidental. The accent is stronger if the altered tone is the upper neighbor. 7. An altered note introducing a modulation is accented even if it is on a weak beat.

Rulesof MelodicImprovisation 1. In a well-constructed melody, ascending and descending motion, as well as static passages, alternate in equitable proportion without becoming monotonous.

2. Avoid too frequent repetition of the same rhythm in a melody. 3. In general, do not use two consecutive intervals larger than a third, either ascending or descending. 4. The 4th or 7th degrees following each other must proceed to the note a semi-tone next to it (F - B -->- C; B - F __..E). 5. Two intervals encompassing a 7th may not be used unless one of the intervals is a 2d.

113

RHYfHMAND LIFE 6. Following the classic ideal, a melody should consist of an even number of measures. This is especially advised for first-year students. 7. To give the first half of the melody the quality of a "question," the last note should be the dominant of the scale, or the 3d or 5th of the dominant pentachord. 8. A period of eight measures should consist of two groups of four measures, the first group being a "question," the second an "answer." 9. A six measure period also should be divisible into a question and answer of three measures each. 10. In a regular four-measure period, if the first beat is preceded by a pick-up, it is advisable for a beginning student to repeat the pick-up at the end of the second measure, preceding the firstbeat of the second two-measure group. If a four-measure period with a pick-up is to be repeated omit the rhythmic value of the pick-up in the last measure. N.B. For a clearer understanding of the above rules it is necessary to examine the examples provided in the text illustrating each one. In connection with these stated rules of nuance, phrasing, accent and melodic formulation, Dalcroze offers another "rule," perhaps the most important of all: although following the given rules will produce correct expressive interpretation, from the standpoint of art and personal feeling, mere exactitude of abeyance may not suffice.rn

10Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, Methode Jaques-Dalcroze ..., part 3, vol. I, German ed. by Paul Boepple (Paris, 1906) 23.

114

CHAPTERV

Rythmique: Body Movement, 1906-1917

Under the imprint of Sandoz, Jobin in Paris , Neuchatel and Leipzig, the formal appearance of the complete method was advertised in 1906: Methode

Jaques-Dalcroze. Pourle developpementde !'instinctrythmiques,du sensauditif et du sentimenttonal,en 5 parties.Part I---Gymnastiquerythmique,known in English as RhythmicMovement-was the most widely accepted and universally practiced portion of the method because of its genuine novelty. Although the word "Method" is contained in the title, Jaques-Dalcroze denied that this was indeed a "method." He felt that he was offering a guide for teachers and students to use as they wished. He advocated the invention and the use of individual, original ideas and exercises to supplement, or displace, those which he had set down. This was a procedure which he himself always practiced. It might be surmised that an idea or an example not specified in the method, but felt to be necessary, would be an improvement, or at least an advisable technique to use for the moment, according to whatever problem the ongoing class might be encountering. The master's ability to alter his plan by reason of the dictates of the live situation was a key to his effectiveness as a teacher. To a large extent it is these variations in his approach-spontaneity rather than the strict compliance with the method-that are remembered in the minds and hearts of so many of his students. In evolving this educational system, Jaques-Dalcroze thought in terms of making the pupils better musicians. An important dictate was to teach the practical side before embarking on the theoretical side. He soon found that the development of hearing was not enough to make the student feel and love music. In music the most forceful clement is rhythm. It is most closely allied to life, and offers the greatest appeal to the senses. Of the musical ele115

RHYTHM AND LIFE

ments-sound, rhythm, and dynamics--the latter two depend entirely on movement and find their counterparts in our muscular system. JaquesDalcroze found that simple walking or marching with arm and body_movements was not enough; to grasp rhythm mentally was not enough.[There is a lapse between conceiving an idea and carrying it out through the nervous system. Rythmique aims at strengthening the power of concentration; of keeping the body under control while awaiting orders from the intellect; at turning conscious action into unconscious action; to create more motive, habits, new reflexes; to obtain the greatest result with the least effort. It establishes order and clarity in the organism. The system is based on music because music can influence all our vital activities and can express our varied nuances of feeling. The system agrees with the Greek definition of music as "the ensemble of the faculties of our senses and of our spirit, the everchanging symphony of feelings created spontaneously, transformed by the imagination, regulated by rhythm, harmonized by consciousness. "1 Rythmique is not only a pedagogic method-it is a force analogous to electricity or to the chemical and physical forces of nature. It has the mission of creating closer relations between body and spirit. The purpose of Part I was to develop rhythmic instinct and musical meter, in other words, the feeling of plastic harmony and balance of movements, and to regulate motor habits. (The French word plastiqueis not common in English usage in the same sense. When used as an artistic term it means "expressive" more than "pliable" or having the quality ofbeing able to mold into a form.) Part I contains 120 photographs by Boissonnas, 80 drawings by Artus, 10 anatomic plates by Cacheux, and 160 rhythmic marches for piano and voice. There are 30 lessons in each volume, each lesson containing: 1. general exercises: breathing, balance of movements, strength and flexibility of the muscles 2. rhythmic walking exercises in simple musical values 3. rhythmic breathing exercises 4. walking exercises accompanied by rhythmic arm movements. 5. exercises to develop independence of members (head, arms, trunk, legs, etc.) 6. exercises to develop spontaneous will and control of unconscious movements and also those without special purpose or objective 1Emile

Jaques-Dalcroze, MethodeJaquesDalcroze ... (Lausanne, 191 7) II, viii.

116

RITHMIQUE: BODYMOVEMENT,

1906-1917

7.exercises d'arret( of stopping) to teach the separation of time, mentally, into equal parts 8. exercises of alternation of measures 9. listening exercises: melodies used in walking and in other rhythmic movements 10. march rhythms with piano accompaniment followed by a series of studies of gestures and attitudes broken down in slow rhythmic movements accompanied at the piano. There is also a special chapter concerned with hygienic care of the body and the use of massage.2 Dalcroze states that the method is founded on certain elementary principles:

1. All rhythm is movement. 2. All movement is material. 3. All movement requires space and time. 4. Space and time are tied anew by the matter which turns them in an eternal rhythm. 5. Movements of small children are purely physical and unconscious. 6. Physical experience forms the conscience. 7. Perfection of physical means produces clarity of intellectual perception. 8. To control movement is to develop a rhythmic mentality. To put these into practice we add to the formula the following conclusions: 1. To regulate and to perfect movements is to develop rhythmic mentality. 2. To perfect strength and flexibility of the muscles while regularizing proportions of time is to develop rhythmic musical feeling and a sense of symmetry. 3. To perfect strength and flexibility of the muscles while regulating proportions of space (combined movements and stationary positions) is to develop the sense of plastic rhythm.

2All discussions

concerning movement in this chapter are from Part I of the Methode,volumes

land 2.

117

RHYTHM AND LIFE 4. Rhythmic gymnastics (i.e., rythmique) has for a goal the perfection of the strength and flexibility of the muscles in proportions of time and space (music and plastic). In his introduction, Dalcroze cites two quotations which reinforce the spirit of his ideas. From Fran- ➔-

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234

Chapter XI

ct Rythmique in the United States, 1913Placido de Montoliu, a Spaniard who completed his studies in Geneva, was the first instructor to bring Jaques-Dalcroze's method to the United States. His classes were held in Bryn Mawr, Ardmore, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Greenwich, Connecticut. 1 At just about the time the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze opened in Geneva, Marguerite Heaton of London and Suzanne Ferriere of Geneva introduced classes in New Yark at 9 East 59th Street. From its beginning the New York Dalcroze School was very active, offering courses in rhythmic gymnastics, solfege and plastics-an advanced course intended to follow the rhythmic gymnastics course. Improvisation was set aside, no longer required as an integrated discipline, but available as a course for personal interest only. In 1918 Miss Ferriere left the school to return to Switzerland to work with the International Red Cross organization in what she felt was a more impelling occupation. Marguerite Heaton remained as sole director of the school, assisted by Jessmin Howarth, a graduate of the London school, and Paulet Thevanaz, an extremely talented graduate of the Geneva Institute. At this time rythmique did not arouse nearly the interest it did in England. In 1922 Marguerite Heaton attempted to explain why the method in America was not keeping up with its progress in Russia. When Placido de Montoliu gave his first instruction at Bryn Mawr, classes in Russia had been established for ten years. In America, as well as in many European cities, the instructor was forced to spend much energy and time defending the method, since it was neither 'Hilda M. Schuster, The Aesthetic Contribution of DalcrozeEurythmicsto Modem Education, unpublished thesis, Duquesne University, 1938, is the first extensive report on the introduction and development of rythmique, called eurhythmics in the United States as well as in England, at various pioneering institutions in the states. Information presented here is obtained from this source and also from the following: mimeographed "Outline of the History of the Dalcroze Method in America," prepared by the New York Dalcroze School ( 1965); Arthur F. Becknell, A Historyof the Developmentof DalcrozeEurythmicsin the UnitedStates, dissertation, University of Michigan ( 1970/71); Beth Landis and Polly Carder, The Eclectic Curriculumin AmericanMusicEducation: Contributions of Dalcroze,Kodalyand Orff (Boston, 1972).

235

RHYTHMAND LIFE thoroughly understandable nor wholly accepted. It was considered a European method, without value in America. Furthermore, it was one of many methods and, perhaps, the least known of all. Competing methods were closer to dance, and thus were better comprehended. Eurythmics, as the term was used in England, and by which some dance methods were alsoidentified, was not the same as the Dalcroze rythmique. It differedfrom other systems of gymnastics or body techniques with or without music, in that it had a different,deeper purpose, which was not self-evident, but which required sympathy and comprehension, as well as effort, to achieve its goals.2 In 1926, when the New York School was moving to improved facilities at 63 West 56th Street, Paul Boepple arrived (following his interim directorship of the lnstitut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva), and additional instructors Gabrielle Egger, Elsa Findlay and Frances Teall-all certificate holders-and Muriel Bradford and Johanna Gjerulff, diploma recipients. The school was now empowered to offer a teaching certificate in its own right. Boepple took over as full director of the school in 1928 at which point it was renamed The American Institute of Dalcroze Eurythmics. It offered courses in harmony, counterpoint, orchestration, compa;ition and history of music, in addition to the traditional Dalcroze courses. In the summer of 1929 they opened a branch school in Lucem-in-Maine, a small community near Bar Harbor; Boepple instructed at the Maine site while Bradford and Gjerulff taught in New York. Other New York institutions grasped the opportunity to do Dalcroze work: the Damrosch Institute of Musical Art (later called the Juilliard School of Music), Hunter College, New York University School of Musical Education, Teachers College of Columbia University, the Denishawn School of the Dance, and the New York Institute for Education of the Blind. Activity blossomed in other cities as well-seventy schools and colleges, in private classes from Boston to Honolulu, and from Seattle to Washington, D.C. A major American composer, Roger Sessions, entered the picture in 1934 when the New York school again changed its name and, more importantly, its structure. Sessions and Boepple co-directed the enterprise, the New Music School and Dalcroze Institute. The new idea was to have a school in which the actual production of music, taught by composers, was the main objective to which all other musical activities, such as interpretation and performance techniques were subordinated in the logical sequence of 1) composer, 2) performer, 3) public. Added to the faculty was Suzanne Bloch, daughter of compa;er Ernest Bloch, a superb musician in her own right, having been trained at the Geneva and Paris conservatories. 2Le Rythme,no.

9 CTuneI 922).

236

RYTHMIQUE IN THE UNITED STATES, 1913-

The new scheme, however, lasted foronly one year. In 1935 the institute reverted to the Dalcroze School of Music, with Paul Boepple as its sole director. It had operated under a provisional charter from the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York until 1941, at which time it was granted an absolute charter. Boepple's leadership terminated one year later when he accepted the chairmanship of the School of Music at Bennington (Vermont) College; a new era commenced. Hilda Schuster, dean and chief assistant to Boepple since 1940, became acting director and in 1945 was appointed full director. Due to her deep knowledge of the Dalcroze method and her wide experience in the American educational system, Miss Schuster was certainly the most qualified person to undertake the leadership of the New Yark School. Besides having earned the diploma in Geneva she had taught in American public and parochial schools and in several colleges, not only teaching Dalcroze subjects but also traditional music theory and techniques of creative music for public school teachers. She also performed as a pianist in chamber and choral groups. The home of the New Yark Dalcroze School changed locations again in 1944, to 130 West 56th Street, becoming the first tenant in the New Yark City Center for Music and Dance. Six years later it moved to 161 East 73d Street, its current location. A large part of the school's curriculum lay in musical practice aside from strict Dalcroze concentration, although numerous students, professional and amateur, continued to avail themselves of the specialized work. Many New York City teachers took these courses for practical purposes since the city Board of Education recognized this service in granting salary increments on both the graduate and undergraduate levels. The second American music school of note to offer study in JaquesDalcroze's method was the Cleveland Institute of Music, the first institution in the United States to grant a degree in eurhythmics. Ernest Bloch, one of the most famous of the era's living composers, after serving three years on the faculty of the David Mannes School of Music in New Yark, went to Cleveland to direct the new institute in that city. One of his initial acts as director was to engage Jean Binet, his talented composition student in New York and a diplomate of the Geneva Dalcroze Institute, to supervise the eurhythmics portion of the curriculum. The 1921-22 catalog of the institute stated that one of the aims of rhythmic training was the coordination of mind and body. In the offering of eurhythmics, however, only rhythmic movement and plastic movement were featured, thus a further breakdown in Dalcroze's tripartite system was evident. In addition, solfege was not treated as part of the eurhythmic idea but was

237

RHYTHM AND LIFE taught in the theory department where there was no obligation to oooerve the formal Dalcroze solfege practices. Further developments ensued, including the expansion of the institute's courses to include children's studies, and the 1924 addition of Gladys Wells, of the London School, to the faculty. In the following decades additional Dalcrozians joined the staff: Doris Partmann, Betty Miller, and Penelope Draper. Elsa Findlay, a Hellerau graduate experienced in dance and theatre, joined the staff in 1956 and became chairman of the eurhythmics department in 1966. At the time ofBloch's departure from the Cleveland Institute of Music, two years of eurhythmics were required to qualify for a bachelor of music degree and also for a teaching certificate. During Elsa Findlay's tenure, a major field in eurhythmics as part of the bachelor of music degree was available. John Coleman assisted Miss Findlay in managing this program, whose major requirements were rigorous: four years of eurhythmics, including pedagogy, a seminar and thesis; four years of applied piano study; three years of music history; four years of music theory, including solfege, harmony, keyboard harmony, form and analysis, vocal counterpoint and pedagogy; three years of improvisation; four years of liberal arts courses; four years of dance courses, and four years of chorus participation. At this time Victor Babin, a renowned pianist (part of the two-piano team of Vronsky and Babin), was director of the Cleveland Institute of Music, and William Kurzban served as dean. Both were strong advocates of rhythmic study as an important part of a musical education. Thus far, the Dalcroze name had not been used in connection with courses or with the degree at the Cleveland Institute. In April, 1967, however, Gabriel J aq ues-Dalcroze and the Geneva school permitted the use of the name and authorized those who received the elementary certificate to teach private courses for children and adults, recognizing the fact that their training included work with certified Dalcroze instructors. It was specified, nevertheless, that those aspiring to teach for professional purposes, i.e. , to train teachers of the method, or to teach at the college or university level, would be required to obtain a diploma at the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva. Yet, for the moment, the use of the Dalcroze name at the Clevelend Institute was most important. The Cleveland school became the first to be authorized for certification since the founding of the New York School in 1915 and, as mentioned, the first degree granting institution authorized to award a Dalcroze certificate.

238

RITHMIQUE IN THE UNITED STATES, 1913-

The University of Pittsburgh, in 1913, was the first institution to offer Dalcroze eurhythmics at the college level. The course, which was taught by Susan Canfield, a Hellerau student, was offered in the department of dramatics. Later, the music education department was transferred to the Carnegie Institute of Technology (alsoin Pittsburgh), and the two-semester course accompanied the transfer. Carnegie Institute became the first college to establish a permanent department of eurhythmics, whose credits were allowed only to majors in music education. In 1926, as interest in the area grew, Mary MacNair, a London School graduate, joined the staff and shortly thereafter eurhythmic courses were offered for both music education and drama students. Doris Partmann, who worked with Binet at the Cleveland Institute of Music, succeeded Miss MacNair in 1929. Partmann had taught in the Pittsburgh public schools, at Oberlin Conservatory, and at Western Reserve University; in later years at the Cleveland Institute and the University of Virginia. In tum, Cecil Kitcat, also a graduate from Geneva, succeeded Partmann in 1933. At this time eurhythmics was requiredofall music students at Carnegie, not merely music education majors. These credits could be substituted for physical education requirements--a very attractive situation for music students. A group of advanced students, including Rose Marie Grentzer and Brunhilde Dorsch, to satisfy their keen interest in movement, formed a "Rhythmic Ensemble" which met regularly and prepared programs to perform on campus and throughout the city. By 1937 Kitcat's interest shifted, as she left the music department and did all of her work in the department of dramatics. Later, experiencing another change in interest, she went to New York to study and teach dance, then returned to the Carnegie Institute as professor of stage movement, after serving at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. Henriette Rosenstrauch, a graduate of Geneva who previously had taught at Frankfurt, Mainz and London, was her interim replacement; a brilliant proponent of rythmique, Rosenstrauch taught in the drama department, and even experimented with rythmique in art classes. After retiring in 1959 she went to Europe to teach in various Dalcroze schools. Between 1953 and 1958 other instructors contributed to the American eurhythmics scene: Joan Wright, Coleen Smith, Theresa Collet, and Marta Sanchez. Upon arrival from Chile, Mrs. Sanchez taught at the Pittsfield (Massachusetts) Community School, which had a significant history featuring eurhythmics in its curriculum. John Colman also worked at the Carnegie Institute ofT echnology. A diplomate of the Geneva school, Colman previously had studied composition with Paul Hindemith in Berlin. He taught at the Dalcroze schools in New York, Paris, the Cleveland 239

RHITHM AND LIFE

Institute, the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, and summer courses at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Colman is a brilliant improviser and a busy accompanist in New York, particularly for dance and ballet programs and classes. Carnegie Institute of Technology, now known as Carnegie-Mellon University, permitted Marta Sanchez, with the assistance of other teachers, to supervise eurhythmic classes for culturally deprived children in city day camps and in thirty-four schools. Eurhythmic classes were also given by Virginia Schatz, a student of Henrietta Rosenstrauch, at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. To improve the quality of eurhythmic training Mrs. Sanchez and Betty Sommer conducted a teachers workshop on the Carnegie-Mellon campus in 1967. In the same year, the lnstitut Jaques-Dalcroze authorized CarnegieMellon University to award certificates to persons who had already earned degrees in general education, music education, physical education, art education, speech and drama education, and had completed at least a minimum study in eurhythmics. This development allowed public school teachers to do eurhythmic work in their classrooms. Duquesne, another Pittsburgh university, had installed eurhythmic classes taught by Hilda Schuster, as early as 1931. The city of Pittsburgh proved to be a mecca of eurhythmic training, featuring it on many levels: university, public school, summer camp, and special teachers courses. Other centers and instructors for eurhythmic training not previously mentioned are : From before 1915 Buffalo Boston Chicago

Seattle

Clara Brooke, Amy Graham Jacqueline Mellor, Placido de Montoliu Minnie Lawson, Rose Theiler, Eleanor Burgess, Lucy Duncan Hall Elsie Hewitt McCoy

1920 Cornell University (Ithaca, N.Y.)

Lucy Duncan Hall, Leontine Plonk

1921 New York Institute for the Blind

Emilie Hahn

1922 Westchester (Pa.) State Normal School

Lucy Duncan Hall, Leontine Plonk

240

RITHMIQUE IN THE UNITEDSTA TES, 1913-

1925 Toronto Conservatory of Music, University of Toronto Juilliard School of Music New York University

Madeleine BossLasserre

Nellie Reuschel Lucy Duncan Hall, Leontine Plonk

1927 Washington, D.C.

Iris Bland Smith

1930 Cincinnati Conservatory of Music Greenbriar (W.V.) College Ithaca (N.Y.) College MacPhail (Minneapolis) School of Music University of North Carolina Trinity (Burlington, Vt.) College King-Smith School (Washington, D.C.)

Doris Wulff Hazel Petraitis Marjorie Dorian Martha Baker Johanna Gjerulff Dorothy Hunt Gertrude Marti

1947 Mansfield (Pa.) State Teachers College

Florence Berkey

1952 University of Southern California

Irene Bland

1959 Hartford Conservatory of Music, University of Connecticut

Patricia Thompson

1960 New England Conservatory

Lisa Frederick

1963 University of Minnesota

Martha Baker

1964 David Hochstein Memorial School of Music

Edith Wax

Additional institutions offering Dalcroze courses at various times are: Bank Street College, New York Manhattan School of Music, New York City College Graduate School of Education, New York University of Washington Montclair (New Jersey) State College Kent (Ohio) State College

241

RHITHM AND LIFE

A telling summary of the progress of Dalcroze activity in the United States is shown by these figures: 1912 3 instructors 1924 11 instructors 1928 20 instructors in 43 colleges and schools 1965 180 instructors in 24 states, 93 cities In 1922 various Dalcroze teachers from coast to coast joined forces under the leadership of Marion Kappas who, though not an authorized Dalcroze teacher herself, understood and fostered the master's principles to some degree, to form the Association of Dalcroze Teachers. In 1932, a reorganization on a stricter basis was accomplished. Once Jaques-Dalcroze's rythmique program was organized, published, and its value proven to a high degree, he sought universal acceptance. Putting the method into effect progressed in varying degrees in Switzerland, Germany, and other European countries. He continued to seek application of his method in the public schools which in Geneva came about, as late as 1929, only on a limited basis. In the United States, interest in Dalcroze activity in the public schools manifested itself in the early 1930s. By that time, however, particularly in this country, many of Dalcroze's principles were already shorn away: solfege and improvisation were no longer directly related; only body movement remained. And this was directed mainly to the study of rhythm, perhaps the most important element with which music is imbued. The deeper influences of rhythm, its human integration, the qualities which were saturated in Jaques-Dalcroze's rythmique, were largely eliminated. The absence of the complete disciplinary relationship was noted at Geneva, the world center of Dalcroze study, though it was overlooked to a certain degree in the United States. It was truly with reluctance that the Geneva school finally authorized the association of the Dalcroze name with the training in the American music school-a matter of expediency as well as of guarded promotion. Karl Wilson Gehrkens, long-time chairman of the music education department of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, became interested in J aques-Dalcroze's concepts, particularly those which agreed with his own early practices. His investigations were thorough, including witnessing eurhythmic classes in several parts of the country, and visiting the master himself in Geneva. Gehrkens remained unconvinced, however, of the need to integrate

242

RITHMIQUE IN THE UNITED STATES, 1913Dalcroze's three disciplines, feeling that they were well known and well understood, but too universally acceptable to be restrained to a single system unless the "system is as flexible and adaptable as the principle is broad and comprehensive." 3 Gehrkens clearly stated hi:, objection to the integration of elements comprisingJaques-Dalcroze'ssystem, as the instructors from Geneva had initially insisted, and they eventually gave up those principles as a matter of necessity. As a system of rhythmic training, the greatest obstacle to the success of the method has been the attitude of some of the Dalcroze teachers themselves. They have often insisted that the system must be taught in its entirety to be effective and that if it cannot be worked completely and exactly in accordance with its inventor it must not be adopted at all.4

In Pennsylvania a strong attempt was made to establish a program of eurhythmics on a state-wide basis, while a member of the faculty of Carnegie Institute of Technology, Will Earhart, also the director of music in the public schools of Pittsburgh, simultaneously sought a CutTiculum in music including eurhythmics, for all public schools in the state. Cecil Kitcat, Susan Canfield and Hilda Schuster worked out an outline for eurhythmics in 1933, yet the project was not brought to fruition due to a lack of qualified teachers to cany it out. Some local elementaiy teachers attempted to undergo special training in order to be certified, but it was not enough to overcome the serious situation. The pressing problem of obtaining teachers with sufficient skill to teach Dalcroze work, who are also licensed as public school teachers in individual states, has been one of the most unresolved handicaps in promoting the Dalcroze system (even with its vaiiants) in this country. In the early 1970s the Dalcroze Society of America leaped into prominence. Under the guidance of its chai1man Arthur Becknell they published a newsletter, later called Journal,which brought attention to all of their activities, information on their annual national conferences, workshops, demonstrations and clinics all over the count1y, articles on subjects of professional interest, activities of individual rhythmicians, and announcements of new licentiates and diplomates from the several authority-granting schools. In addition to Dalcrozians already mentioned, dating from the earliest instructors to those taking part in teaching through the 1960s, the following persons, active through the 1970s on may be mentioned: 5 3Karl

W. Gehrkens, "Rhythmic Training and Dalcroze Eurythmics," Yearbook,Music Super-

!lisorsNationalConference(Chicago, 1932) 309f. 4Ibid., 308 5Data from Newsletters and Journals of the Dalcroze Society of America, 1972 to date.

243

Robert Abramson, American rhythmician

RITHMIQUE IN THE UNITED STATES, 1913Robert Abramson Frances Aronson Charles Aschenbrunner Carolyn Bilderback Julia Black Thomas Bratz David Brown June Butler Margery Dorian Dora Dubsky Shirley Griffith Melinda Haas Judi Heastings Herbert Henke Julia Hibben Helen Hill

Inda Howland Charlotte Hubert Annabelle Joseph Joy Kane Lorna Lombardo Bianca Lord Virginia Mead Ron Ozanich Lisa Parker Sydell Roth Betty Sommers Ron Sprunger John Stevenson Ursula Stuben Elizabeth Waters Marianne Wahli Edith Wax Evelyn Wellman Inge Witt

Manhattan School of Music, J uilliard School of Music New York University Hope College Manhattan School of Music Georgia State University University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Cleveland Institute of Music Cleveland Music School Settlement Mills College New York YM-YWHA University of North Carolina Texas Women's University University of Texas Pittsburgh Public Schools Oberlin Conservatory Belmont (Mass.) Public Schools Hollis Woods Community Church Music School (Queen's Village, N.Y.) Oberlin Conservatory University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Pittsburgh Public Schools Hartford Conservatory N .Y. Dalcroze School Cleveland Institute of Music Kent State University Akron University New England Conservatory Longy School of Music Croydon Country Day School Montclair, Newark State Colleges Laval University Ithaca College Laval University University of New Mexico Laval University North Shore Community Arts Center Western Washington State College Meredith College

There were in addition, those persons who canied on in private studios and in other private schools.

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As well as working at their home bases, eurhythmic instructors were in demand to conduct classes in other schools and in various other facilities, generally during summer sessions. These programs, from one-day sessions to four-week periods, often carried college credits. Workshops were also given within the activities of national organizations such as the Music Educators National Conference, Music Teachers Association, Orff, Kodaly and Suzuki meetings, national and state meetings of organ and piano teachers, at local libraries, choral and community arts associations, and public schools. Wark was done not only in eurhythmics, but experts in therapy and eutony also shared their talents. The most active conductor of clinics (workshops) was Robert Abramson, who gave as many as ten programs in a single summer, in addition to several others during the year. Other popular workshop instructors were Frances Aronoff, Martha Baker, Arthur Becknell, John Colman, Brunhilde Dorsch, Virginia Mead, Lisa Parker, Marta Sanchez, and many more. From time to time Dalcrozians from abroad came to instruct at various sessions: Hettie van Maanen (President of U.I.P.D.) from Holland, Elizabeth Vanderspar from London, Valerie Roth from Paris, Dominique Porte and Marie-Louise Hatt-Arnold from Geneva. American teachers were invited to participate abroad as well: Marta Sanchez to Chile, Venezuela and Australia; Virginia Mead to China; Robert Abramson to Japan where en route he paused periodically to teach rhythm classes in London, Frankfurt, and Dusseldorf; and Joy Yellin to Australia. Abramson and John Stevenson also participated in programs at the lnstitut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva. An even more significant challenge was issued to Abramson when he was asked to teach the ear training course of the Jaques-Dalcroze method-all three volumes, which Abramson had translated into English-to the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. Stevenson expanded his activities in Geneva by bringing with him his Ensemble ]aquesDalcroze,PlastiqueAnimee for performances throughout Geneva. The ensemble was also featured in programs in the United States. At the 1974 Dalcroze International Congress in Geneva there were 227 participants from 22 countries. The United States had 25 representatives, the largest delegation of any country except Switzerland. Now that schools in America are graduating qualified teachers and have intensified their programs it is certain that eurhythmics has overcome some previous impediments and is well on its way to being recognized as a force in the teaching of music and other studies.

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CHAPTERXII

Paris: 1924-1926 Paris, 9 Apr [1925) 52 Rue de Vaugirard My dear Claparede, I am writing you as a faithful and comprehending friend, in whom I have deep admiration and entire confidence, and I beg you to consider this letter in all confidence. You know that if! left Geneva it was because I sensed-from the musical point of view-that the Conservatory opposed my activity, thanks to the "hostility" of the director. On the other hand, my system of education, following the political events imposed by financial restrictions, stopped being experimental in the public schools even at the moment when it was beginning to assert its influence on the development of the personality and on its imaginative faculties (I hold, in effect, that it is only after three or four years of study of rythmique that one can obtain the results which I expect). Thus have I decided to leave Geneva and to make my home in Paris, and my exile was further motivated by the fact that the Institute at la Terrassierecould no longer guarantee me a job--! am, unfortunately, not a rich man. I have chosen Paris because of the support of two persons who are always interested in my ideas, my situation in the School of Rythmique which they created. The number of professional students is considerable. Among them are Americans English, Czechoslovakians; there are few French people except, naturally, in the children's classes, where there are many. I have gathered around me about 40 instructors, very intelligent and faithful. The physicians are friendly, certain artists also; my demonstrations attract a large public, the reviews ask for articles. In other words, my financial situation is for the most part assured, thanks, above all, to the fact that my two friends offer me, without charge, their place and will undertake all of the advertising. But in spite of these moral and material advantages, I cannot accustom myself to the life of Paris. I am homesick. That is why I return to Geneva, the city of which I do not cease to think, which draws me, and which I love. But, I feel-you know certain [things) are closer to reality than the actual facts--!

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RHYTHM AND LIFE feel that my return to the institute would conflict with resistance of a financial order which, in spite of friendships and sympathies, will result in a situation not precisely desirable. So I am ready, for at least one year of trial, to make all concessions, not to ask for consideration as director, and to be content with simple appointments as an instructor. You should be up on the matter. But I would like, at least in the summer course of this year, to make all attempts possible to interest the pedagogues in my efforts. I know that my experiences make progress in encouraging the freedom of young spirits to awaken from within creative and imaginative faculties. And I can state, in the course of my inspections in England, where my method is introduced in a great number of schools, about 200, that the practice of my exercises is profitable in general studies. It is true that in England I am admirably seconded by my friend Ingham who for 10 years has spent 30,000 to 40,000 fr. to spread my ideas. Nevertheless, I cannot, not anymore, come to establish myself in England; I leave too much to Geneva, this city a bit cruel, but which I adore, and to which I am attached by its temperament, character, heart and spirit. At the Institut de la Terrassiere,as you no doubt know, I do not enjoy all the liberty that I desire from the point of view of the free disposition of my worthy pedagogues. It is interesting that I strongly desire to concede to all the schools of rythmique of the diverse countries the right to distribute certificates of my method on condition, certainly, that the professional studies be done conscienciously under the direction of certified teachers.' This year, at the instigation of my disciple and friend Paul Boepple, the office at la Terrasiere has envisaged the question in a new way, and I think that henceforth the right to teach my system will be liberally accorded to each country according to special conditions. I am profoundly happy about this and I only regret that this decision was not taken sooner, for on occasions and already they are ready in various countries-with reason I believe-to pass on the permission from the institute at Geneva. It is in Germany that the movement opened up and that is why the committee in Geneva took the initiative for which I congratu1The institute granted the certificate, its first level of achievement,to students who spent a certain amount of time, not strictly regulated, and, who passed the specified examinations. These persons were not empowered to teach the Dalcroze method in conservatories or other institutions or in special Dalcroze schools (specializingin Dalcroze training). The second level, the diploma, was awarded after fulfillingthe requirements for the certificate and the passingof further examinations. These graduates were entitled to instruct on the professional level, i.e., to teach students who were preparing to become Dalcroze instructors in their own right. A school or other institution that staffed three or more certificated instructors, and with the approval of the Geneva institute, had the authority to award certificates in its own name thus enabling their graduates to teach on the professionallevel. The authority to grant the diploma was zealouslyguarded by the Geneva Institute, much to the displeasure of other Dalcroze schools, particularly those in other countries from where it might be impractical to attend the Geneva school even for a limited period of time in order to take the examinations there and, to be certificated there. At times this led to ill feelings between hard-working, well-intentioned schools on the outside and the central institution, which was sincerely interested in maintaining certain standards and control.

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PARIS: 1924-1926 late them, to send Paul Boepple 2 as mediator to the Congress of Diisseldorf. I have held, in effect, that it is not by restrictions, by reservations, by vetos, that one can protect ideas, and that they have to be able to develop in all liberty, such that they who expand them offer the necessary guarantees of seriousness, intelligence and loyalry. But it signifies also-ackowledging that Geneva-and the Institut de la Terrassiere-become the center of rythmique. This is why I came to ask you to try to work out the way to unify more entirely my efforts to yours and to those of Monsieur Bovet. 3 If you could interest your students in rythmique, persuade them to follow two courses per week, I will be ready to give them lessons myself, and that in a way to imbue my undertaking of your principles to you, these principles which I admire because I believe they penetrate deeply. Our mutual desire to penetrate is reciprocalin the educative point of view-from the exchange of courses, etc., has not been realized in total in spite of your sincere sympathy and your great good will. Would you like us to try to find the means, should I return to Geneva, to find a solution to this interesting question? I would be deeply indebted to you if in the middle of all of your multiple occupations, you would want to and could find the time to reflect on this problem. Will you consider this letter as being of a strictly confidential nature, because I do not know, in sum, if! have the right to write you without having notified the office? I believe, in effect-having been presented with the actual question by the conservatory-that I cannot take any initiative. It is to a friend that I address myself on this occasion. My dearest friend, trust in my fervent affection. Your faithful s/ E. Jaques-Dalcroze

4

2Paul Boepple (1896-1966), son of Basie Boepple, who was one of the earliest Dalcroze disciples, may have been the master's most talented and most competent pupil. He was granted the diploma in 19I 9 and served as Dalcroze'schief assistant for seven years, including the two- year period he served as director of the Geneva school while Jaques-Dalcroze sojourned in Paris. During this period Boepple also was musical director of the Theatre du Jorat in Mezieres where he produced Honegger's "KingDavid," "Judith,"and the "Chant de Joie." He also conducted the premier performance of Bloch's "Schelomo."In 1926 he went to the United States to direct the New York DalcrozeSchool. From 1936 he was also director of the Dessoff Choirs and the Motet Singers, with whom he brought to light many works of the Renaissance masters, sometimes devoting an entire concert to the works of a single composer. He also served on the faculties of the Westminster Choir College and of Bennington College. See Anna Moyneux, "Paul Boepple and the Dalcroze School," Dance Observer,0an. 1940) 5; also Willi Schuh and others, "Paul Boepple,"SchweizerMusiker-Lexikon (Zurich, 1964) 56. 3Bovet, with Claparede, founded the lnscicuc]ean-Jaques Rousseauin 1912 in Geneva. 4Ms. Fr. 4002, Correspondance generale,Department de Mss, Universite de Geneve, 183f.

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This letter sums up Dalcroze's feelings, frustrations, and disappointments, as the ninth year of operation of the lnstitut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva drew to a close-as he attempted to instill a new spirit into his work and, above all, into himself. He felt the need to develop in another atmosphere, perhaps in another city. With the improvement of instruction, the clearer delineations of his pedagogical ideas, and a competent staff conducting the classes, his daily routine at the institute was no longer exciting. From time to time he gave a few demonstrations; his compositions were meeting with a modicum of success, locally and abroad; rythmique was taking up nearly all of his time and attention. His method was being taught in many areas of the world with varying degrees of fortune. Most successful was the work in England where they had superb leadership in the Ingham family and very good facilities. Yet, most importantly, it was the prevailing English temperament which seemed compatible with the spirit of rythmique. Dalcroze's work flourished in rather passive, subdued societies, as compared to those possessing aggressive, passionate, active, populations. Hence, Italy and the United States did not supply fertile ground for its expansion. Nor did Spain, except that the ideas were being employed more and more in the training for handicapped persons. There were also problems in France. On several occasions Emile had given demonstrations there, particularly with groups from Hellerau; from time to time he gave special lessons at the Paris schools. And there were problems at home as well. Much antagonism and too little understanding of his method and what it was purported to do lead Dalcroze to feel totally constrained. An article appeared in the JournaldeGenevewhich mentioned opposition to his work in Geneva; that persons who admired his work as a writer of songs suspected his qualifications as an educator and were trying to destroy him at the institute as well. The fact that Dalcroze had received offers to go to Paris had leaked out. The article said, If he goes away, if he closes his institute in Geneva, what a loss! It is true that his surly critics will remain with us. The consolation willbe meagre. And will we do nothing in this eternal battle of the artist against those who degrade him and envy him, to help the triumph of a just cause? 5 In spite of this plea which, incidentally, also listed strong support of the method, especially among Parisian musical leaders, a response was printed a few days later in La Suisse.Aloys Mooser spoke of the enemies of rythmique, 5Robert

de Traz,]oumal de Geneve (20 Apr. 1924).

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who were not confined to Geneva and who included prominent persons in Paris, particularly those in the world of dance and theatre. 6 The dance critic Andre Levinson exclaimed deprecatingly, "A rythmician is no more a dancer than a metronome is a musical instrument." 7 Many people refused to understand the fact that rythmique was not dance, that it was basic to all the arts as a pedagogical device, and that it was not an artistic end in itself-a distinction that, at times, Jaq ues-Dalcroze himself neglected to make clear. When criticism of a rythmique demonstration was proclaimed as not meeting standards for the art of dance, Dalcroze would take it upon himself to reply by explaining his purposes; but when such performances were looked upon with favor he tended to keep silent. For example, Levinson wrote: The system of Jaques-Dalcroze, valuable as it is for the interpretation of musical rhythm, is empty of plastic significance, ignores the resources of organized movement, and it is not from Hellerau that the renaissance of the Paris ballet will come. Nevertheless the autocracy of musical rhythm of the rhythmic Messiah usurps the functions of the dance, properly speaking. Rhythm must devote itself to the distribution of movement in time; it pretends to dictate configuration in space. Dance is not supposed to interpret uselessly, to reproduce servility, the rhythmic structure of a piece of music. 8

To this Jaques-Dalcroze replied: ... I do not authorize any dancer, any instrumentalist or singer to perform in public as my student. And that is for the good reason that instruction is only preparation for specialized artistic study and does not constitute an art in itself as in certain particular cases which I need not explain here. Only those persons can call themselves my students who are rhythmicians having obtained, after several years of serious study, the diploma giving them the right to teach my method, that is to say to prepare their students in artistic studies, developing their entire musical sense, hearing, tonal feeling, metric perception and rhythmic instinct. The latter two qualities are brought about with the help of a series of exercises having for their aim to develop and harmonize motor functions and to regulate body movement in time and space. For that reason it seems to me that the practice of rythmique is indispensable AloysMooser,"A propode la rythmiqueecrit ~ !'intention de M.R. de Traz,"La Suisse, (24 Apr. 1924). 7Andre Levinson,La Danse d'aujourd'hui(Paris, 1929) 438. 8Andre Levinson,La Danse au theatre (Paris, 1924) 17. 6

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RHYTHM AND LIFE for every dancer to overcome the gap in traditional choreographic training. Dance, nevertheless, is only one of many specializations of my system and rythmique is the basis of all the arts. 9

Responding to criticism may or may not be beneficial. Creators are privileged to remain silent when it is advantageous to do so. Anna Pavlova, for example, at the tum of the century, scored tremendous successes with her dance, The DyingSwan, to Saint-Saens' music from the Carnivalof the Animals.The composer loathed her interpretation for it had nothing to do with his concept of the music; but as the dancer achieved acclamation, he kept his silence. Another critic, Serge Lifar, who should have had a better understanding of Dalcroze's intentions, spoke of Dalcroze as having made his "debut modestly and unostentatiously in retirement." He goes on to say: A mediocre composer, but a very great teacher, Jacques Dalcroze (sic) invented eurhythmics, a mechanical translation of musical rhythm by means of the human body. Dalcroze's principle was that each musical sign has its corresponding movement, which belongs to it alone and without exception. This, it must be repeated, is a mechanicalequivalent, for it cannot contain either dancing, creative inspiration, aesthetic expression, or emotion. One can watch one or two Dalcroze recitals with pleasure, especially if one happens to be a music teacher. But the third time becomes boring-always the same mechanics, the same movement. 10

Sometimes one encounters even greater simplification. In her autobiography, Irma Duncan speaks of the unknown Swiss musician called Jaques-Dalcroze who once witnessed a lesson at the famous Duncan school and whose infectious enthusiasm and constant interruptions she remembered well. What fascinated him most were the kinetics involved in what Isadora called the 'scale of movements,' which started with a slow walk, gradually accelerating into a fast and faster pace till it evolved into a run, and from there by degrees reverted to a slow walk again .... When he left, he signed the guest book, which was always on top of the piano. A few years later, he founded his whole system of Eurhythmics on what he had seen that day at our school. 11

9

Levinson,La Dansed'aujourd'fiui,437.

10Serge Lifar,Historyof RussianBa/lei,tr.

Arnold Haskell (London, I 954) I 93f. Jrma Duncan, Duncan Dancers(Middletown,1966) 38f.

11

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PARIS: 1924-1926

The summer of 1924 was ripe for a serious decision. Dalcroze needed a change of environment and the French schools required a stimulant to instill new life into their rythmique practices. The resolve to take a leave of absence from the Geneva Institute for one year (which actually resulted in a two-year leave) and to make Paris his headquarters was made during that summer and was announced in the July 1924 issue of Le Rythme. Upon arriving in Paris in September Emile and Nina were unable to find a suitable apartment and were alone, having enrolled their son Gabriel at "La Chataigneraie," a boarding school near Coppet. For a considerable time the couple was homesick and heartsick. At last they took up quarters in the Hotel Corneille, in the rue de Conde-small, dark, cold rooms, with no piano and insufficient space for one. It was not a home which inspired creativity. Therefore, Emile's work center was the Ecole du Luxembourg, newly renovated by its directors Mme. Valdo Barbey and Emmanuel Couvreux. At the time, rythmique was practiced at ten principal locations in Paris: Ecole du Luxembourg, Ecole de Rythmique de Paris, L'Opera, Ecole Normale de Musique, lnstitut de Barro! (St. Germain), Les Orphelins de la Bonne Presse, lnstitut Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Lycee Fenelon, Maison des Etudiants, and the Trait d'Union. In addition, courses were given at certain public schools: one for handicapped children at La Salpetriere, another at an institution for the blind, two more at the Plaine Monceau, and at the American colony in St. Cloud. Because of his unsettling mood Dalcroze refused to undertake demonstrations elsewhere in France or in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Italy, Austria and Spain, although he had received encouraging invitations. He organized a concert of his works, but this did not go as well as he had expected. In October and November he delivered no less than nine formal lectures outlining his ideas and procedures; their success encouraged him to give several more during the following spring. Further comfort came by way of an announcement from Egypt that a new school of rythmique was opening that season and that a performance at home of Le Feuillu was planned in April. A flu epidemic struck Paris in April, and the serious illness of his professors and students interrupted the courses for a period. Dalcroze's letters written from Paris at this time exuded considerable gloom, as can be seen in the long Claparede letter of 9 April. Not only did Emile and Nina miss their son, but also the familiar surroundings of Geneva; homesickness still haunted them. Emile was in no mood for composition. To satisfy his artistic cravings he spent time reading, visiting museums about Paris, and

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meeting new friends, especially important musicians with whom he enjoyed attending performances of new music. Occasionally Emile and Nina found a bit of home life when spending a dinner evening with friends, particularly enjoying their evenings at the home of Gustave Lyon, head of the Pleyel piano manufacturing firm. He read the newspapers and the artistic criticisms, sometimes responding in a personal way to the individual writers, as he did to Robert de Flers who wrote for Le Figaro.He later struck up a friendship with de Flers and his circle, but was unimpressed with the trivia that seemed to prevail in their attitudes. The former seriousness of Geneva's intellectual surroundings was indeed lacking. Of course he attended the theatre and some of the lighter entertainments that the city afforded in abundance. He enjoyed the Casino de Paris, especially the performances of the eighteen Hoffman Girls, acrobatic dancers at the Moulin Rouge. This was an American group, well disciplined and hard-working, whose musical backgrounds were supplied by a typical American jazz group, of which Monsieur Hoffman was the director. Mme. Hoffman had been to Hellerau and was familiar with the techniques of rythmique both in the states and in England. Emile and Nina also found the Russian company under the direction of Nikita Balieff, performing at the Theatre de la Chauve-Souris, to be most tasteful and musically satisfying. Dalcroze was well known to these Russian performers since rythmiq ue was very popular and well understood in their country. Indeed, he had the inclination that these visitors had more of a feel for his method than did his own Parisian students. Dalcroze renewed his acquaintance with Firmin Gemier, with whom he had collaborated in productions in 1903 and in 1914, and with Guy de Pourtales, author of the novel La Pechemiraculeuse,in which the thrilling scenes, particularly the finale, of the Fete de Juin of 1914, were recalled. Among musicians he circulated with Rhene Baton, the conductor, who was to enjoy a significant career in the United States, and with the composer Joachim Nin. He also moved with the Arthur Honegger circle, consisting of about twenty musicians, among whom were George Auric, Marcel Delannoy, Lazare Levy,and Darius Milhaud. Earlier in 1924 two concerts of Swiss music had been given in Paris which included works by Jaques-Dalcroze and Honegger who, in spite of hie French birth, was oriented towards Switzerland because of his Swiss parents and training. 12 Dalcroze listened with interest to the ever present modem music but had no particular leaning towards it. The works of Schoenberg and 12Raymond

Charpentier, "Les Grands concerts," Comoedia(25 Feb. I 924).

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Stravinsky left him unimpressed. Ravel's L'Enfant et les sortilegeswas the most talked about work of the period and though Dalcroze recognized the value of its orchestration and its penetrating colors, he felt the piece lacked cohesion. He thought about orchestration and musical color yet could not find a way to identify those fieldsof inquiry with rythmique. He did, however, have his students analyze modem music. If contemporary music left him cold, the chamber music of Schumann, Brahms, Franck, and Faure, which he heard in abundance, left him feeling purified, as he himself exclaimed. Dalcroze was particularly saddened by the death of Gabriel Faure on 4 November 1924. This man was his counselor and always supported him, recognizing Dalcroze as a significant composer as well as the founder of la rythmique. Honegger sent him six special students, one of whom was Hans Ganz, the brother of Rudolph Ganz. 13 The latter, a brilliant pianist and conductor, was a life-long friend of Dalcroze and an earnest champion of rythmique. As director of the Chicago Musical College, he introduced rythmique into the curriculum and made it a requirement for conducting students. In 1936 the college conferred a doctorate on Jaques-Dalcroze (which he accepted in absentia), the first of several such honors. This special class ofHonegger's students was particularly diligent. They discovered, to their own satisfaction, the echoes in the brain created by muscular groupings, and that, they concluded, was the whole miracle, or mystery, of rythmique. The finding of this particular class was one of a series of experiments which indicated that the process of rythmique could not be explained simplistically. For this reason Jaques-Dalcroze was continually searching and rooting out from its depth, physical, artistic, and human exemplars to be studied, analyzed, and exercised, until, at least in his own mind and within his own experience, a visible contact between the inner person and the outer world could be established. As composer and musician he recognized the need to intensify the emotional reactions in the human being caused by musical stimuli, particularly in the musician or the student musician. He was absolutely correct in trying to find a way to encourage activation of the emotions by muscular response and, conversely, to employ mental and emotional energy to express an organization of forces through physical movement. The amazing part of his discovery is that it was based purely upon instinct, for he had no physiological proof of the relationship of 13Rudolph Ganz related that Max Schillings, also a devoted Dalcroze supporter, made the entire company study rythmique when he served as intendant of the Berlin State Opera. The classes lasted only six weeks.

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RHYTHMAND LIFE emotion to the sensori-muscular complex. This hypothesis had not been scientifically analyzed prior to 1972.14 How much Honegger really understood ofJaques-Dalcroze's ideals of rythmique cannot be known, but he continually urged Emile to exploit them further, even to the point of making this an art in its own right. Dalcroze was especially attracted to Honegger's music; he heard King Davidin 1921 in that epoch- making performance at Lausanne, conducted by his talented student, Paul Boepple. He also greatly admired Pacific231, first presented in 1923, having heard it under Koussevitsky, whom he considered the greatest orchestral conductor aside from Ansermet. And Honegger, though French-born, maintained an interest in his Swiss heritage. In 1921-1922 he composed a set of five piano pieces, Le Cahierromand,which he dedicated to several Swiss friends, including Paul Boepple. This composition was very rhythmic, in the style of Dalcroze's Rythmesde danse which consisted of twenty-four piano pieces in two suites, also written in 1922. Later, in 1932, Honegger composed music to a comedy for the Theatre du Jo rat at Mezieres, where he had had earlier successes. This work, La Bellede Moudon,shared the spirit of the Vaudois works of Jaques-Dalcroze. 15 Dalcroze formed another rythmique class consisting of eight students sent to him by two vocal instructors of the Paris Conservatoire. His schedule being crowded, he had to arrange the class for six o'clock every Wednesday morning in order to make a place for them. He also received students from Maurice Denis, the French painter, designer and writer on art, who wanted them to find a way to reinforce their means of expression. Dalcroze's preference, however, was that the students of rythmique be musicians. Among Dalcroze's associates in Paris were several composers identified as belonging to the group lesSix. The musicians, Louis Durey (18881979), Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983), Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), Arthur Honegger (1892-1955), Georges Auric (1899-1983) and Francis Poulenc ( 1899-1963), initially enjoyed no special contact with each other. Responsibility for the beginning of their relationship, however, belongs to Blaise Cendrars, the colorful w,iter and super dilettante of the 1920s, who 14Nathan Zolt, "Equivalence Hypotheses of Mental and Somatic Processes," Diseasesof the NervousSystem33 (Oct. I 972) 667- 7 I. Zolt states, "We may conceive of emotional processes

as essentially equivalent to muscular processes, and that thought processes are equivalent to motion processes. We thus conceive that the relation of an emotion to a thought is equivalent to the relationship of a muscle to a movement." 15Willy Tappolet, Anhur Honegger(Neuchatel, I 954) 212.

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arranged a small concert in June 1917, that included works by Auric, Honegger, and Durey-their first public appearances as composers. In January 1918, Poulenc and Taillefairre joined these three in a concert at Jacques Copeau's theatre, the Vieux-Colombier, and for the remainder of the year these musicians were heard at this theatre and in an art school converted into an informal concert hall on the rue Huygens. Jean Cocteau called this group !es Nouvea Jeunes and was their principal spokesman, chiefly through the pages of Le Coq et l'Arlequin,the first product of the publishing enterprise which he and Cendrars founded. By the end of the year Milhaud, back from Brazil and already a prolific composer, added his own music to that of the NouveauxJeunes.16 The first concert to include music of all six composers took place at the Salle Huygens on 5 April 1919. Among the audience on that occasion was the music critic Henri Collet who, in a later review, recalled the "Russian Five" (identified by Vladimer Stassov, the music critic and director of the Czar's Department of Fine Arts) and dubbed the young French musicians !esSix.17 Jane Erb, who had been in touch with Dalcrozeeversince her Hellerau training, was then teaching rythmique to the ballet members of the Paris Opera. 18 She claimed that Georges Auric participated in Dalcroze's Paris classes, however, Auric later explained to this writer that, although he was a strong believer in the method, he did not actually partake in the training at any time. As for Milhaud, Miss Erb thought that he was too lazy to take part in the classes.Jean Cocteau, on the other hand, an observer at Hellerau, occasionally took part in rythmique sessions. In the spring of 1926 Dalcroze arranged two demonstrations of rythmique in Paris, using the few capable students available at the Vaugirard school, adding some former students, and a group of twelve from the London school. The programs included two inventions and fugues ofBach and four other sketches, preceded by his own explanations concerning their content and value as exercises for the students, not as performance show pieces. The demonstrations were scheduled on certain dates in order to accomodate other programs promised to him by Firmin Gemier, to be given at his theater,

16Satie wished to include Koechlin as a member of this group but the invitation was declined. See Sharon Boaz, "Charles Koechlin, Rediscovering a Unique, Forgotten French Composer," Ovation 3 (May 1982) 17. 17Henri Collet, "Un livre de Rimsky et un livre de Cocteau: les cinq russes, les six franc;ais," Corrwedia(23 Jan. 1920) 2. For a review of Cendrars' activities see James Harding, The Ox on the Roof (London, 1972) 57f. 18Mlle. Erb also worked with actors, one of whom was Jean-Louis Barrault.

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the Odeon. Gemier, however, had forgotten the agreement and had departed for a visit to the United States, leaving no one in charge who knew anything of the schedule. Thus, Dalcroze was forced to cancel the engagements. Two other French musicians, however, were especially impressed by these demonstrations: Albert Roussel (1869-1937) and Charles Koechlin (1867-1950). Following this exposure to Dalcroze's work, Roussel avowed appreciation for the values of rythmique. In fact, it was his association with Dalcroze and his interest in the latter's pedagogical method that inspired Roussel's own application to music education (especially for young musicians), as opposed to the formal dissemination of contrapuntal techniques that he had practiced for years, both as a student and a professor at the Schola Cantorum in Paris. Roussel took an active interest in the Pipers Guild, an association which fostered the making and playing of pipes as an element in childhood music education, and served as its first president. Koechlin, as a result of his interest in the method, requested an audience with Dalcroze to acquire information on the subject of rythmiq ue for an article he was writing for the Revue musicale.The two men visited together for two hours, during which time Dalcroze learned much about the composer, but Koechlin learned very little about the matter that he had originally come to investigate. Lord Crewe, 19 the English Ambassador to Paris, also attended one of the demonstrations and wrote a warm letter of recognition for the program. A Swiss delegation, tow ham Dalcroze had sent complimentary tickets for box seats, was also present; but there was no acknowledgment from that quarter. Meanwhile, Dalcroze learned from letters written to him by Georges Enesco that the prominent violinist-composer was including Dalcroze's Violin Concerto in a number of concerts that season, including programs in Geneva. In checking with his Patisian music publishers Dalcroze found that his works sold only modestly in France and hardly at all in Switzerland. Sales by the publishers Schott in Getmany and Augener in London were also minimal. Senart who, along with Jobin, was his principal French publisher reported to him that he had seen publicity for his works both in England and in Germany, but that in recent months he had seen none in Switzerland. The Swiss vocal society, La Lyre de Carouge, for whom Dalcroze had written La Veilliein 1893, sent him compositions to judge for a competition which they were sponsoring. Of the fifty-five scores he received--choruses with and without orchestra, submitted anonymously-Emile recognized a number of works by his former 19Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes was given an earldom in 1895. He chose the title Crewe after his uncle, Lord Crewe, who bequeathed him a large family estate.

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PARIS:1924-1926 students: Walter Lang, Bernard Reichel, Jean Binet, Fernande Peyrot, and Charles Faller. This discovery brought him much satisfaction, as did a number of commentaries by other pupils who related their appreciation for the work they had done with him. At the end of his first year in Paris, Dalcroze presented his students in a public lesson. Most of the children had varying experiences in rythmique, some only a few weeks of training. One reporter found the lesson not only agreeable to look at but also a confirmation that the method (the discipline) was logical, was in itself a new art and a true educational method. The lesson closed with a presentation by a group of professional students, with the same reporter stating that the work was not ballet but something unique which came directly out of the music.20 In the summer of 1925 Dalcroze celebrated his sixtieth birthday. Shortly thereafter the city of Geneva "admitted [him] to the citizenry of honor of Geneva this 21st day of November by legislative decree of 30 October 1925, in consideration of his great talent. "21 Only sixty-nine awards of the bourgeois d'honneur had previously been made: six to members of royalty; two to churchmen; thirteen to business men; and others to men of state, jurists, physicians, and military personnel. Also honored in 1925 were one historian, Berthold-Georges Niebuhr; and one painter, Ferdinand Hadler, Dalcroze's friend and a co-signer of the wartime Geneva protest. 22 Many of Emile's friends and former students wrote him notes of congratulation, the most heart-warming gesture during his entire Paris sojourn. In an open letter to all of these associates he published, in Le Rythme in December, his deep appreciation for their kindness. The followingJanuary, when he was in Geneva, he personally thanked the authorities for the honor they bestowed upon him. In the fall of 1925 Henri Gagnebin, organist and composer, was appointed Director of the Geneva Conservatory. He had been a student of Otto Barbian and Joseph Lauber in Geneva and of Vincent d'Indy in Paris. In an interview Gagnebin stated, "As director, the first thing I did was to reinstall la rythmique in the curriculum of the Conservatory. I considered this the most important decision I ever made. "23 20Bemard Barbey, "La Rythmique Jagues- Dalcroze," La Revue hebdomidaire anee 34, tome vii (July 1925) 114-16. 21TModore Bret, Les Bourgeois d'honneurdeGenevede 1814 d nosjour (Geneve, 1929) 52. 22lbid. 23Conversation with Monsieur Gagnebin on 1 March 1965. During his tenure as director of the conservatory, 1925-57, Gagnebin had inaugurated, in 1938, a national competition for soloists which became a notable international competition.

259

Paul Boepple, 1920

PARIS: 1924-1926 That December in Geneva, a performance of Le Bonhomme Jadis, which had experienced a singular success at its debut in Paris in 1906, and which had enjoyed numerous performances elsewhere in the intervening years, was given at the Grand Theatre as a benefit for the Institut J aq ues-Dalcroze. Just two months earlier the Association suisse Jaques-Dalcroze was organized at Lausanne with about 100 members. This was the first such organization in Switzerland although similar organizations existed in France, America, and England, while others were in formative stages in additional countries. Much to his chagrin Dalcroze learned that numerous courses of rythmique were being given in many locales, even in Paris, by persons who were not accredited to do so. However, he had no means, legal or otherwise, to stop this activity. One of Jaques-Dalcroze's last obligations during the Paris years was a visit to London to give the examinations at Percy Ingham's school. In addition he organized, with Ingham's assistance, a grand demonstration for the London public, which was held at the Princess Theatre and utilized thirty-five local students. Included in the program was his setting of a poem by Mona Swann, one of the instructors at Moira House, a girls school conducted by Ethel Ingham.The Dalcroze composition added much to the success of the demonstration and may even have led to an invitation from Robert Brussel, an official on the staff of the Parisian newspaper Le Figaro,and director of the Exposition of Decorative Arts (which was to take place in London), to do a repeat of this demonstration at the exposition theatre. Financial support for the venture was offered, not only by Mr. lngham, but by Mme. Barbey and M. Couvreux, his friends in Paris. Dalcroze, although tempted to accept the offer, declined because of the lack of time to prepare such a program and the more serious dearth of qualified students. Jacques Rouche, appointed director of the Opera in 1913, actually began his duties later, in July 1914, and served until 1945-one of the longest tenures in that capacity. Rouche, who strongly believed in the efficacy of the Dalcroze part of the training of the opera ballet in 1917 with Clara Brooke (later Mme. Babelon-Brooke) as the instructor, subsequently succeeded by Jane Erb. Yet the idea proved to be unpopular so Rouche, bowing to outside pressures, discontinued the study of rythmique for the ballet in the fall of 1925.24 Jaques-Dalcroze returned to his homeland in the summer of 1926 under circumstances almost parallel to his arrival in Paris two years earlier. 24Levinson,

never a proponent of rythmique, expressed his satisfaction with the demise of rythmique as a training technique at the opera in his article, "Epitaphe," Comoedia (21 Sep.

I 925).

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Joan Llongueras, Geneva, 1920

PARIS:1924-1926

His experiences left him with no renewed spirit or satisfaction. He felt that he had accomplished little through his untiring efforts to enhance the position ofla rythmiq ue in the world capital. True, he had managed to bring his principles into better focus, answering artistic criticism with pedagogical defense and, generally speaking, musicians recognized rythmique for its value in developing sensitivity and musicianship. Dancers benefitted from its logic, discipline, and scientific study of the body and its movements as related to music, while other artists identified with the principles of harmony and balance. Critics and audiences, in front of the proscenium, identified the outward aspects, the technique, and certain visual conditions of harmonic beauty, but they could not accept what they observed for its own value. It was natural for them to think in terms of the individual arts with which they were familiar, to make judgments in that respect, and rythmique, beause of its rather limited physical vocabulary, suffered. The institutions of rythmique were in no better condition at the end of the two-year period. Approximately the same number of students were active in the major schools-Geneva, Paris and London---over which the master had considerable control. Greater activity was present in the outlying areas-schools in Scandinavia and Russia, over which he had very little direct influence. The instructors everywhere were alert, interested, trying all of the techniques that were developed (both new and familiar), but nothing seemed to move their operations forward. A few more diplomates emerged from the Geneva school, persons who were to become significant exponents of the Dalcroze method: Bernard Reichel, composer, organist, teacher of harmony and improvisation, who worked at both the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze and at the Geneva Conservatory; Karin Fredga who opened the first school of rythmique in Sweden, receiving government subventions in recognition of it; and Nelly Schinz who became one of the leading practitioners in Germany. One of the problems Dalcroze encountered was that, over the long term, he failed to convince and conquer in Paris as he had elsewhere in relatively short periods of time; his genius did not seem to take hold beyond the quick, early impressions. His situation was somewhat analogous to the conductor who takes city after city by storm with his guest appearances on a limited number of programs for which the music is carefully selected, brilliantly rehearsed and presented, yet does not succeed as a permanent musical director over several years, or even for a single season, because of the large, all-encompassing orchestral repertory with which he must concern himself.

263

RHYTHMAND LIFE Paris in 1924 was right for art, and understood it; but it was not right for education. It failed to bend to Dalcroze's persuasion and to identify the educative qualities which he professed. The French differed from the Swiss to the extent that they were less inhibited, less complex, of a different degree of culture and refinement, and thus they did not respond to the qualities inherent in rythmique as did the Swiss, the English, or the Swedes. For Dalcroze to make strides in Paris he had to avoid pedantry, something which his nature would not allow him to do. His type of pedagogy was too constrained for the French, and he could not change their attitudes; nor would they. Personally, Dalcroze went through a trying period. He suffered from loneliness, homesickness, and discontent. Nothing could take the place of his fifteen-year-old son who remained at home in the care of his godparents, M. and Mm. Alexis Grosset. Living conditions were most unsatisfactory. With all the attention he gave to teaching, lecturing, demonstrations, and keeping up the vitality of the officialjournal of his profession, Le Rythme, he had little energy and initiative to compose with the same effect that he commanded earlier in life. His contacts with the leading musicians of the day were a comforting diversion, but they did not provide complete fulfillment. Gaining the friendship, respect, and understanding of his fellow musicians for the sake of better comprehension of the method was his only positive reward. Dalcroze was weary when he left Geneva at the age of fifty-nine, and was even more so at the age of sixty-one when he returned. Yet his work, not only in Paris, but worldwide, was not entirely lost upon French authorities. In 1929, the government conferred upon him the title of Officer of Public Instruction and also awarded him the medal of the Legion of Honor.

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CHAPTERXIII

Home Again: 1926-1932 During the two years that Jaques-Dalcroze was in Paris, leadership at the Geneva Institute was in the hands of Paul Boepple, a superb musician and one of the ablest rythmicians in the entire history of the Dalcroze movement, yet Boepple's job was not an easy one. How could one follow in the footsteps of the great teacher and organizer of the school where the imprint of his personality was ever present? Boepple did not feel that he had the freedom to conduct the affairsof the institute in any way but that of his master; as a result, he tried only to keep things in order as best he could for the one year, as it was originally planned, until Monsieur Jaques returned. Some time earlier Boepple and Dalcroze had spoken of a project the institute might sponsor: a colloquium to discuss all aspects of rhythm, 1 and long before that, Dalcroze had the idea of conducting an elaborate congress on the entire subject of body movement. For that project he had hoped to have the cooperation oflsadora Duncan who, at the time, was at the height of her fame. Her disinterest in such a project saddened Dalcroze for it might have done much to clarify his own aims and practices. But the Congress on Rhythm in 1926 was appropriate, and Boepple proceeded to organize it as a welcoming tribute to the institute's beloved director upon his return from Paris and the promotion of his method there. The congress took place at the institute in Geneva from 16 to 18 August 1926, containing thirty-nine presentations, each concerned with some aspect of rhythm. Over two hundred persons from twelve countries attended. Its purpose was to unite teachers, musicians, writers, artists, and plasticians-all who were interested in the question of rhythm; to establish essential laws in preparing the ground for future experiences; and to create more intimate relations between the diverse manifestations of rhythmic forces in the individual and in society. Discussions covered the areas of

11n a letter to Claparede, dated I June I 925, from Paris, Dalcroze stated that he had also proposed the idea to Pierre Bovet.

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music, pedagogy, art, poetry, linguistics, physiology, psychopathology and psychotherapy in education of the blind. 2 Jean Risler discussed the six modes and rhythmic fundamentals in classical Greek music. Alexander Denereaz treated some philosophical aspects of the problems of rhythm including an application of Fibonacci's series to musical physics.3 Professor Cherbuliez of the University of Zurich presented the psychological aspects of the unity and division of beats. This problem remained a dilemma, questioning the musical organization of time; whether it is a divisive process (the measure, or the whole note being divided into half notes, the half into quarter notes, etc.) or whether it is an additive process (the metric unit being the sum of its constituents). Rhythmic problems in Gregorian chant received their due consideration: three papers on the subject were given, one on relative liberty in the rhythm of chant by the beloved Swiss folklorist Abbe Joseph Bovet. Discussions of accent of intensity and motion in chant, and of the number symbolism of St. Augustine and of the Middle Ages were given by two other members of the clergy. Jaques-Dalcroze presented a new line of thinking in his address, "Rhythm of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow," in which he suggested the inclusion, along with melody, harmony, and form, of the question of energy in all its relations with duration. The combination of these four elements, he said, constitutes the rhythm, which people tend to confuse with accentuation. Meter is the art of regularizing successions of sounds and of arranging them in duration-a rational creation of order. Rhythm is the study of the unsystematic faculties of man and the spontaneous forces of nature; it is a vital current which has a point of return. Once the current is set in motion (no matter how) it arranges itself metrically as long as it meets no resistance. When it meets resistance there is a rupture of equilibrium, and it produces a reaction tending to reestablish this equilibrium. If the resistance is produced only once there is a casual weak accent, but if it repeats itself, it is a rhythm. In fact, one of the primordial elements of rhythm is repetition, periodicity; another is elasticity, necessary for reaction against various papers were published in Compterendudu 1"congresdu rythme, (Geneve, 1926). of Pisa, known as Fibonacci (c. 1180-1240), who explained Hindu-arabic arithmetic to western Europe in his Uber abaci, 1202, posed a problem: how many rabbits can be produced in one year from a single pair, assuming that each pair of rabbits begets a new pair each month? This series of numbers, 1, 1,2,3,5,8, 13, etc., in which each number is the sum of the preceding two numbers was the first European sequence to be expressed by a formula. The term "Finbonacci sequence" was coined in the 19th century by the French mathematician Edouard Lucas. See Joseph and Frances Gies, Leonardof Pisaand the New Mathematics of t/1eMiddleAges (New York, I 969) 77f. 2The

3Leonardo

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HOME AGAIN: 1926-1932

resistance. To regularize rhythm there is need for another element, order, which depends on four necessary elements: duration, space, energy and meter. If we understand the nature of the elements of rhythm, he argued, we have no trouble in understanding musical rhythms. In vocal music we find only three elements of rhythm: energy, duration and elasticity. In instrumental music and dance we add the element of space. Later in the sessions Jaques-Dalcroze gave another lecture, "A Method ofEducation by and for Rhythm." In this address he quoted Plato: "Rhythm, that is, the expression of order and symmetry, penetrates the body, the soul and the whole being, and reveals to man the harmony of all his personality." This ideal permeated all ofDalcroze's teaching; he uttered the same philosophy in his own words numerous times. Rafael Benedito spoke on rhythm in pedagogy, offering the view that in countries of the north the idea of discipline is traditional by temperament, race, climate, and other factors. Discipline, he continued is innate in children who respond to need. Southern Europeans, especially Spaniards, he said, are by temperament individualists to excess, and consequently rebellious to all discipline. Even the Spanish child rebels at all discipline. However, he claims, music is the best discipline. The Jaques-Dalcroze method has the greatest pedagogical value, and, when it is understood, practiced and expanded as it deserves to be, society will gain from it an inestimable moral advantage. Narcis Mas6 developed nearly the same subject but with concentration on the child. In training children two principles are evident: 1) the child knows how to adapt his acts and thoughts in an organized way which works and fights towards an end; 2) the child feels the value and responsibility of his acts and the development of his personality-he is not apt to follow the crowd. Rythmique as a joy and a pleasure also develops concentration, attention, and control of the will. It has a rapport with the study of mathematics and teaches the individual to express nuance, a feeling of joy, sorrow, battling, a craze, pain, and, in addition, develops memory. Mas6 explained at some length how rythmique modifies a child's temperament, makes him joyous, laughing, happy. On the same topic, Gertrude Ingham mentioned that rythmique not only teaches the understanding of music but leads the child to realize the different elements of his nature, to a conscious control of these elements so that he may be likened to a finely tuned instrument, ready to be used by a master hand-his true self.Two practicing rhythmicians, Nelly Schinz of Geneva and Charlotte Blensdorf of Jena, showed how to work with young children, each one explaining the principles she was going to follow, and then putting those policies into practice.

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Jo Baeriswyl, associated with the public school system and an expert in stage production, presented a succinct discourse, "Gymnastique-Rythmique and the Primary School." He regretted the lack of acceptance of Dalcroze's system in Geneva's public schools, in spite of the fact that the city saw fit to grant him the citizen of honor award. Three main obstacles were cited: ignorance, or incomprehension of the method; prejudice against instruction that is primarily happy in nature, artistic in content and presented primarily by word of mouth rather than by the printed page; and the public's refusal to recognize the fact that gymnastique-rythmique(or rythmique) had already been widely accepted as an instructional tool. He further regretted denying the individual the opportunity to profit from this uniquely quantitative culture and its deep influence; it was not simply another isolated method of instruction. He summed up his arguments with a certain passion: G)'mnastique-rythmique is the only happy discipline which equilibrates while associating or dissociating intellectual and corporal work. It satisfies the child's instinctive need for movement, teaches joy, and this alone would open to him the doors of our schools. It solves the problem of inattention, lack of concentration and nervous indiscipline. It counterbalances the intoxication of youth for sports and records and turns him towards an intellectual, artistic and corporal culture. The training leads to desire and living art.

Baeriswylconcluded his talk by showing how exercises in arithmetic could be made more vital, more effective, by surrounding them with rythmique techniques. Joan Llongueras, well known for his work with the blind in Spain, and Pierre Villay, a blind professor in the Faculty of Letters of the University of Caen, discussed specialized virtues of the Dalcroze system. Llongueras, dealing with children from four to seven years of age, explained how a sense of direction can be taught to them through following sounds, giving them a feeling of time and of space. By making geometric forms with wire and by tracing these forms in space while walking, they learn to understand forms and rhythms of space. Other practices entailed making letters of the Braille alphabet in wood, modeling clay, and fixing the children's attention on all the information they use, thus developing concentration, exercising the sense of smell, and singing and listening to music. All of these practices develop muscular feeling. Monsieur Villay recommended Dalcroze training as a way of discovering that music is of primary interest to the blind as a profession.

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Albert Pfrimmer undertook a discussion of the method's usefulness for conductors and orchestral musicians. The Dalcroze method, he remarked, is the key to preparing conductors; it has its pedagogic influence, accentuates and intensifies rhythmic sense, sharpens the hearing for harmony and for phrase, strengthens the musical memory, and develops the ability to express, through mime or plastic, a form of body expression. The latter point, he said, is in itself a system of expressing rhythmic movement and feeling. Besides the development of all musical faculties he stressed the value of concentration on left hand and right hand independence. Pfrimmer gave a run-down of some of the qualities of famous conductors. Liszt said the conductor need not be an oarsman, nor a windmill, but a pilot who intervenes only in difficult and dangerous passages. Spontini, Mendelssohn, and Berlioz had good rhythmic sense. Weber's tempos were good, Mendelssohn's too fast, Liszt's too slow; Habeneck and Berlioz also had good sense of tempo. All of the great conductors were precise in their movement and in their interpretations. He pointed out that Spohr and Spontini, Mendelssohn and Berlioz were very effective in expressions of dynamics. As for purity of sound, Weber and Mendelssohn had very keen ears and could hear every instrument. Distinctions of timbre were developed by Weber, Mendelssohn and Berlioz. In spite of the newness of the art of conducting, he pointed out that its roots lay in antiquity. First, the beat referred to technical and mechanical elements; secondly, the mime-plastic practice exemplified the artistic element. It was most natural for him to introduce the topic by stressing the importance of Dalcroze training in the two domains of dance and orchestral conducting. In the concluding discussions, Fritz Giese spoke on body rhythm in the life and art of the people, wherein he defined such important qualities as the relation of body rhythm to fine arts and folk arts. Siegfried van Grasern, Adrien Bovy, and Albert Rheinwold explored such subjects as the existence of rhythm, rhythm and the plastic arts, and rhythm of creative activity. Immediately following the congress, the institute began a summer course. For the first few days it proceeded rather stiffly; most likely the seriousness and erudition of the congress prevailed in spirit, and the summer course participants felt uneasy or restrained. Dalcroze sensed the need to overcome their listlessness so he called all the people together in the hall, asked them to gather in a circle, hold hands, and perform a round dance. With the tension broken, the classes and training went on with the proper attitude, intensity, and gaiety. It was not the physical activity contained in

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the dance that saved the situation but Monsieur Jaques's personality, his enthusiasm and penetrating vigor that was infectious. During the summer course the instructors from the various foreign countries organized the International Association of Dalcroze Teachers (Union International des ProfesseursDalcroziens, UIPD). Although years earlier Dalcroze associations had formed in several countries, this was the first association of international scope. Paul Boepple was elected to serve as the first president of the new society. By the followingspring it was estimated that about 23,200 students had enrolled in the study of rythmiq ue according the following national figures: Russia

7000

England

4800

America

2000

Switzerland

2000

Germany

2000

France

1800

Holland

600

Sweden

600

Italy

500

Spain

500

Belgium

400

Egypt and Greece

400

Poland

300

Austria

200

Portugal

100

In Germany in 1926 a National Exposition of Music was being organized to take place the following summer at Frankfurt. Dalcroze's former students-Henriette Rosenstrauch in particular-were working hard to lift the ban on Dalcroze teaching. Fortunately, they succeeded and Dalcroze was invited to participate. He was very interested in returning to Germany where, thirteen years before, he had been declared personanon grata. As a condition for accepting the invitation he insisted upon being publicly reinstated and, to everyone's relief, the Germans agreed.

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HOME AGAIN: 1926-1932

When Dalcroze returned in 192 7 from a two-week summer demonstration at St. Mary's Hall in Brighton, England, there really was insufficient time to prepare new demonstrations for Frankfurt. Nevertheless, he went ahead, calling upon four students from Geneva and one from Paris; they came together in Basle for a short preparatory period before going into Germany. As they were about to cross the border the French girl could not find her passport and the German guard would not let her enter; all of Emile's pleading was to no avail. They turned back to their hotel, deliberating their next move, when one of the students suggested that they try once more, but this time Dalcroze was to display his formidable decoration, the award of Citizen of Honor. When he presented himself at the border the following morning the guard called his superior officer and, after a brief discussion, the group was on its way. At six o'clock in the evening of 17 August 1927 Dalcroze gave a brilliant demonstration at the Lessing Gymnasium in Frankfurt. Afterwards his former students arranged a reception to which a number of dignitaries had been invited. Herr Koch, Director of the Exposition, impressed by a demonstration attended by over 1600 spectators, suggested that Dalcroze return periodically to Germany. Dr. Mayer-Lombard, President of the German Rhythmikbund and Director of the Lessing School, was also greatly impressed. In an address at the reception he hailed Jaques-Dalcroze as the pedagogue who had revived the Platonic ideal and had adapted it in a viable manner for modern times. On the following day Leo Kestenberg, Minister ofFine Arts and Public Instruction, proclaimed him "the greatest pedagogical genius of all time." In honor of Dalcroze's return to Germany, his former student, Henriette Rosenstrauch, arranged an original play, written and rehearsed by her classes especially for his entertainment. Miss Rosenstrauch kept a typewritten account, both in German and English, of the event. It happened in one of my children's classes in Frankfurt, Germany. The children wanted to put a story into action. I suggested to them to write one. Three little eleven-year-old girls brought a story into the next lesson. The story of The Mournful King (DietraurigeKonig) was selected by the whole class. The girl, Mary, had brought it typed, all details given, and indications drawn on a sheet, concerning the stage setting. We tried the play out and, with the consent of the author ... , left some things out, added others. The story had to bechanged sometimes into direct speech. The play was meant to be a pantomime, but there was the danger of exaggerated action and so we decided to have one child sit at the side of the stage and read it. But now the children missed the music. We went to work.

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RHYTHM AND LIFE All classes cooperated; children from nine to fourteen years old [participated] and some of the greater scores were written by two eighteen-year-old students. The motif of the King, the page and the poor little girl was invented by a nine year child who improvised in singing while watching the action. I wrote down the themes. The dance of the maidens was composed by an eleven-year-old girl. She handed it in written down so well that it could be used without any correction (a very musical child who had piano lessons). The piece for the jugglers was written by a twelve-year-old. The same pupil wrote the music for the sleigh drive. The motive for the fools was at first improvised at the piano by a fourteen-year-old girl; she then memorized it and wrote it down for the next lesson. The other dances and the march were composed by students between fifteen and eighteen years of age. Most compositions could remain without correction. The musical and rhythmic sense was so well developed in the children that my assistant and I had only to guide the acting. The author, a very strict judge, and the rest of the class, were excellent critics. We rehearsed the play once a week for more than two months till up to the final rehearsals, and then presented it first to the parents and friends, then to a wider audience and got such a warm reception as we never had expected. Professor Jaques-Dalcroze, for whom we played it on his visit to Frankfurt, was so moved and charmed by the simplicity and sincerity of both the play and its performance that he wrote an opera on the same subject.

This summary was conserved in several copies, and on each copy, written in longhand, probably at a later date, Miss Rosenstrauch added, "with a dedication to my pupils." Following the Frankfurt meetings, Dalcroze and his little group went to other parts of Germany and repeated the acclaimed demonstrations, then to Poland where they were received by President Pilsudsky. In the demonstrations several distinguished persons-members of the nobilitywere invited to come up on the stage to participate. Before completing their tour the troupe performed in Brussels and then, very successfully, in Paris at the Theatre Antoine. Although the Dalcroze method was reinstated in Germany in 1927 it did not enjoy unqualified acceptance for very long. When the Nazis came to power they questioned the efficacy of the method on the suspicion that Dalcroze was of Jewish background, as were many of his German followers

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who were now fleeing the country. Documents were requested to prove his claim to Protestantism. The Geneva Institute searched the records and provided evidence that the familywas Swiss for over 200 years and had been Protestant since the Edict of Nantes in 1598. Another ideological problem troubled the new regime. Rythmicians in Germany, particularly Marie Adama van Scheltema and Elfrieda Feudel, had further developed one of Dalcroze's techniques. They allowed individual persons within the rythmique group to take charge of an exercise and initiate movements and designs while all the other participants obeyed their directions. This was called "Fiihren und Folgen" (leading and following), an excellent educational practice. What the Nazi authorities did not like about it was its fundamental democratic principle, leadership coming from the ranks and being acknowledged by the group. The idea continued to rankle, and trouble lay ahead. For some time Jaques-Dalcroze had not been involved in large-scale compositions. His Fetede lajeunesseet de lajoie, originally staged in Geneva by La Lyre de Carouge in 1923, was again performed in 1928 at Lausanne; Dalcroze himself worked with the twenty-four professionals and a few amateurs, traveling to Lausanne three times per week for a period of six months to perfect the performance. The result was not entirely to his liking. First, the curtain was too drab; secondly, the costumes, perfectly acceptable when considered by themselves, did not prove satisfactory in the ensembles. Another work, Notre Pays,was also given at Lausanne for the twenty-fifth Fete federale de chant, on his birthday, 6 July 1928. This was not an original composition but consisted of selections from other festivals. Soloists were Nina Jaques-Dalcroze and Ernest Bauer. Lausanne schools of rythmique provided their students and several choruses of the city performed, as did the eighty-five piece Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich; again Dalcroze was less than pleased. Apparently the spectators, remembering the Fetedesvignerons of Gustave Doret, presented the year before, were expecting something better. 4 The critic Aloys Mooser related that he attended the program with Ernest Bloch at his side. When the show had progressed about twenty minutes, Bloch leaned over to him and whispered, "When does the music begin?" For the next few years Jaques-Dalcroze's activities were fairly routine: another performance of his songs and dances organized and executed by 180 children from the Geneva primary schools, similar to Notre Paysof the year before, this one entitled Notre petitevie anous; some celebrations of the 4"Festival Jaques-Dalcroze,"

Sc/1weizerisch Musikzeittmg(25 July 1928).

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escaladeinvolving themes pertaining to rythmique; the spread of the use of the method in other countries, especially in Stuttgart and in Stockholm; the formation of a new Dalcroze Society in Japan. But a special event was developing; the composition and presentation of a new children's opera, Le Petit Roi qui pleurewhich opened in Geneva at the Grand Theatre on 21 February 1932. The idea for this work came to Dalcroze years before, when he saw the children's play produced by Henriette Rosenstrauch's classes in Frankfurt. On 3 March 1931 Dalcroze had written to Miss Rosenstrauch: My dear friend, I continue to work on my fairy opera and soon I shall have it finished. It is promising. "Le Roi qui pleure" in my scenario looks everywhere to find happiness. I have always thought of the little authors of Frankfurt and of their exquisite, charming sketch. I shall dedicate the work to you and to your pupils, and there will be a German translation which I shall send to you.

Your old master who loves you. s/E.J. D. Miss Rosenstrauch, however, claimed thatJaques-Dalcroze never gave public credit or recognition to her or to the efforts of her children in composing his opera. When the score was published there was no dedication to the Frankfurt classes, no reference to their musical play. To her last day Miss Rosenstrauch fretted over this neglect. There were some differences between Dalcroze's story and that of the Frankfurt players but, as the years passed, Miss Rosenstrauch still preferred the story as written by her group to that ofJaques-Dalcroze. The plot of the Frankfurt children had all of the beauty and charm of a Grimm or an Anderson tale, yet it was entirely original. The scenario which follows was planned to allow for the inclusion of rythmique, which was the original purpose of the play. The king's sadness cannot be overcome; as fast as he is given handkerchiefs to dry his eyes, he soils them with new tears. The Wise Man finally determines that he can be consoled only by a maiden who willbe a daughter to him solely through love and not for the sake of being a princess. The true rescuer will be discovered through the act of retrieving a white stone which is buried in the magic well. When the right girl appears, the water will recede and she will be able to recover the stone. The king announces the trial throughout the land. All sorts of young ladies attempt to prove themselves in order to rescue the king, but of course

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they all fail. One day the king chooses to take a sleigh ride and on the way finds a maiden lying half frozen in the snow. He takes her back to the palace. When she recovers she, too, goes to the fountain. Lo and behold, the waters flow back; she enters the pit and retrieves the white stone. As she brings it back to the king he rejoices, finding, for the first time, joy and heartfelt laughter. Everyone in the castle is overjoyed. They form a ring around the couple, dancing and singing: Ah, how grand it is to gather here dancing and singing, And how much grander is it yet that the king once more delights in living. How marvelous it is-to play and dance and sing, But more maivelous is this: to see our happy king! The action is cartied on in pantomime while a narrator supplies the thread of the story-the only spoken commentary except for the advice of the Wise Man. The Frankfurt version is in three acts, five scenes. Jaques-Dalcroze plotted his work in three acts, with three prologues and thirteen scenes. It is scored for violin, cello, contrabass, flute, piccolo, horn, trumpet, and piano, with the addition of numerous percussion instruments playing important roles. In the orchestra pit he included a chorus of treble voices as well as a chorus on stage. The pit chorus serves the part of the narration, but not exclusively; it also does a considerable amount of unison singing. Most of the characters have singing roles, some have mime roles. Dalcroze added characters and enlarged upon the scenes intended for the king's entertainment, which naturally serve to entertain the audience as well. It is not until the fourth scene that the Wise Man offers his prophecy: "You will continue to cry until the moment a stranger appears whose tender feelings partake of what you also feel, and whose enraptured heart is forced to shed its own tears because of your weeping. Then shall you be completely consoled." The sixth scene is quite comical. Four physicians diagnose the little king's ailment in their pompous, if unprofessional, way. Their complicated jargon baffles all, including, no doubt, the entire medical profession, with its invented illnesses, affirming, as they say, that the terminology is more important than the disease. Jaques-Dalcroze's work exhibits unusual skill in expressing in words, as well as in music, the subtlest nuances according to his innate dramatic sense, at its best in this light, childlike production. Nowhere in his large-scale

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works has Jaques-Dalcroze conveyed so well the child's spirit as in the fairy tale opera: The Fairies' Dance in the second act moves deftly between 6 8 2 5, 4 3, 4 5, 6 meters an d t h en 12 an d fina 11 y b ac k to 8 , 8 , s· 4 , 4, 4 the former metrical series. The numerous fantastic Dances of the Gnomes, Elves and Gohlins, of the Valets and Maids, of the Peasants (of the second act), and the antics of the Clowns, Fools, Acrobats, and of the various types of maidens who come to assuage the king-the Arrogant, the Coquettes, the Frolicsome, and the Timid-of the first act, are full of humor, warmth and charm. The choruses, on the stage and in the pit, are also very effective. The music of the second scene of the second act (the Fairies' Glade) could not have been improved. This scene immediately precedes the Fairies' Dance, featuring three unaccompanied choruses of fairies, the orchestra entering with the fourth group. The performance of Le Petit Roi qui pleure in February 1932 was particularly memorable; it was repeated in 1946, and again in 1965 as part of the centennial celebration. After that presentation the audience was so moved that many people felt the work should be given annually, not only in memory of its composer and great educator, but especially for the joy and delight that it expressed. The management of the Grand Theatre of Geneva however, later reported that there were no existing plans to reschedule the opera. For Jaques-Dalcroze the composition of Le Petit Roi que pleurewas the crowning achievement of the decade. It demonstrated the continuing quality of his melodic and dramatic ability and took its place as the most significant work since his Fetede lajeunesseet de lajoie. Dalcroze was sixtyseven years old, Verdi's age at the time he was midway between the composition of his Aida and Otello,an age when most composers have ceased to be productive. Although Dalcroze produced additional works for the stage in the years to follow, none had the verve and magic of the fairy tale opera of 1932. The past decade had been very difficult; the saddest part being the period during which he attempted to generate enthusiasm and spirit for his method in Paris.Never had he been so lonely and so disappointed; the letters he wrote during this period say it all. The return to Geneva, the institute, and familiar surroundings actually did little to help his morale, even the return to work netted llttle. During the years when Paul Boepple carried on at the institute, merely waiting for the master's return, a serious decision probably should have been made. This would have been precisely the time to turn over the reigns of leadership at the lnstitut Jaques-Dalcroze to another. Older and tired, certainly not in the best spirit, Dalcroze was no 276

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longer capable of continuing his work with the same zeal, energy and animation he had exhibited in his younger years. The logical successor was Paul Boepple, yet Oalcroze had other plans for him. He advised Boepple to leave for New York to become associated with the relatively new Dalcroze School there. Boepple followed his advice, later serving as its director. New York was not for him, however; he would have fared better in Geneva. Could one suspect an element of jealousy in the situation? After all, from time to time a pupil has been known to surpass the master. It is not suggested that Boepple might have been Dalcroz e's superior as a pedagogue, but his musical powers certainly were growing. His productions of Honegger's works at Mezieres and at Monte Carlo were hailed worldwide. What is more, only Boepple could improvise at the piano as beautifully as did Monsieur Jaques. Another talented rhythmician then on the scene, Jean Binet, had taken his diploma under Jaques-Dalcroze and gone to Paris to teach. As a student at the Geneva Institute he was noted for his tremendous leaps and other physical accomplishments. While teaching in Paris he took time to work with the Fratellini brothers, the famous acrobatic circus clowns. Binet had also studied composition with Otto Barblan, George Templeton Strong (1856--1948), and Ernest Bloch, following the latter to New York in order to continue studying with him. When Bloch organized the Institute of Music at Cleveland, Binet again went with him, not only as a composition student, but as a teacher of rythmiq ue from 1921 to 1923. At the time Boepple left for New York, Binet was teaching rythmique at the Decroly School in Brussels. He continued as a composer and gained a considerable reputation in that field. In 1929 he gave up teaching entirely and devoted all his energies to composition. Binet is memorialized by a handsome bust located in one of the halls of the Geneva Conservatory. As one reaches the eighth decade of a fruitful life one becomes aware of personal losses of the past and of the increasing losses to come. The deaths of two staunch collaborators, Adolphe Appia and Percy Ingham, were difficult for Dalcroze to bear. Appia's own genius had much to do with the success and development of the Dalcroze method. From his early recognition of the inherent worth of the method in 1906 to the staging of the great works at Hellerau, and then to the expression of ideas that led to the twentieth-century revolution in staging, Appia's support meant much to Dalcroze. Even after he left Geneva in 1921 to carry on his work in Paris, Basle, Milan, and elsewhere, Appia always kept in view the principles upon

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- ... -

Letter, Jaques-D

alcroze to George

.._

Ternp Jeton Str ong, American com

poser.

HOME AGAIN: 1926-1932

which he and Jaques-Dalcroze had worked. He died in February 1928 in Nyon, not far from Geneva. 5 Ingham's devotion to Dalcroze remained firm right up to his untimely death in September 1930. His direction of the London school, which worked so closely with Dalcroze in Geneva, was strong and meaningful. Ingham's endeavors and their consequent relation with Dalcroze, were continued by his wife Ethel and sister Gertrude. Growing by leaps and bounds, the London school was an Inspiration to all Dalcrozians. Students opened new schools following the revival of the method in Germany, and rythmique was introduced on an official basis in nineteen primary schools in Geneva. To a younger man this would have been encouragement, not merely solace. Jaques-Dalcroze felt his world was diminished. In 1930, in one of his lowest moments, he sadly proclaimed, "I.a rythmiqueest morte."

5Actually,

there was some dissatisfaction associated with Appia's leaving. They broke after Dalcroze decided against staging Appia's production of"Prometheus," which had been agreed upon.

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CHAPTERXIV

Denouement: 1933-1950 The final decades of Dalcroze's life were still productive, though they lacked the excitement of his early years. He composed another work for the stage, Le Joli]eu des saisons,given at the Grand Theatre in Geneva in May 1934. The work, for soloists, choruses for mixed voices and children, and orchestra, consisted of a succession of scenes depicting summer, autumn, winter and spring in a series of rounds, songs, and dances in his inimitable style-rhythmic divertissements, scenes in the mountains, in the woods, at the beach, in the snow, and in the night, featuring contrary meters. As one would expect, the Geneva audience received it with their usual enthusiasm. In 193 7 the City of Geneva honored Jaq ues-Dalcroze by putting on a gala concert of his beloved works. Eight open-air performances were given at the Perle du Lac between 19 June and 4 July. Marc Cognard, President of the Association des lnterets de Geneve, was president of the organizational committee. Paul Trachsel, Director of the Association, served as General Director for the program, and Dr. Emile Megevand was the Artistic Director. Among the nineteen other members of the committee, was Jo Baeriswyl, stage director, well known for numerous productions of Festspielen.The participating musical organizations were the Orchestre Symphonique (G. Kaufmann, Director), Societe de Chant Sacre (Otto Barbian, Director), Cercle Choral Feminin (Louis Piantoni, Director), Lyre de Carouge (Louis Ludwig, Director), and the Corps de Musique de Lanwehr (L. Hoogstael, Director). Also on stage were a chorus of children from the schools of Ca rouge, students of rythmiq ue from the Geneva city schools, and students and former students of the lnstitut Jaques-Dalcroze-a total of about 1000 performers. The committee worked with a budget of 135,000 francs which covered such expenses as author's rights and copying, orchestral musicians, construction and amplification facilities, renting of wigs, costumes, chairs, etc., transportation, advertising, ushers, programs, fire, police and security guards, wardrobe and make-up people, first aid and other medical precau281

Scene, Geneve chante, 1939, Monica Jaquet, Flmiane Sylvestre

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tions. 1 With some 6,000 to 7,000 persons attending each concert, at prices ranging from 1.50 francs for standing room up to 10 francs for seats, enough revenue was collected to allow a charitable contribution of 16,000 francs to be made to the fund for the poor. 2 The program was billed as Geneve chante, consisting of selections from five works of their beloved romand composer, from the Fetede lajeunesse et de lajoie, the Fetede]uin, the]eudufeuillu, the Festivalvaudoisand the Poeme alpestre.The final piece was the popular and inspiring Prierepatriotiq_ue. This auspicious festival brought forth the remark from the French composer Georges Auric, "When will they give us a Parischante? Switzerland does not have an official national anthem, yet Dalcroze's Prierepatriotiq_ue may come close. In 1936 Genia Houriet was part of a Swiss team attending an international gathering at Birmingham, England; the group numbered about thirty from the French and Germanic areas. At the opening of the assembly the group, preceded by the Swiss flag, entered the large hall, took their place on the stage, and were called upon to sing their national hymn. What to do? What to sing? Someone then proposed, after a moment's hesitation, that they sing something by Jaques-Dalcroze! By common consent, with joy in their hearts, before 10,000 people, they raised their voices to sing the Prierepatriotiq_ue. It was a touching experience. 3 In his customary busy manner Dalcroze continued to compose numerous children's songs and devoted long hours to the writing of books and articles. He reflected philosophically on his program, always attempting to find language that would heighten the understanding of his aims and 4 was written in 1941, and the delightful practices. Souvenirs,notes et critiq_ues Notes bariolees5 in 1948. In between, in 1945, he completed La Musiq_ueet nous.6

Souvenirs contains twenty-one chapters, some of which were previously published as essays in journals and revues. They cover subjects such L., "Le Festival Jaques- Dalcroze, organization et budget," Journalde Geneve (30 June 193 7). 2lt was the policy in Switzerland to take 13%of every entertainment ticket sold and to give this money to the poor. The practice is known as le droitdespauvres.Museede Geneve,no. 12 (Feb. 1961) discusses the available halls in the city, their capacities, and the receipts for the previous year. 3Genia Houriet, "L'Hymne national suisse: une voix pour Jaques-Dalcroze," letter to the TribunedeGeneve (28Jan. 1965). 4Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, Souvenirsnoieset crtiques(Paris, 1942). 5 EmileJaques-Dalcroze, Notes bariolees(Geneve, 1948). 6Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, La Musiq11e et nous (Geneve, 1945). 1Ph.

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as music in Switzerland, music in Suisse romande, music for children, discussions of rhythm and rythmique, art, dance, theatre, and education. In chapter six, "Influences," he explains some effects on his life and work: from Faure, the need to express simply and to control thoughts and sentiments: from Delibes, some fine points of orchestration, from Lussy, insights into the hidden and more complicated musical aspects. Ysaye opened for him the doors of music, of emotion, fantasy and truth. He spoke of the strong personality of Percy Ingham and how he was affected by it. Rhythmic curiosity, he states, was born in him when he served as a conductor in Algiers; the Arab percussion instruments and rhythm left indelible effects. The final essay, "La Critique et les Critiques" was a paper he presented in Paris in 1912 before a congress on education; his attempt to explain his rhythmic method had brought on battles in the corridors. One doctor claimed that the exercises were dangerous and provoked troubles in the nervous system, while Dr. Weber-Bauler of Geneva was also present and defended the method. By 1941 Dalcroze was proud that neurologists were prescribing education by rythmique. Notes bariolees(A Medley of Observations) contains extracts of notes, impressions, and thoughts written day to day over a long period, intimate observations on philosophy of physical and psychic functions, of temperament and character, and reports of school and family-sometimes malicious, yet always full of wisdom. It is one of his most intriguing volumes, dwelling, to a great extent, on the lighter side. His views are perceptive and unusually sensitive to small, tender observations. At a concert, he recalls, a neighbor was applauding each number with frenzy. "I see, Monsieur, that you love music," said Dalcroze. "Not exactly," he replied, "but my hands are cold, and besides that, I like the noise and the movement." 7 Another obse1vation: when an artist learns that one of his works is imitated he is not upset, he may even consider it a compliment. However, he gets angry when the work is disguised. Personally, I am irritated when I am imitated (I speak of rythmique) because the imitators speak of the fault of my pedagogical work while pointing out only appearances, without having gone through the numerous experiences which pem1itted me, little by little, to discover new ways to develop the body and spirit in young generations. Copyists teach only the spectacular side of my exercises. I don't mind being stolen; I mind the mischief certain imitators can do.8

7Notes,

op. cit., 56

8 Jbid., 78f.

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Dalcroze's awareness of daily musical lifeis captured in the followingnote. "It is in going through the city streets that I often find interesting and musical rhythms. Not today! The trucks, tramways and motorcycles make such an infernal racket that music takes fright and flees."9 In reminiscing of his childhood he recalls that he was subjected to music instruction based on the Galin-Paris-Cheve method. 10 Music was figured, rhythm scanned by ta, te, ti, constantly repeated; nothing of musical sonority, melodies, harmonies, dynamic and rhythmic accents, no emotion, no style, no citation of masterworks-in a word, no music. He refused to sing with comrades, "because the exercises are too silly!," resulting in his being severely punished and classed among the incapable. 11 Dalcroze's third book, La Musique et nous: Notes sur notre doublevie, is less technical and more reflective than his earlier writings. It is divided into two principal sections: Music and Us, and Rhythm and Us; the essays of the latter section concentrate on rythmique and education. The volume includes a kind of appendix, however, translated as "Thoughts and Truths at the Pale"-forty pages of remarks on numerous subjects, most of them consisting of only three or four lines to convey a message. Some random selections are of interest. One searches the why-for of certain facts. When he finds it he asks why he looked for it. (p. 245) To understand and to acknowledge what we are is to conjecture what we could be. (p. 245) Our joys always seem to us too short and our cares seem endless. (p. 245) A work of art is the result of a strong sensation, of a lively feeling, of a deep and continuous reflection, thus a means of intelligently selected expression. (p. 249) The death of a man whom we knew evokes in some the apprehension of their own death or that of someone near to them. With others it is a certain satisfaction, even a certain pride, to feel oneself to be quite alive. (p. 251 f) In opening the portals to the brain it is not necessary, at the same time, to close the heart and one's feelings. (p. 255)

Apart from these thoughtful musings Dalcroze's concerns were constantly with the problems of his educational activities. Rythmique took an important step forward when, in 1934, it was recognized by the Swedish 9Ibid., 21. 10Pierre Galin's Expositiond'une nouvellemethodepour l'enseignememde la musique, 1818, incorporated ideas of Rousseau and was very popular in its day. Emile Cheve with his wife Nanine Paris published a Methodeelememairede musiquevocale,1844,later ed., 1863. 11Notes, op. cit., 22.

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government, and courses under Karin Fredga were introduced at the Swedish Royal Institute of Gymnastics. A few years later (1937) a course was instituted in the School of Dramatic and Lyric Arts in Ankara, Turkey. In England the Ingham Memorial Home in London was opened by Cecilia Johns, another indefatigable champion of rythmique. When World War II broke out in 1939 its effect in Switzerland was indirect; but in England its force was felt first hand. The London School took refuge by leaving the city and setting up, temporarily, in Kent. Cecilia Johns continued as director, ably assisted by an excellent staff which included Annie Beck, Ethel Driver, Brenda Thomas, and Alice Weber. Nathalie Tingey, Kitta Brown, and Iris Greep came from London one day per week to give lessons. Before the war ended, however, the building which housed the classes in London was completely demolished by air raids and another home had to be found. Excellent quarters were obtained in Kibblestone Hall in Staffordshire, and the brave rhythmicians carried on. The British government eventually gave recognition to this institution as an accepted training school for elementary teachers. With Emile's seventieth birthday one year away, friends in Geneva debated how to honor him on that occasion. The ever-loyal Jo Baeriswyl and another colleague, Jean Duchosal, president of the Jaques-Dalcroze Society, began the collection of an immense assemblage of signatures (all in one book) of persons from all over the world who had been rythmique students. The large book, 50 centimeters by 38, in white vellum, gold embossed, was presented to the master in 1935. More than 10,500 people had signed it. Included were warm attestations to him, about 200 in number, from distinguished persons worldwide. Among these testimonies was one from the great Belgian violinist Eugene Ysaye, whom Dalcroze accompanied on tours for one season in the early part of the century. Ysaye commented on the expansion of the method over the years, and the fact that from time to time some unauthorized and incapable persons undertook its teaching. Not only did the violinist admire Dalcroze's method for the training of musicians, but he claimed that it served as a new science, a necessary element in the cultivation of the musical art. When Baeriswyl undertook the compilation of the so-called "Golden Book," records showed that from the opening of the institute in 1915 to the years 1933-34, 7,253 students from 46 countries had passed through its doors. Not only was Dalcroze's work recognized and admired locally, it had made its mark across the ocean as well. In February 1936 the degree of doctor honoriscausa was bestowed upon him by Chicago Musical College at the recommendation of its dean, Rudolph Ganz. A decade later the

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University of Lausanne also conferred upon him the doctoral degree horwris causa;however, because of Dalcroze's painful illness, the honors took place in Geneva. His last attendance of a meeting of the Societe de Belles-Lettres was also in 1946. Since joining the organization at the age of sixteen he had often been honored by its members, who thought of him as the "perfect bellettrien."At this last meeting, held on 24 October in Geneva, organized in his honor by old friends, Dalcroze delivered a speech on his songs. He wrote songs at home, he said, and later at the college,but it was the spirit of Belles-Lettres,where the members laughed and worked together, sang together and loved one another that encouraged a different type of song. Later, in order to earn a living at song writing, he developed another style. By necessity, he performed his songs in the villages and the little romand cities where they pleased a sympathetic public. Always he stressed a simple accompaniment; the words and music go together, and the rhyme must join the spirit. The real task was in the construction, where the same prosody had to be maintained from the beginning to the end. He mentioned that the public of this day was better informed musically than that of fifty years earlier, and that, within Switzerland, musical taste differed in each canton. He compared his songs and those of his compatriots to German songs which, he claimed, were heavier, and could be repeated more often. The French songs were faster, lighter, and more precious. The translations of his songs, he said, were excellent, but they lacked fluency. Their success depended on several things. For some reason Lecoeurde ma mie,Marinette,and Kirikirikan \\ 're popular in France. If his children's songs succeeded it was because he so loved children and he had the luck to be able to musically translate their simple feelings. He preferred the singing of children's songs in person rather than on the radio because there one lost the delicate joy of little faces. Composing alone is not enough, he continued. The songs must be sung, and they must be sung well, with attention to life, nuance, lightnessto all details. Their allure changes according to the indications of each word. Rhythm should be free. This is something that conductors do not often observe. He detested arrangements for a large chorus, of songs intended for one voice." Arrangements" he argued, "are so much derangements." Speaking of belles-lettriens,he said that he liked the recognition that he received from them. When he was depressed the remembrance of their friendship and proven sympathy fortified his spirit and permeated his better thoughts. At the bottom of his heart he heard them singing Amis, voici les vieux qui passent (Friends, here are the old fellowswho are moving along).

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This speech and other tributes to Dalcroze were published in a special issue of Revue des Belles-Lettres in 1952.12 At another gathering of his belletrienfriends in 1940, Dalcroze further expressed his warm and tender feelings for the organization. Mes chersamis bellettriens. In my youth I always expres.5edmyself with much difficulty in public. I was so afraid to make a speech that I never accepted to be part of a committee. I had a horror of noise which still persists. When I was young I used to dream of being dropped in a tunnel, or in a fast, black rowboat. I was dragged along a narrow canal between the rows of terribly dark and quiet houses. But at the end of the tunnel or canal there was a light. What joy, then, to find calm and security! Since, I have had to go through some tunnels and have often had the good luck to come out of them reassured, cheered up, astonished, enlightened and thankful. One of the darkest of these tunnels was the college,where I never found what I sought, did not appreciate what was offered me, except in certain classes directed by tender and psychologically inclined masters. I can clearly see Philippe Monnier, leaving the collegeat the end of his studies and crying, crazy with joy, "Finally, out of this prison!" Then bursting into a store to buy a cane, symbol of liberty and virility. Finally, the right to have an opinion, to unfurl one's energy in this manner, to be able without contradiction to affirm one's literary sympathies, artistic or otherwise. It is certain that this bellettrienspirit freed me of timidity (and of a certain pose tending to hide it), instilling in me the idea of celebrating in songs the high merits and high deeds of society and of the people. It is certain that this spirit permitted me to express later my feelings of love and admiration for la Romandie in a way which suited my temperament and perhaps its own temperament. After the tunnel of the collegel found Belles-Lettressuch a liberation that even now, when it leaves me condemned to travel other tunnels of all sorts, even as the interminable tunnel of our actual dark, daily lives, it suffices me to think of Belles-Lettresto see the uniting past come to my discovery, bringing me a sweet, tender light. When one speaks of Belles-Lettreseveryone is of the same cadence, all spirits of one accord, all nerves vibrate in cadence, all hearts beat as one. Belles-Lettresfrees us and consoles ... Personally, I knew another way ofliberation; but I will not speak of rythmique this evening. The remembrance of my full and early youth allows me to remain optimistic and, consequently, to keep up like a sacred fire my affection for my friends, my esteem and my sympathy for my fellow citizens, and my love for our beautiful pays romand. 13

In the same commemorative issue Henri Barbier commented on Jaques-Dalcroze, as a bellettrien. "No one," he said, "has been so completely bellettrien as Jaques. He was faithful to friends, an inspiration as a musician 12Re1111edes belles-lenres, 27, no.

3 (May-June, 1952).

13EmileJaques-Dalcroze,Causerie(Geneve, 1940).

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and a poet, and his devotion has not ceased, even in advanced age." He went on to say that Emile was not a brilliant student at the college,but that his entry into Belles-Lettreswas like a bright light. He then recalled early associations with his old friend. Barbier had lost contact with Dalcroze for some years, but they were together for the seventy-fifth anniversary of Belles-Lettres at which Dalcroze, then a much celebrated person, collaborated. With a chorus of rythmicians they sang songs and rounds from the popular repertory, including Lejoli bois vert, of which, Barbier said, one does not know whether to admire more the poem (also Emile's) or the music. He recalled a trip to Rolle by auto for the society's centennial festival. Meetings, speeches, and a banquet were held at the chateau and songs were sung from the stage of the casino. The bellettrienswere very enthusiastic. Dalcroze, at the piano, improvised a song, Tous !es ans quand vient le printemps,Belles-Lettress'en vientaRolle(Every year when springtime comes Belles-Lettrestake off for Rolle). In the evening a theatrical program was held, with Emile once more surpassing himself with scenes from Bonhomme jadis. This was his last performance for Belles-Lettres. The next day a garden party was planned at the Paredes Eaux-Vives where a group of children, who had been rehearsing for weeks, were to perform. It rained in torrents, however, and the group moved to a little theatre in the park where the children sang their songs and Mme. JaquesDalcroze, M. Cheridjian, and their friends Zbinden and Soullier, with Emile at the piano, gave a concert. Barbier remembered another party, at L'Arquebuse, a popular Geneva inn, where Emile entertained until the late hours. He put a newspaper between the strings of the piano, th us producing guitar-like effects, and gave a veritable concert of Spanish music. He also improvised at the piano on news taken from the day's Tribune de Geneve followed by a discourse in "English" made on assonances which his remarkable ear and imitative talent drew upon, much as he had done at other such merry parties. The rheumatic body pains which Dalcroze suffered for more than a quarter century were already so severe by 1921 that he was forced to tum down an invitation to dinner at that time with the explanation that his legs hurt him. A delightful five-stanza poem accompanied his response to the invitation, each stanza ending with the line, "Mais,j'ai bien trap ma! aux guibolles! " Two stanzas from this poem follow:

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RHITHM AND LIFE

I would love, like a butterfly, To fly from flower to flower And to run about like an eagle Across all the skies of our planet; Then like an impetuous steed, To throw myself into mad races, While striking up joyous songs. But my pins hurt too much! I would love to visit, Carrying a red and green emblem, My friends, then at their side To repeat to them that I love them; I would love to sing with them Our simple and guileless songs, And I would return home happy. But my pins hurt too much. 14 Schleup continued the uibute to Jaques-Dalcroze in the Belles-Lettres commemorative issue.15 His musical education was complete, said Monsieur Schleup, and his tastes were pronounced from an early age, from the Beautiful BlueDanubeon. From Faure and Delibes he got the charm and grace we find in the chansonsromandes; from Coppeliaor Lakmewe find analogies in FetedeJuin or Le Feuillu.Nothing that touched art left him indifferent. He followed with interest the impressionists, the polytonalists, les Six (of whom he preferred Honegger, Milhaud and Poulenc), then the atonalists. Schoenberg he found boring. He would not let himself be influenced by instigators of eccentric form, especially by the French school. The most celebrated musicians followed his courses: Honegger, 16 Milhaud, Martin, drew out of the Dalcroze method means which contributed largely to the success of their works. By his solfege Dalcroze sought to fonn absolute heating. His students were numerous, especially in Germany. 17 Fritz Jocle imitated Dalcroze by presenting his Famous canons and Barbier, "Jaques-Dalcroze Bellettrien," Revue,loc. cit., 3-16. Schleup, "Jaques-Dalcroze Musicien," ibid., 18-20. 16ln a letter to the writer, Paris, 25 August 1965, Mme Honegger attests to her husband's admiration for Jaques-Dalcroze who was among the "officials"at the premier peformance of "King David," the work which first gained Honegger international attention. It was the rythmicians from Dalcroze's school who arranged and performed the dances for "Judith" presented at Mezieres in 1925. 17Schleup may have had in mind, Dalcroze's influence on Carl Orff who taught "rhytmic education" at the Gunther School in Munich and who later developed his own educational methods where, again, rhytm played an important part. 14Henri 15A.

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DENOUEMENT:

1933-1950

his melcxlies for one voice. The Austrian school followed by publishing a remarkableseriesof songs for children and adults. Schleup cited the chanson Le paysromandand compared its appeal with the favoritesong ofJoseph Bovet Le VieuxChalet,indeed a great tribute. With the death of Nina Jaques-Dalcroze on 1 April 1946, Emile lost his companion of forty-seven years. Their marriage had been a happy one despite the problems that plagued them from time to time. Nina was a beautiful but vain woman and thought more of her voice and appearance than of anything else, yet she was a constant source of encouragement and a forthright spirit upon which he could lean. She served Emile much as a business manager would, without many of the important professional qualifications. She saw in her husband a popular composer, and this was the side she continually chose to reinforce. For the most part she was not particularly interested in his pedagogical enterprises and did little to enhance those opportunities-they reached a point where she was actually jealous of his efforts and the time he devoted to his work in developing rythmiq ue. Nina was also wary of Emile's close associates, his staff and his students, many of whom were young, very beautiful women. Yet when the opportunity arrived for major decisions to be made, like the move to Hellerau, she instantly recognized the advantages. As the years passed she felt that her voice was changing and no longer had the desire to sing. It was then that she devoted more energy to Emile's affairs. From 1938 to 1940 she suffered a serious illness, arteriosclerosis, from which she recovered, but it left her with and intermittent loss of memory and other aberrations. As a young singer, Nina Faliero had been in the spotlight. She fell in love with Emile, used him as her accompanist, and married him. She did not mind featuring his much-loved songs and performing leading roles in his stage works, for she was still the star. When Emile, however, put his entire soul into the development of rythmique she was no longer the bright light. Instead, she had to obse1ve not only her husband as the evolving luminary but also those persons who surrounded him, fawned upon him, and who declared him a genius and treated him as such-something which he greatly appreciated. In part because she never developed a friendly circle of her own, Nina always resented his friends and professional associates. For example, the Braun sisters, Emile's former students and then instructors at the institute in its earliest days, had, in 1925, established a successful dance studio in Rome. In 1941, because of their German origin, they were subject to internment and taken away from their classes. The Brauns appealed to Jaq ues-Dalcroze to testify for them, verifying their Swiss citizenship and the 291

RHITHM AND LIFE

fact that they worked with him. He refused, leading the Italian authorities to restrict them for the duration of the conflict. How could Dalcroze, an intelligent, sensitive artist, deny them the briefletter they requested? When one considers Dalcroze's appreciation of Zola's stand for the sake of justice as far back as 1898, then putting himself on the line in 1914 when he signed the document of protest against the German bombings (a position which he refused to retract or to modify), one cannot understand the change of attitude in his later years. Could he have felt that since the Brauns departed from the realm of pure rythmique when they became teachers of dancing that he no longer owed them a measure ofloyalty? The answer to this riddle is simple, having no connection with professional loyalties. Nina admonished, "If you sign this they are going to want to return to Geneva and there will be problems." So Emile complied with her wishes. Perhaps there was more to the situation than merely Nina's strong will. It is possible that Jaques did not realize the seriousness of the situation for the Braun sisters, being that he was very na"ive and not particularly informed on political matters. He neither understood the aims of Nazism, nor the purposes of concentration camps. When one mentioned something about the horrors of the camps he would reply, "Don't speak to me of such silliness." He knew the Germans as charming people and remarkable musicians; however, he did not know that the husband of Jeanne Braun, a Jew and an intellectual, had been killed in a concentration camp. With the advent of Nina's illness Gabriel took over his father's business affairs. Gabriel was now an attorney and understood well the problems of rythmique, the institute, and the vicissitudes of Emile's life. He had studied rythmique and took particular interest in the worldwide problems involving the Dalcroze method. In the master's late years all matters of income were handled by Ma1tre Gabriel Jaques-Dalcroze. The "other woman" in Emile's life was his sister Helene, his childhood companion in fantasies and, later in life, his most serious confidante. Helene developed into a musician in her own right. An excellent pianist, she gave recitals and played a good deal with Ysaye, finally being forced to give up her career when a painful neck condition developed. In 1895 she married Rene Brunet-Lecomte, who trained as a chemist, worked in a bank, and then became associated with the Tribune de Geneve in an administrative capacity. Over the years, Helene served as a training accompanist for several of the festivals that were produced in the area. In 1915 she enrolled as a student in the newly formed Institute Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva and received her diploma with the distinction of having been, at forty-eight years of age, the oldest diplomate at the time. She taught at the institute until her

292

DENOUEMENT: 1933-1950

retirement in 1940, although opinions of her effectiveness as a teacher varied. It can be assumed, from many reports, that she had little interest in working with children, and that she worked well with professional students; her devotion to Emile, however, could never be questioned. In his early, struggling days as a composer it was she who handled his correspondence and other business with publishers. After Nina's death Emile gave up his residence at 7 Avenue Gaspard Vallette, moved in with his sister, and conducted all of his business from the new address on 12 Boulevard Tronchees. Helene Brunet-Lecomte carefully conserved her brother's letters, as they revealed much that passed through the musician's soul in his moments of anguish, disturbance, and success-all of which he confided in his sister. (Many of the letters Emile had received throughout his long career are, alas, not available because his wife Nina, having no use for them, destroyed the correspondence.) At the age of eighty Helene completed the first extensive Dalcroze biography, from which much information in the present work is taken. 18 In her later years her affairs, too, were handled by her nephew Gabriel. She died in her apartment at the age of ninety-five, in the year of the international Dalcroze centennial celebration, while a special summer session at the institute was in progress. Her passing was announced by Mme. Croptier, Director of the institute, who asked the convention members to sing one of her brother's tender songs, Tout simplement, in her behalf. In his old age and in poor health, Emile walked with difficulty. His hands shook in normal daily activities but not when he played the piano; his improvisations, miraculously, were still inventive and intriguing. However, he went to the institute less frequently, sometimes as little as once a week. As he left his sister's apartment to take the street car he moved slowly, with difficulty, and the tram conductor would often call out, "Take your time, Monsieur Jaques. We'll wait for you." That kind of consideration would probably not have been offered to many other citizens of Geneva-a tribute to the love and esteem felt for him by the ordinary person. Often Emile would be taken out in a wheelchair by his nurse; on one occasion recognizing a former student who had traveled with him and had assisted in many demonstrations. "Hey, Monica," he called from across the street, "what do you think of my new Cadillac?"19 Brunet-Lecomte, ]tUJues-Dalcroze sa vie-sonoeu11re (Geneve, 1950). author is indebted to Monica Jaquet for this and other personal anecdotes. Jaquet had been a teacher of rythmique for over fifty-four years including instruction at the Geneva Institute 1930-1970. 18Helene 19The

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RHYTHM AND LIFE The directorship of the institute now had to be turned over to a younger person, a new responsibility assigned to Marguerite Croptier. She was certified in 1928, and was entirely capable of adding to her teaching duties the requirements of administration. The operation of the institute involved not only classes for children and professional students, but also the maintenance of control over the worldwide Dalcroze movement. As Dalcroze's eightieth birthday approached, Hilda Schuster, Director of the New York Dalcroze School of Music, planned to honor her master with another book of signatures of method students, this time students from American schools. The gesture again warmed the heart of the aging rhythmician and he thanked Dr. Schuster for her efforts, not only on his behalf, but also on behalf of the entire Dalcroze movement. In Geneva the program of honors for the octogenarian included a performance of his opera Le Peti Roi qui pleure, concerts at the conservatory, and programs of his chansons in the schools. The newspapers and radio gave many expressions of tribute. Frank Martin, the renowned composer remarked, "That which dominated the life of this man, his very nature, is youth .... More than any man in the world he had the faculty to live in the spirit of growth, to sense the future in the present, or better still, to feel the tension of the present toward the future. From that comes the optimism of his nature, the pleasure of his art. "20 In 1944 the city council of Geneva had announced a policy to award a prize to be given every four years, in literature, fine arts, and music. 21 The prizes (sums of money) were first awarded on 2 May 1947 to Jacques Cheneviere for literature, Alexandre Blanchet for painting, and to EmileJaques-Dalcroze for music. A presentation ceremony was held at the Grand Theatre with a concert by the Orchestre de la Suisse romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet. J aq ues-Dalcroze's opera Le BonhommeJadis, which had experienced repeated successes forty years before, was produced and the orchestra performed his early work, the Variationson a SwissAir, la Suisseest belle.He had written this work for his orchestration students as an example of what could be done to display the various characteristics of the orchestral instruments. A month later Dalcroze was awarded another honorary doctorate, this from the University of Clermont-Ferrand in France, and in 1958 the city of Geneva posthumously honored the great musician and educator by renaming one of its important thoroughfares Boulevard Jaq ues-Dalcroze.

20Alfred

Berchtold, "Emile Jaques-Dalcroze ...," Frank Martin and others, Emile JaquesDalcroze l'homme ... (Neuchatel, 1965) 152f. 21Auribucion officielledesprixla villede Geneve (20 Mar. 1954).

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DENOUEMENT: 1933-1950

Emile's last days were passed in great physical discomfort, in spite of which he continued working according to routine. At odd moments, away from his serious thought devoted to rythmique and the writing of chansons (the last being La PetiteArmoire), he amused himself by compiling punsmaxims and words having several meanings-which, given more time would probably have resulted in an amusing little volume. The last message he wrote was a post card to friends thanking them for some mushrooms they had given him. In his later years Eva, the family maid for over thirty years, usually examined his letters to see if they were readable, as well as printing the addresses for him, for his handwriting was very shaky. Helene and her husband Rene had invited some friends to dinner on what was to be his final evening, Monsieur and Madame Henri Barbier (long-time friends from Belles-Lettres),and Emile's colleague, Jo Baeriswyl. After the guests had departed, Emile felt unwell so Eva called the doctor. She also called his son Gabriel, who arrived at 11:30. By that time Emile was sinking, holding Eva's hand and squeezing it. He was able to recognize everyone who was with him but was unable to speak. At 1:00 AM, 1 July, five days before his eighty-fifth birthday, he died. Emile's friend Barbier wrote: He departed at an advanced age. He said and did all that he could say and do. He valiantly accomplished the task which his genius ordained for him, he accepted with a serene and resigned heart the proof of the last years of his life, then he left without apprehension and without suffering, leaving behind him only his work of beauty and a trail of goodness.22

The body was taken to the institute where it lay in state. For several days the school children throughout the area grieved, yet proudly sang the songs of their beloved poet-musician. On 4 July the Reverend Ernest Christen delivered the funeral message at the Cathedral St. Pierre, emphasizing Dalcroze's power to reach the hearts of his people and to praise his God through the beauty of his songs. After a brief musical tribute taken from the work of his friend of Vienna school days, Frederic Klose, and performed by members of the Orchestre de la Suisse romande, eulogies were pronounced by city councilors Albert Malche and Albert Picot; by Marguerite Croptier, Director of the Institute; and by Judge Andre Fontana, president of the Societedes Belles-Lettres.

22Henri

Barbier, loc. cit., I 7.

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RHYTHM AND LIFE Before Reverend Christen's benediction the congregation rose and sang Emile's touching Prierepatriotique.

I.J. Ji J~92fJ. 0

Lord,

.give

help

to

the

beau-

E2J

Jg

teous

The

land,

~~s~¥-+-N=W~::e~'

~~PJ

-=-=-==1-------F~=-::n:-~ land

~PJ. land

land

called

~~

which

heart

a-

The

deres----.

Ji J

r++F.J. JL2J

which

shall

which

up- on

['

@)

dear

my

coun ....

shall

love

me

If'

al-

o-

ways

for-

ev -

bey,

My

F

love,

As

er.

Lord,

the

pro-·

teer

you

my

II

try.

Leaving the cathedral, the funeral procession, led by costumed ushers (as befitted an official of state), progressed to Place Neuve, where the conservatory was located and further honors were rendered, then filed past the Grand Theatre. The chimes of St. Pierre continued to peal the beautiful, heart-felt melodies the departed had given the world. According to his wishes the body was cremated and the remains buried at the cemetary of Plainpalais. Adieu, Monsieur Jaques.

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CHAPTERXV

Centennial Celebration: 1965 Early in 1963, friends and colleagues ofEmile Jaques-Dalcroze began forming committees to organize and carry out plans for a commemorative centennial celebration. Charlotte MacJannet, President of U.I.P.D., and Margurerite Croptier, Director of the lnstitut Jaques-Dalcroze initially developed the idea, and with Mattre Gabriel Jaques-Dalcroze, who was now heir to his father's intellectual realm, they were named vice-presidents of the organization committee. The president was Henri Gagnebin, composer and former director of the Geneva Conservatory, now retired, yet full of energy and competent in administrative and organizational affairs.The general secretary, who assumed most of the detailed work, was Andre Hunziker, a mathematics instructor in the Geneva schools, who had recently organized an immensely successful conference for mathematics instructors in Geneva. The remaining members of the organization committee were all musicians and rhythmicians, including the instructional faculty of the institute. An impressive honorary committee was also established, consisting of persons in government and education, as well as local and foreign persons who had an interest in la rythmi.quein various manifestations. A number of musical and cultural organizations, national and international, participated as a Committee of Patrons who contributed in many supportive ways. In addition, five special organizations contributed materially to the centennial project: City and Canton of Geneva Pro-Helvetia Foundation Foundation Rapin Union de Banque Suisse Credit Suisse

297

RHYTHM AND LIFE The centennial-year celebration officially opened with an inaugural ceremony held at the hall of the lnstitut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva on the evening of 22 February 1965. Henri Gagne bin, Andre Chavanne, Claudius Terrir, and Alfred Borel opened the meeting with short addresses and, after the musical portion of the evening, Ma1tre Gabriel Jaques-Dalcroze delivered the closing comments. The main part of the evening consisted of a suite by Telemann, compositions by Jaques- Dalcroze, Gagne bin, students of Jaques-Dalcroze, and professors of the institute. Pieces that were composed especially for this occasion were: Le Tombeau de MonsieurJaques,Evocationpour piano, Henri Gagnebin Suite en trois mouvements, en hommage a ]aques-Dalcroze, Bernard Reichel Etude rythmique, dedieea l'Institut]aques-Dalcroze,Frank Martin The evening was an outstanding tribute to the great pedagogue, leaving all participants, performers, and audiences alike, charged with emotion and fond memories. The committee distributed a list of some two dozen future programs to be given locally: lectures, concerts, dramatic presentations, dance, radio and television programs, information concerning new recordings of JaquesDalcroze's Jeu de feuillu soon to be available, a new edition of his book Le Rythme, la musique et !'education,soon to be published, and of the remarkable book which the committee commissioned for the centennial in which several writers dealt with Dalcroze-biography, composition, songs, rythmique, his relation with Adolphe Appia, in addition to an invaluable catalogue of his compositions. 1 The committee also issued information concerning the instrumental music of Jaques-Dalcroze which had been recorded between 1951 and 1963, also available on tape, and prepared a list of songs, operatic excerpts, and other pieces ready for performance. One of the numerous concerts open to the public was given on 10 March by the Orchestre de la Suisse romande under Ansermet's direction, at which Ruggiero Ricci, the American violinist, played the Dalcroze C minor Violin Concerto. Interest in the various manifestations of the centennial was quite keen in the Geneva community. Alfred Berchtold, recognized for his most informative book on the culture of the area,2 had been commissioned to write

Martin et al. Jaques-Dalcroze,l'lwmme, le composireur,le createurde la rythmique (Neuchatel, 1965). 2Alfred Berch told, La Suisseau cap du XX• siecle (Lausanne, 1963). 1Frank

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CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION: 1965

the biographical portion of the centennial volume, and lectured at the hall of the Athenee on 19 March 1965. At the conclusion of his discourse, before the assemblage rose to depart, a woman in the audience sprang up impulsively, and in a tearful and emotionally strained voice, exclaimed: "I wish to point out that as a child more than sixty years ago, I attended Monsieur Jaques's classes. It is my belief that there has never been a man with more warmth, more feeling, more love and understanding for children than Monsieur Jaques. What he did for us I remember and cherish to this day, as do so many of my generation who revere him as I do. There can never be another teacher like him." At the program on 31 March entitled "Guirlande de Rondes et de Chansons," given at the Salle de la Reformation, an enthusiastic crowd gathered to enjoy the familiar songs presented in old and new ways by students of the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze, prepared by their teachers. Numerous persons of advanced age hurried to reach the hall on time so as not to miss a single number; their vigor and coordination could be detected even in the street. It was clear that they were once rythmique students themselves and that the training had left a lasting reward of health and strength for them, as well as a continued interest in the method, which they were about to relive that evening in the performances of their grandchildren. Jo Baeriswyl prepared a new staging of Le Jeu du feuillu which was presented during the month of May-the very season the play emphasized- in Plan-les-Ouates, Onex, Versoix, Pregny, Mayrin, Cointrin, Collonge-Bellerive, Petit-Laney (all suburbs of Geneva), and in Geneva itself. In June five performances of the delightful Petit Roi qui pleure were given at the Grand Theatre by children of the Geneva public schools and the students of the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze, under the musical direction of Jean-Marie Auberson. Two of these presentations were reserved for attendance by school children. This little fairy opera ranks with the ever-beguiling Hansel and Gretel, written in 1893 by Engelbert Humperdinck, for its charming story and pleasing music and dances, all illustrating principles of rythmique. In paying tribute to Jaques-Dalcroze, the organizational committee also wished to recognize the contribution of Adolphe Appia, without whom the attainments of rythmique, particularly in the theatre world, would certainly have been limited. A portion of the city's Museum of Art and History, known as the Salle des Casemates, was now given over to an exposition commemorating the collaboration of the two Genevans, JaquesDalcroze and Appia. In addition to interesting memorabilia relating to 299

RHITHM AND LIFE

Dalcroze-honors, awards, diplomas, books, scores, photographs, even the "Golden Book"-they also brought together the scenic drawings Appia had made for all of his productions. These were transported from their former home in Berne and were to be housed here for the purpose of making them available to a new, and perhaps more motivated, public. The opening of the exposition was scheduled for 31 July and its contents were to remain on view through August and September, in a portion of the museum now known as the Salle Jaques-Dalcroze. A major portion of the centennial was focused on the two- week period from 2 to 14 August. In the first week the committee scheduled a Cours de Vacances,a summer course at the institute for proponents of rythmiqueteachers, students, and other interested persons. In the second week they held an International Congress of Rhythm and Rythmique. These events attracted some 450 visitors from thirty countries and five continents and the instructional staff and lecturers consisted of forty-four persons from eleven countries, thus signaling the truly international character of the activities and their participants. 3 The summer course was normally held every three years, and although 1965 was not the sequential year for the program, the order was interrupted due to the occasion of the centennial. Certain instructors had already acquired star status and world-wide reputations; they justified their positions in their impressive presentations. One of these, Rosalia Chladek, was a product of the late Hellerau school, albeit not under Dalcroze, but under the direction of Christine Baer-Frissell. She was later an instructor in Laxenburg and director of the ballet of the Vienna Opera, then Professor at the Academy for Music and Theatre in Vienna. Chladek gave inspiring lessons in body rhythm and musical rhythm. Gerda Alexanderof Copenhagen demonstrated her theories of eutonie, a word which has still not reached American dictionaries, nor is it common, even now, in France. Eutonie means good-tone, the right degree of muscle tension. In his method Dalcroze stressed coordination and disordination of body members, relaxation and contraction of the muscles, as exercises to enhance free and more comfortable rhythmic responses. Eutonists continued to explore that aspect from about 1920 onward. Two Americans, Hilda Schuster and John Colman, along with Monica Jaquet of the institute family, presented both some of the oldest and newest ideas concerning rythmique and its teaching. Colman also commented on aspects of improvisation. Vera James of London gave a typical first lesson of

3From

the United States came John Colman, Henrietta Rosenstrauch, and Hilda Schuster.

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CENTENNIALCELEBRATION:

1965

solfege. Mrs. MacJannet, as President of the International Union ofDalcroze Teachers (UIPD), reported on her visits to other countries- Italy, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Hungary and South Africa-where she made contact with rythmicians and learned of their work in the field. She discussed the role of UIPD in helping to organize programs in other countries in honor of the Jaques-Dalcroze centennial, providing valuable information on rythmique training in Germany and other countries, and on the work being done in therapeutic techniques. A progress report explained the result of ten years of work done by international committees to set standards of admission for rythmique studies and for the certificate and diploma examinations. The week-long summer session activities closed with a relaxing boat trip to Coppet on Lake Geneva. The International Congress of Rhythm and Rythmique followed the Coursde Vacances,paralleling the Congress of Rhythm held almost forty years before. Each of the five sessions dealt with a particular theme, and the closing session was, for the most part, ceremonial in nature. The general theme for the first day was "Education by Movement, Rhythm and Music." Mesdames Alexander, Chladek, and Jaenicke dealt with their special activities. Gisele Jaenicke's topic was the training of opera singers. The composer Frank Martin discussed a fundamental question: the sources of rhythm. He recognized an inner sense which he called the consciousness of number, illustrated by one's ability to identify the third or fourth chime of the church bells, not having consciously heard the first stroke of the chimes. He related this to the human regulation of gesture and to the sense of musical measure. Also related to these qualities, he said, are poetry and language through their accent and length of syllables. Poetry, Martin claimed, which developed and sustained itself over thousands of years, was not accidental, but a phenomenon based on our perception of number. It is the human spirit which provides regulation of corporal movement, which relates to musical rhythm, and which uses musical terms such as accelerando and ritardando. Musical rhythm is an element of liaison between our spirit and our body. Jaques-Dalcroze, he pointed out, intuitively used rhythm to create an association between body activity, spirit and movement, to form a basic pedagogical system.

301

Scene, LesJumeauxde Bergame,TelevisionSuisse, 1965

Monument at Ste. Croix honoring its citizen

RHITHM AND LIFE

In another presentation Vivien Soldan discussed rythmique in dramatics and the role of dramatics in education. The following day she illustrated her statements by giving two short plays, The Walland The Road, performed by her students from Frensham Heights Schools of Franham, England. In the evening a dance program "Orchesis," was presented at the Theatre de la Cour St. Pierre by Hellinkos Organismos Orchistikis Ekpaidefseos (Hellenic Organization for Dance Instruction), sponsored by the Greek Ambassador to Switzerland, Jean Liberopoulos. The performance was based on a theme of Coula Pratsica, Director of the Athens School of Gymnastics, Dance, Rythmique and Music, and choreographed by Zouzou Nicoloudi. The following morning, in her lecture on rythmique in Greece, Miss Pratsica explained that the term eurhythmics in her country was generally used to denote any form of activity in the domain of physical education. Miss Pratsica's talk ushered in the day's discussions on the topic "General and Artistic Education Based on Rythmique." Marguerite Croptier discussed the role of rythmique in general education, and Henriette Rosenstrauch spoke on "Rhythm and the Art of Living." Presentations were made by Nushka Perenson on rythmique in general education in the Israeli kibbutzim, and by Jo Baeriswyl on rythmique and popular games. Maria Scheiblauer showed her own films in the in the evening, the first illustrating the use of hoops, wands, and balls with children of kindergarten age, and more organized movement with older children. Another film featured deaf-mutes who followed hand beats with their eyes and interpreted the beat rhythmically with their feet. It also showed the children responding to piano music, the vibrations of which they felt on the floor through their bare feet and also by placing their hands on the piano top. A nativity play, in which the characters were deaf-mutes from the Zurich Institute, filmed at a ruin near the city, was beautifully done and impressed the viewers. These were short films, fifteen to twenty minutes in length, although Miss Scheiblauer was then in the process of making a ninety-minute film on therapeutic techniques which she had begun in 1959. This writer observed a filming session of an entire morning at Miss Scheiblauer's studio in Zurich, with Walter Marty as the cinematographer. In the first sequence they worked with four young blind children, one of whom was unable to cooperate, cried, and was taken home by his mother. (Most of the parents were present because of their great interest in the project; in fact, a large part of the budget for the film [250,000 Swiss francs] was pledged by parents of handicapped

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children; the state also contributing to the costs.) The second subject was a five-year-old girl, a deaf-mute, who could not use her arms. Also being filmed was a pair of twin girls, about eight years of age. One of the twins could not walk or stand; she sat or lay en the floor, moved a little with her elbows, but could do very little with her hands. Her hearing was acute, but music generally mader her flinch. The other twin, Carla, was quite intelligent, able to talk and sing, and could follow directions. Their area of movement was marked by four chairs which they could be arranged. Other play involved the use of round sticks, about thirty inches long, and balls, which Carla rolled back and forth, but which the other two children could only grasp and hold. Marie Scheiblauer, widely known by her friends and colleagues as Mimi, worked with the children every day, trying to make contact with them, trying to catch every opening she could in order to obtain a response. It took lots of patience, something (she felt) psychologists lack. Frequently, she lamented, psychologists tire after one hour of contact with the children and their work thereafter is totally ineffective. Filming was done about twice per week. Mimi explained that the film shows all kinds of problems, but her main purpose was to try to animate the soul. She did not believe, she said, as did the Nazis, in destroying the soul. The evening's program of films introduced the topic of the third day of the congress, "Therapy by Rhythm." Miss Scheiblauer wa the first speaker of the day. She stated that movement is a good way to diagnose a person because, in that way, a person really shows himself as he is. There is danger in using only one method of instruction, she said, because people are different, and one must apply techniques suitable for the particular individual. She stressed the need to study psychology in order to understand and to feel the child's situation, but to forget psychology if it fails to make contact with the child, and to continue to meet the child's needs in some other way. The instructor's ability to improvise in all styles is important and it is his responsibility to reach the subject through propermusic, not just any music. It is easy to accompany movement with music, but do not let music be a nursemaid. Sometimes let the child do movement without music. "Music," she said, quoting Jaques-Dalcroze, "is a small means for a large purpose-life."

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RHYTHM AND LIFE Marie Scheiblauer began rythmique study in 1905 at Basie; she also attended Dalcroze's courses at Hellerau. From time to time she came to Geneva for short periods of study and she finally received her certificate after completing a fifteen-day course in Zurich. Her work with handicapped persons began in 1922 when Professor Hans Hanselmann of Zurich observed her rythmique lessons and was struck by the efficacy of the system for teaching the sick. Her first assignment was with feebleminded children, and in 1924 she went on to instruct students classifiedas difficult to educate. Work with the deaf and dumb began in 1926. Volkmar Andreae, Director of the Zurich Conservatory, put her in charge of the rythmique sections and training courses for teachers of the handicapped at the conservatory. Here she worked with Suzanne Perrottet, Charlotte Pfeffer, and Grete Lui. She also gave courses and seminars throughout the years in Cologne, Freiburg, Bremen, Vienna, and Lausanne. As a result of her therapeutic endeavors and the experience she had acquired, she wa often asked to write a book on dealing with the handicapped, for the benefit of other teachers in the field. No, she would reply, she was too busy studying children and their problems and she advised other instructors to do the same. Dalcroze was never comfortable with her work at Zurich. He failed to recognize her efforts as a full disciple of his method. Instead, he sought to establish some sort ofliaison between Zurich and Geneva, yet nothing was ever settled. Miss Scheiblauer continued to work with music and movement, however, she was not permitted to call it Dalcroze training, and she never claimed that it was. The crowning event of the afternoon session, perhaps of the entire congress, was the demonstration by Arthur Coberger, who brought patients from the hospital at Ilten, Germany with him. By his gentle touch and warmth of personality, his soft-spoken voice, quiet singing and soothing piano playing, he caused the three patients, who were crippled (partially paralyzed), to smile and to respond willingly to his suggestions and directions. These men, about forty years of age, seemed to relax, to gain some element of control over their impaired faculties, and to move in a manner totally out of keeping with their original posture, which was bent over, their faces writhing in expressions of pain. The audience sat in breathless silence, obviously emotionally affected. In the evening Samuel Baud-Bovy, Director of the Geneva Conservatory-himself a student of rythmique at the institute as a child, and son of Daniel Baud-Bovy, one of Dalcroze's long-time friends and collaborators-conducted a concert of compositions by students of the

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CENTENNIALCELEBRATION:1965 honored musician and pedagogue over Geneva Radio: Fernande Peyrot, Emile Ristori, Roger Vuataz, Bernard Reichel, Jean Binet, and Frank Martin. "Training for Instruction" was the subject of the fourth day. From Germany came Mmes. Liselotte Pistor, Gertrude Bi.inner and Lisa Jacob to speak on training teachers of rythmique at the "Hochschule fur Musik at Stuttgart, and further information on the Dalcroze work in body training. Mme. Croptier also discussed teacher training and French practices were explained by Mmes. Hatinguais and Goldenbaum. That evening the City of Geneva hosted a reception at the foyer of the Grand Theatre, followed by the showing of films made by Gerda Alexander _andRosalia Chladek. For the fifth day of the congress the general theme was "Bases for Musical Education." Robert Faller discussed new ideas in teaching solfege and Tran Van Khe from the Center for Oriental Music Studies of the Sorbonne traced Chinese and Indian concepts of rhythm in Vietnamese music. Karl-Heinz Taubert spoke on connections between the dances of the renaissance and baroque suite, illustrating some quite neatly by personal examples. Bernard Reichel and John Colman once more delved into the complexities of improvisation; their interesting practical demonstration included Frank Martin, who was brought from the audience by popular request. These three expert improvisers played at one piano, shifting positions from time to time. As they changed positions they managed to maintain the sharply dissonant, rhythmically complicated passages that one of the other pianists introduced, an amusing feat which the audience greatly appreciated. An additional audience request brought on yet another improvisation team: Colman and Christiane Montandon of the Geneva faculty. Fritz Winkel explained some experiments which he and his staff were doing in Berlin using cybernetic methods in studying rhythm, support, and movement. The application of a new scientific approach, which paralleled Jaques-Dalcroze's artistic, intuitive, but pseudo-scientific procedure included experimentation with animals, something Dalcrozians had heretofore not done. The final lecture was given by Ernest Ansermet, entitled "The Structures of Musical Rhythm." He developed the idea that within the wide scope of musical rhythm is one particular rhythm, essentially a matter of cadence, which is germane to each composition and that each composition is subject to a "time" of its own. Further, he explained harmonic rhythm and its relation to tempo as tempo is discharged from internal musical rhythm. A discussion followed his presentation.

307

Three disciples: Rosa Nelli, Mimi Scheiblauer, and Anya Antik

CENTENNIALCELEBRATION:1965

A memorable recital was held at the hall of the institute, featuring songs, piano pieces, and scenes from Le Petite Roiqui pleureand from La Fete de la jeunesse et de la joie by Jaques-Dalcroze, in which Wally Staempfli, soprano, and Christiane Montandon, pianist, performed, along with professional students of the institute directed by Madeleine Hussy, Florence Sechehaye and Monica Jaquet. Opening the program was a pantomime of Bernard Reichel, Le Mystere de Jeanne d'Arc. The performance of the principal character (Marianne Chappuis, a professional student, who was to receive her certificate at the conclusion of the scholastic year) was so effective that Rosalia Chladek immediately offered her a full scholarship to study at the Vienna Academy for Music and Dramatic Art. The program concluded with Reichel's Preluderealized in movement by students of the institute, directed by Mlle. Hussy. The congress officially closed with a brief session at the institute in which the president of the organizing committee, Henri Gagnebin, aptly expressed the idea that Dalcroze work must continue; that it must cover all that is significant, even in the area of "ye-ye," the popular song movement of the youth of the day. Marguerite Croptier paid special homage to Jaq ues-Dalcroze and the entire assemblage sang together one of the master's touching chansons, Tout simplement. Let us love our mountains, our Alps of snow, Let us love our countryside, which God watches o'er, And sing together of the romandland With all our hearts, Yet, most simply.... A brief ceremony was held at the cemetery of Plainpalais where Monsieur Jaques had been laid to rest; a formal banquet in the evening brought the program to a close.4 Radio romande in Geneva participated in the Jaques- Dalcroze centennial by programming his four principal operas-Le BonhommeJadis,Les

4For

a resume of the conference see author's article, "Conference on Rhythm and 'la Rythmique'," Bulletin Dolmetsch Foundation 2, no. 10 (Oct. 1966). The lectures of the congress are published in Deuxiemecongresinternationaldu rythmeet de la rythmique(Gen~ve, 1965). Lectures and other accounts also appeared in Zweiter lncemationalerRhythmikKongressGenf 1965 (Stuttgart, 1966) under the auspices of the periodical Rhythmische Erziehung.

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Jumeaux de Bergame,Le Petit Roi qui pleure, and Janie- three with the participation of the Orchestre de la Suisse romand, and the fourth with a two-piano accompaniment. Studio de Lausanne performed the Festival vaudoisas an oratorio and Les BellesVacances(directed by Robert Mermoud), as well as a program of piano music played by Celine Volet-Chaillet, and a program of recorded choral music directed by Andre Charlet. On television LesJumeauxde Bergamewas performed on 9 May,5 produced by experienced television director Roger Burckhardt. He emphasized the comic elements and chose for his principal characters persons who could be presented as actors, dancers, acrobats and jongleurs in order to create a non-stop harlequinade, full of movement and gaiety. The reawakened interest in Jaques-Dalcroze on the occasion of this one-hundredth birthday observance led the news media to give considerable attention to the scheduled events. Instead of the usual announcements and reviews, feature articles frequently appeared. The opera Le PetitRoi received especially thorough coverage, helping to highlight a work which otherwise might not have had such an impact on the local citizenry. On 6 July, Dalcroze's birthday, newspapers all over Switzerland dedicated full pages, and sometimes more, towards the man, reviewing biographical matters, the Hellerau period, the development of rythmique, his qualities as a musician and educator and, especially, the impact his songs made on the area for several generations. Geneva's leading daily, La Tribune de Geneve,was most generous in covering the numerous events of the centennial celebration and in providing information relative to them. Henri Gagnebin provided an account of Jaques-Dalcroze for the 6-7 February issue in which he announced the centennial plans in general and reviewed Dalcroze's activities. Under a picture of the musician appeared the caption "Always young of heart and of spirit." Another item on the same page surveyed the specific centennial programs the committee had arranged, urging the public to participate. On the 16th, the newspaper carried an announcement of the forthcoming official celebration of the Dalcroze centennial in Lausanne, sponsored by the Council of the Canton of Vaud and the City of Lausanne, capital of the canton. The first program was scheduled for 23 February at the Theatre de Beaulieu, featuring choruses from Chailly sur Clarens and the College de Montreux. Besides popular airs and dances, the main part of the program consisted of selections from the famous Festivalvaudoisof 1903. The closing 5The publication Radio-JV carried in article by Roger Vuataz on the forthcoming broadcast on 6 May.

310

CENTENNIALCELEBRATION: I 965 number was the "Priere patriotique." The paper also covered the early performances of the Jeu du feuillu taking place on 4 April at Celigny, and later in the small communities surrounding Geneva: Croix-de-Rozon, Compesieres, Landecy, Charrot; and in the villages of Confignon, Bemex, Lully, Avully, Cartigny, and at Plan-les-Ouates, Saconnex-d'Arve and A rare. A brief notice brought attention to the national festival of 1 June at which the city of Geneva organized a concert ofDalcroze's works played on the carillon by Pierre Segond at the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre. The 29-30 May issue carried two notices on Le PetitRoi: first, a simple announcement of the five productions to be given at the Grand Theatre, and a feature article written by Gagnebin on the opera itself in which he discussed the plot and some of the outstanding -features of the work. Two weeks later the journal reported the first performance, giving credits to the conductor and to the several persons who were responsible for the training and staging of the spectacle. It reported on 21 June an unusual homage to Jaques-Dalcroze which was held at Sion in the Valais. Thousands of school children, six to seventeen years of age, marched through the streets in groups of about twenty, each singing a different song by Dalcroze. The public also participated in the festivities, with a prize awarded for recognizing the titles of the songs which were sung. A large portrait of the composer was carried through the streets in a parade led by the Harmonie Municipale and the Fanfare de Bovemier. The students of the institute who had completed their requirements for the various prizes and for certificates and diplomas were announced on 1 July. For these students it was a more significant end; they had worked with a greater purpose in light of the centennial, experiencing its inspiration and influence throughout the year. As a crowning testimony, on 3 July the Tribune devoted over three full pages of its literary supplement to the memory of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. His old friend and collaborator, Jacques Cheneviere, submitted an article, "Dans l'Ombre des Souvenirs" (In the Shadow of Memories). Actually, this was an excerpt from a literary work upon which he was laboring, a collection of memories, Mon livre d'images.He spoke of the startling effect of the Fete de]uin which he witnessed in 1914, only two months prior to the outbreak of war. He then remarked upon the opening of the Geneva Institute, a responsibility, he said, which the city had towards the master for his outspoken gesture in the cause of humanity and which was a necessity for artistic purposes. Cheneviere recalled with warmth his contacts with Emile and the invitation to write something upon which they could collaborate. His first effort was the Mysterede Noel ( 1916), yet the more significant work

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was Lespremierssouvenirs.He recalled with deep feeling the rehearsals and the performances of Souvenirs-about a dozen-all done before sold out houses, going on and on until the end of the scholastic year forced them to close. Some of the touching scenes were mentioned, particularly one in which a young girl and a young man-the only male in the cast, the notable Jean Binet-exchange meaningful glances. The work was repeated in 1920 with the same singer, musicians, and narrator (himselO, and many of the same rhythmicians. He delicately pointed out that one participant in the show, the celeste player, later became his wife. It is no wonder that Les premierssouvenirsheld such sweet memories for him. In the same issue Alfred Berchtold provided a concise resume of the Hellerau period, the most significant achievement of rythmique, artistically and historically, followed by a series of articles dealing with various aspects of the life of the master. Mme. Lucienne Gouvreux-Rouche (daughter of Jacques Rouche, at one time director of the Paris Opera and long a friend of Emile and Nina) discussed Dalcroze's relation to the Paris scene, reviewing his association with the school on Rue de Vaugirard from 1917 through the two-year period during which he was a resident of the city and worked directly with the school. She claimed that Emile satisfied his desire in the years 1924-26 to revitalize the Paris school, commenting on the support given him by such well-known musicians as Gabriel Faure and Alfred Cortot, and such men of the theatre as Fermin Gemier of the Odeon and Jacques Copeau of the Vieux-Colombier. Another penetrating article was done by Tibor Denes on the warm friendship that existed betweenJaques-Dalcroze and Adolphe Appia which emphasized the strength these artists lent to each other. Denes may be best known for his contributions to the centennial volume on Dalcroze-the sections of chronology and the catalogue of works, musical and literary. He did a great deal of research on the biographical portion and turned over his valuable notes to Alfred Berchtold, who eventually wrote that section of the book. The "rivalry" between Jaques-Dalcroze and Gustave Doret is mentioned by Samuel Baud-Bovy, summarized by a comment of his father, Daniel, who collaborated with both composers and who believed the selection of the FetedeJuin of 1914 belonged to Dalcroze, not Doret. Samuel also discussed other aspects of his teacher and his own childhood as one of the rythmique students at the institute.

312

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION: 1965

The venerable critic R.-Aloys Mooser had three articles in the 4 July issue of La Suissedealing with subjects not normally mentioned in the many recapitulations the centennial invoked. He reprinted an article which Dalcroze wrote in 1895 for the GazetteMusicalede laSuisseRoman.deentitled "Youth." Here Dalcroze enunciated the most vital propensity of youth: boldness. He also stressed vigor in the arts, something which older persons tended to neglect. Mooser contended that Jaques-Dalcroze maintained these qualities throughout his life. He reprinted a letter which JaquesDalcroze wrote to the Tribunede Geneve Qules Cougnard, editor), in which he took the journal and the media in general, to task for non-cooperation in things artistic. While so many other centennial publications recalled Jaq ues-Dalcroze as an educator, folklorist, composer of festivals, operas and chansons, Mooser referred to another episode in Dalcroze's diverse experiences: his "revues." These were the music hall entertainments, popular in the late 1800s, which Dalcroze promoted in Geneva at the Salle des Amis de l'lnstruction. For these he wrote not only the music, which was always light and spirited, but also the words which were often irreverent, even malicious, and which he performed himself. Gustave Guldenstein, a student from Hellerau days, instructor at Laxenburg and at the Conservatory of Basle, wrote an extensive, timely, article in the Sunday section of the BaslerNachrichtenon 4 July. In the full-page, illustrated piece, Guldenstein reviewed the man, his qualities of pedagogy, his life activities, his international values and world renown, and his musical accomplishments. Willy Tappolet did the same in his feature article on 6 July in the Neue ZurcherZeitung. Sainte-Croix celebrated the centennial on 6 July, as reported ten days later in Avis de Sainte-Croix.The program was held early in the evening at the entrance to Rue Jaq ues-Dalcroze, so named by the community in honor of the centennial. A bronze plaque set in a limestone block read: Emile Jaques-Dalcroze Native of Sainte-Croix Composer Rhythmician born in Vienna 6 July 1865 died in Geneva 1 July 1950 Composer of the Marchevaudoise 313

i\~ Je~11GONVERS dans le l'ole de Jaques-D ICl'Olt (Revue de /'Arole).

Stage caricature, Jean Gonvers as Jaques-Dalcroze

CENTENNIALCELEBRATION:1965 Alix Jaccard, a community official, then explained that Emile never actually resided in the town but that, as a child, he spent summer vacations there with a relative, the Professor-Doctor Arthur Mermod-Dumur. Several local choruses sang songs by Dalcroze and, in conclusion, the assemblage sang his Seigneur,accordewn secours;the program terminated early enough for the people to return to their homes to listen to a special radio program entitled, "Monsieur Jaques, we still hearken to you." On 1 April the Lausanne journal, L'Illustre, carried another heartwarming piece, unsigned, dealing with the youth and old age of the master, as recounted by his sister (then ninety-five years of age), and by her maid, who helped care for the musician in his last years. Accompanying the article was a beautiful photo of Emile with his two grandchildren. At the end of the scholastic year, in the spring of 1965, the city and the many suburbs held their elementary school commencement exercises as usual, but with special recognition of Jaques-Dalcroze and the celebration. As prizes for excellence in various disciplines, instead of the customary books, certificates, and plaques, this year there was something new; they received recently-issued LP records of Dalcroze's Jeu du feuillu as a reward for their achievements. An active member of the Centennial Committee, Andre Chavanne, in his capacity as President of the Department of Public Instruction for the city, presided at exercises for a number of primary schools, held at Victoria Hall. He named three great men whom the city had honored in times past, each concerned himself with youth: Calvin with the creation of the college and the academy (which became the University of Geneva; Dalcroze attended both institutions); Rousseau with his Confessionsand, above all, L'Emile, at the same time a novel and a treatise on pedagogy; and JaquesDalcroze for his incomparable chansons, his creation of rythmique and the rediscovery of the Feuillu.6 Fran~ois Peyrot, a councillor, spoke at the exercises held at Plainpalais. He said that schools were founded not only for transmitting knowledge but also for the formation of the character of youth, stressing "all that we owe to Jaques- Dalcroze, founder of rythmique and writer of so many charming rounds and chansons. "7 The Dalcroze Society of Great Britain sponsored the centenary in their own unique way. In the spring of 1963 a letter from the UIPD in Geneva to

6Tribunede Genei,e (5 July

1965) 5.

7Ibid.

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the Dalcroze Teacher's Union asked them to organize a celebration program according to proposed plans of the international organization, started the preparations in London. They established a Centenary Committee consisting of Alice Weber, Chairman, and members Violette Ansermoz, Edith R. Clark, Douglas Murray, Thea Ney, and Nathalie Tingey. Priscilla Barclay served as honorary Secretary and Valerie Williams as honorary Treasurer; the Ambassador from Switzerland, Beat de Fischer Reichenbach, was designated honorary Patron. The scheduled events took place in England, Scotland, Wales and Australia, covering the period from 30 June 1964 to 17 December 1965. The committee attempted to reach every Dalcroze graduate and established twelve regions with one graduate in charge of arrangements for each. A budget of £500 was devised and funds were soon raised.8 In 1964 all events took place in England, at the Headington School, Oxford; the Collegiate School of Bristol; the Fifth Festival of the Arts at Little Missenden; a meeting of the local branch of the National Council of Women at Hastings; and the traditional Community Christmas Nativity Play at Caldecott. Elizabeth Vanderspar, Nathalie Tingey, and Patricia Harrison figured actively in the first three events since they had been closely concerned with the Dalcroze movement and with the master himself. A highlight of the Little Missenden Festival was the presence of Dame Marie Rambert who spoke on "My Memories of Jaques-Dalcroze." The Hastings meeting featured an address by Edith R. Clarke,9 formerly Staff Inspector in Physical Education on the topic, "Modern Trends in Physical Education." Her background included work with Dalcroze, whose theories she always appreciated though her profession lead her in a somewhat different direction. The Nativity Play, consisting of recorder music, French carols and bible readings, was introduced by Leila Rendel who paid a generous tribute to Monsieur Dalcroze. The community was quite familiar with the Dalcroze tradition which was brought to them by Miss Potter and carried on by Desiree Martin and Betty Rayment.

8The

Dalcroze Teacher's Union also published a pamphlet announcing centenary programs and arrangements for concert, television and radio programs. 9 Later, in London, Miss Clarke related a significant item. She had been a Wimbledon tennis participant in her younger days and a captain of the English hockey and lacrosse teams. In her career she observed the progress of a friend, also a competition tennis player, who seemed to have reached a perfom1ance peak. Upon advice from Miss Clarke she took rythmique lessons. Presently she found her game and her body more controlled, more relaxed, and she proceeded to win over players who previously had prevailed over her.

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The first program of 1965 took place at the Town Hall in Bognar R~~is, Sussex, on 27 January. The host organization was the Franco-Bnttsh Society and the principal speaker was Joan Bottard, sister of Nathalie Tingey, both of whom had worked with Dalcroze in Geneva. To illustrate Dalcroze's compositional skills Mrs. Bottard played recordings of his songs which she had prepared herself, and Thea Ney gave a demonstration lesson at the Hawley Primary School in London in March. As part of the demonstration three of Dalcroze's favorite songs were realized in movement. Miss Boswook, headmistress of the school, spoke of the value of Dalcroze education, and Mrs. Tingey thanked the assemblage on behalf of the Centenary Committee. An inaugural program to celebrate the opening of Nevill Hall, the new theatre at the Frensham Heights School in Franham, was combined with a centenary program in late March; as part of the program Viven Soldan produced the play The Wall, later given by her students in Geneva for their Dalcroze celebration. Mary Whidborne and Douglas Murray, both Dalcroze graduates, arranged the program at Brighton which, in addition to their talks and exercises, included addresses by Margaret Huxley, Headmistress of the Ancaster Gate School ofBexhill and songs and piano music of Dalcroze by Kathleen West and Margaret Wilsher. Previously, the College of Physical Education held an Easter course for five days in April: Elizabeth Vanderspar, Elizabeth Morton and Patsy James provided rythmique lessons, Mrs. Soldan presented her specialty--drama, movement and music-and Pauline Wilson of the Dartmouth College of Physical Education discussed general physical technique programs. Mr. Murray arranged a second program in Brighton in May where he reviewed Dalcroze's life and work, Edith Clarke spoke of the profound influence Dalcroze wielded during the past fifty years upon English education in general, and indicated how she saw future developments taking place. Ann Palmer and Muriel Anderson directed demonstrations by children from Ancaster Gate School. InJ une three events were celebrated simultaneously at the Langsmead School, Pyrford, in the form of an outdoor pageant: Simon de Montfort's Parliament; the signing of the Magna Carta; 10 and the centenary of the birth of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. Then, in London, Ena Churchill (herself a Dalcroze graduate), and Joan Botta rd spoke of the value of his work and of Dalcroze, the man and teacher. Sheila Rowley and Patsy James presented work in improvisation and rythmique.

1°This year was the 750th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta and the event was being celebrated throughout England.

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On 12June the Society for Music Therapy and Remedial Music held "A Day of Study" at St. Michael's School in London. In illustrating methods being currently employed, Priscilla Barclay from St. Lawrence's Hospital School for Subnormal Children, Caterham, led a group of eight boys (one of whom was blind) in a program of rythmique and pipe playing. On 18June, an "Open Day of Music Therapy," scheduled by the Centenary Committee and the St. Lawrence's Hospital Management Committee, was held at the hospital (the largest institution of its kind in the British Isles, housing over 2,000 patients). A tribute was paid to Dalcroze by Dr. John Gibson, Hospital Superintendent, and by Juliette Alvin, Secretary of the Society for Music Therapy and Remedial Music. Miss Alvin then spoke ofDalcroze's unique creation: combining the study of music and general education, stressing the fact that his ideas were absolutely right for teaching both the mentally handicapped and normal persons. Music, to be a complete experience for anyone, involves the mind and body, the emotions, as well as physical movement. Responses to music are auditory, visual, tactile, and have shape in space. Music, she added, brings on emotional responses which are a marvelous means of communication-even autistic children realize that something else exists when they hear sound. Music relates to physical things, such as toys and machines, and children find it a pleasure which they cannot resist, though they do resist words. Miss Barclay then conducted a demonstration with groups of both boys and girls, using movement, musical tools such as wooden notes, balls, hoops, and percussion instruments. She continued her work in the afternoon, followed by a short musical program. Dalcroze, in his own limited work with the handicapped, opened a world of possibilities he had never envisioned. A program at the Bournville Junior School featured a tape made by students of the school, containing a song Jaques-Dalcroze had written on a visit there with George Cadbury the industrialist. With his brother Richard, Cadbury founded the famous chocolate and cocoa firm, and is remembered for promoting the welfare of his own employees and other workers. Bourneville, which he began to develop in 1895, became a model for other private and state-controlled planned housing projects. The idea, incorporated by Germany, resulted in the first garden city in that country-Hellerau. The song was published in 1916 and was later used in a program (for which George Cadbury donated funds) towards the rebuilding of devastated French villages after the first World War. Foetisch Freres, the publishers, permitted the composition to be copied and used for the centenary year.

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CENTENNIALCELEBRATION:1965 The House in the Garden

Our little house is so bright and gay, Roses are climbing everywhere, Each little door and each little window Opening wide to the sun and air. Joy we can find there, Laughter and song there, From morning till evening the whole day long. There are other houses so dull and grey Where the golden sun never finds a way, Where we sadly creep through the dark and chill, Feeling half asleep, feeling cross and ill. But our little house is our delight, Bathed in sunshine and full of light! 11 An Open Day session was held in London on 3 July. Following remarks by Ernest Read, Chairman of the Dalcroze Society, and R. C. Rennoldson, Music Inspector, London Education Authority, rythmique lessons were given by Thea Ney and Ann Palmer. The afternoon session featured remarks by Irene Hilton, President of the International Federation of Women, introduced by Nathalie Tingey in her capacity as President of the Dalcroze Teachers Union. There followed a lesson prepared by Elizabeth Vanderspar and a concert of music by Jaques-Dalcroze which included his Chansons popu!airesromandes,Rythmes de danses, Etudes miniatures,the Fantasiaappasionatafor violin and piano, and songs and choruses sung by girls from St. Mary's Abbey, Mill Hill, trained by Vera James. An interesting addition to the planned part of the program was the work of Ann Driver and Mrs. Tingey who did piano improvisations. Then Miss Driver and Mrs. Botta rd spoke informally, yet movingly, of their early memories of Monsieur Jaques. After the program Monsieur Reichenbach, the Swiss Ambassador, thanked the committee and all of the participants for honoring his great compatriot's centenary. The final events of the English portion of the celebration were held in Chelsea on 20 November, "Music Education for the Under Twelves," and on 17 December at the Ringrose Kindergarten School. Miss Vanderspar and Mrs. Tingey again provided the personal perspective on Monsieur Jaques, and Kenneth Simpson of London University spoke on learning to read

11English transfation

by the centenary committee.

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music. Later in the year, also at Ringrose, Rosalind and Frances Leney presented a Dalcroze Christmas program. In Scotland Winnie Camie, Constance Boyle, Morag Martin, and Moira Cameron combined their efforts to give four programs in Glasgow and one at St. Andrews featuring song and movement in tribute to the memory of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. The program included not only a singing choir, but also a "moving choir." The Welsh representative of the twelve centenary regions was Hilda Menasse of Swansea, who was also a Dalcroze disciple in Hellerau. On 19 June the South Wales EveningPost printed her comments concerning her study there, as well as other remarks on the Swiss master. Programs were planned for four Australian cities: Sydney, by Heather Gell; Melbourne, by Nancy Kirsner; Adelaide, by Leslie Cox; and Perth, by Jean Vincent and Joan Pope. These extended from late May 1965 into January of 1966. A Committee of Honor for the Emile Jaques-Dalcroze Centennial was established in Belgium under the patronage of the Swiss ambassador to that country, Jean-Louis Pahud. The personnel constituting the committee included many government officials,scholars, directors of conservatories in all of the major cities, representatives of musical, educational and cultural organizations, as well as individual sponsors. The first official word on the centennial appeared in an in-depth article by Jacques Stehman in La Meuse-La Lanteme on 17 February 1965. It dealt succinctly with JaquesDalcroze's activities, the purposes of his method, and the accordance given to it in the country. It also discussed the establishment of a Dalcroze school by Sergine Eckstein, a Dalcroze graduate in 1939, where Henri Janne, Minister of Culture (and present head of the centennial committee), recognized its method instruction in all of the teacher training schools. The first centennial program took place at the Centre Culture! et Aristique of Uccle by the Ecole Jaques-Dalcroze de Belgique; the program consisted only of rythmique demonstrations, yet encompassed a vast area of activity. After Mme. Eckstein's introduction, children of ages three to five from the Dalcroze school and from other kindergarten schools of Brussels performed exercises of space and reactions to music; then older students portrayed contrasting listening responses and phrase reaction under direction of the group itself. The professional students featured in the latter part of the evening worked with percussion and improvised vocal music They illustrated contrapuntal forms and polymetrics in rythmique and, after realizing several piano improvisations, performed a Bach suite in the style

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which proved so successful in Dalcroze's own public demonstrations, naming it "choreographed rythmique." The evening's entertainment exhibited the wide range of technical features which the instructors (with Dalcroze diplomas), Sergine Eckstein and Alphons Huleux, prepared with the assistance of persons trained in their school-Monique Petit-Lemaitre, Catherine Pirmez, Ilona Laszlo-Rabau, and Nicky Vassalou. Poland also organized centennial programs. In Warsaw, on 27 March, Jania Mieszynska spoke on Dalcroze's life and work; Mme. Ludwikiewicz, head of the rythmique section at the Pedagogic Center for Artistic Instruction of Warsaw, discussed the course of the Dalcroze method over the last twenty years. After the lectures they gave demonstrations of the various rythmique classes from kindergarten through the professional level, for which the students interpreted compositions of Jaques-Dalcroze, Bach, Khatchaturian, Bart6k, Szeligowski, Rybicki, Purcell and others; similar programs were done in other cities. In Poland rythmique is required in schools of music, dance, theatre and physical education, thus, the schools for higher training in the larger cities have professional courses to supply qualified Dalcroze instructors. As a rule, Dalcroze is not known here for his music although his rythmique is widely appreciated. In Greece the Association des Amis de la Rythmique Dalcroze prepared programs which included radio discussions and interviews along with performances of Dalcroze's music, demonstrations in theatres and in schools (two of them being Montessori schools). The Musico-Rythmique Association (MRO), formerly the Netherland Association for Mental and Rhythmic Education, published a folder which gave an account of the life's work ofJaques-Dalcroze and a summary of rythmique in Holland, beginning with the first Dutch students who went to Geneva and Hellerau between 1910 and 1914; the founding of the Netherland Dalcroze Society in 1919 (which later came to be the MRO), the beginning courses of rythmique in Amsterdam, Eindhoven, and The Hague; the organization of summer courses, the granting of professional diplomas; and the recognition of rythmique as an official major subject in all conservatories. An all-encompassing program demonstrating many phases of rythmique, under the direction of Madeleine van dem Borne, was held on 21 and 22 May at the Royal Conservatory of Music at The Hague. Like the Brussels presentation it centered on music: compositions of Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Ibert, and Bach, as well as music of Dalcroze. Between April and July nine programs were given in Holland: in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, Tilburg, Bilthoven, Dordrescht, Bussum, and Maastricht; the rythmicians responsible for these were H. A. van 321

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Maanen-Dutilh, Florence von dem Borne-van Oijck, B. H. M. Alting von Gausau, R. Trenkler, J.Baron and M. lmthom. In Israel the Dalcrozians arranged demonstrations, broadcasts, lectures, and articles in newspapers and journals. Kathe Jacob, a delegate from Israel to the UPID, prepared an account of her country's Dalcroze activities which was distributed to the participants of the International Congress in Geneva. The history of rythmique began inl927 when Theresa-Tirza Goitein, nee Gottlieb, arrived in Israel (then known as Palestine) from Riga. Tova Berlin Papish followed in 1930, and Anna Antik in 1932. In 1933, the year of immigration of many refugees from central Europe, other instructors arrived, some of whom are still working in teacher training schools, music academies, and in progressive schools and kindergartens, as well as on radio and in mental hospitals. MissJacob came from Berlin in that year. She, along with Leo Kestenberg, who as councilor in the Prussian Ministry of Art, reorganized the entire system of music education in Prussia, including the Berlin Hochschule and the Academy for Church and School Music in 1924. To avoid Nazi persecution Kesten berg moved to Prague where his thorough musical organizational ability was put to use. In 1936, at a concert as part of an international music education conference which stressed Dalcroze ideas, Emile mounted the stage to acknowledge Kestenberg's introduction and the audience's applause. As he extended his hand for a formal handshake, Kesten berg took the hand and kissed it! For one man to kiss the hand of another man was a gesture of extreme honor. Thus Kestenberg demonstrated his deep appreciation for Dalcroze's work and his stature as a great educator. Later, as a resident of Tel Aviv, he founded the Music Teachers Training College in Tel Aviv. Rythmique and improvisation courses bolstered the usual course of this new institution. In 1952 a similar school was formed in Oranim, near Haifa, where Nushka Perenson was the rythmique instructor. These schools were taken over by the government in 1963. The rythmique teachers organization in Israel joined the UIPD with Miss Jacob, Lisa Steinberg, and Toni Steinitz serving as the representative committee. By centennial time the group had about seventy-five members consisting of teachers with a duly recognized Dalcroze degree, teachers with a diploma in Dalcroze subjects from the local training colleges, and a group of so-called "friends" of rythmique. Sixteen members of the Israel section did their Dalcroze work in Geneva, London, Berlin or New York. There were three Dalcroze teachers who were graduates of London and Geneva but who were not members of the Israel section, and there were five members who were currently in training in Paris, Zurich, New York, and Rotterdam.

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Some 250-300 members comprise the Israel Rythmique Teachers Organization which indicates a remarkable interest in Dalcroze training for such a small country. For the centennial, the Israeli section, also prepared a bibliography of publications written by their members. Elma de Bordenave took the initiative to honor Jaques-Dalcroze in Argentina, where he was little known. She served as professor in public schools of La Plata, outside of Buenos Aires, had her own rythmiq ue classes and taught the method to adolescent girls who were wards of the state. She had also worked with a team consisting of a physician, a psychologist, a speech therapist and herself, to study students with learning disabilities. With another instructor, Louise Perron, she worked with deaf mutes. Together Miss de Bordenave and Miss Perron arranged a concert of Dalcroze's vocal music which was performed at the Fine Arts Museum of Buenos Aires, and wrote articles for a few journals and small periodicals explaining his work. They were also preparing a translation for the University ofBuenos Aires Press of a Dalcroze publication detailing the fundamentals of rythmique. Rythmique is taught in the capital city, although few students have emerged as rythmique instructors; in the suburbs a few teachers maintain classes for young children. On 6 July 1965 the New York Dalcroze School released information prepared by Harold S. Abbey of the press department of Columbia Artist Management and a Dalcroze graduate. 12 It reported that that summer marked three important anniversaries: the birth of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze one hundred years ago; the establishment of the New York Dalcroze School by Suzanne Ferriere fiftyyears ago; and the beginning of service to the school by its present director, Dr. Hilda M. Schuster, twenty-five years ago, the same day that a two-week summer session opened there. Mr. Abbey's notice also included historical information concerning the role of the New Yark school in training rythmique teachers for service in Japan, Israel, France, Canada and Egypt, the improved situation in international education where the Dalcroze method is concerned, a summary of the international movement, again from the historical standpoint, and the particular activity of the school at the present time. Earlier in the year, on 13 March, the Dalcroze School of Music had featured a special recital in honor of the centennial, "Emile Jaques-Dalcroze and Music of the Twentieth Century," and on 4 April they had instituted a series of Faculty Music Concerts commemorating the one-hundredth 12Harold S. Abbey, "New York's Dalcroze School of Music Observes Three Anniversaries," unpublished brochure, 6 July I 965.

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anniversary of the birth of Jaques-Dalcroze and the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Dalcroze School of Music. The school also prepared an outline of the history of the Dalcroze method in America, highlighting many significant events: the first printed account of Jaques-Dalcroze's work made known in America in 1911, 13 the early instructors who came to pioneer the field from 1912, and the contributions of individuals who are remembered for their services to the Dalcroze movement. The spirit of the International Congress of Rhythm and Rythmique and of the centennial celebration seemed to continue unabated when the Pan American Summer School of Rythmique was held 28 August to 3 September 1966 at the National Music Camp in Interlachen, Michigan, immediately following the convention of the International Society of Music Educators which took place from 18 to 26 August at the same location. The connection between the two events was the presence of Charlotte MacJannet and other European participants. The sessions highlighted, in addition to such international personages as Ursula Schmidt, Gisele Jaenicke, and Beate van den Heyden, some prominent North American representatives: Martha Baker, Henrietta Rosenstrauch (now an American citizen), Marguerite Neumeister, Frances Aronoff, Betty Sommer, John Colman, Ursula Hoehner and Marta Sanchez, from the United States and Brenda Beament of Canada. On the opening day this author spoke on the "Rediscovery of Jaques-Dalcroze"; practical work was featured for the remainder of the sessions. The beautiful improvisations of Frau Jaenicke of Detmold, Germany proved a stellar attraction. The centennial celebration was a most worthy tribute to the master. The concentration of effort, not only in Geneva, but in all the countries where he was honored on the one-hundreth anniversary of his birth, accomplished a great deal in the way of once again stimulating interest in rythmique and in the man who was responsible for its inauguration and development worldwide. It proved that Dalcroze's followers are many and continue to be devoted to his memory and his ideals. Rythmique practitioners in far-away places saw that they were not alone in their struggle to foster a concept, valid in their eyes and in their hearts; that others were working with techniques from which all could learn, and that the spirit is universal and will prevail for at least another century.

13Charles

B. Ingham, "Music and Physical Grace, The New Rhythmic Gymnastic," Good

Housekeeping,52, no. I Gan. 1911) 14-17.

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CHAPTERXVI

Personal Commentaries

Controversy over his work was ever present during Jaques-Dalcroze's life. As time passed, interesting opinions recalled his virtues and even some faults. Emile's qualities as a pedagogue remained in high esteem, his popular chansons were still sung and loved, and the memories of the famous pageants were still vivid in people's hearts. The large orchestral works, however, failed to keep up with the times and were thus relegated to latent obscurity. Aloys Mooser recounted the selection of a fitting tribute to be performed in the first few days following the beloved composer's death. Ernest Ansermet relayed to him that the Orchestre de la Suisse romande had not played a Dalcroze composition for a long time and he sought Mooser's help in choosing something for the commemoration. Mooser asked that he be allowed forty-eight hours to reflect and to review the music. He examined the overture to Sancho-no, it was passe; the Spanish Dances from that work-possible; other works were generally too bright. Then he had it; the ViolinConcerto.Ansermet played the first movement of that work in the memory of the composer. Rene-Aloys Mooser, music critic for more than fiftyyears for La Suisse, was generally regarded as Dalcroze's antagonist. 1 He had first met JaquesDalcroze in 1909 in St. Petersburg where he had been studying composition with Balakirev and was organist of the Reformed French Church and music 2 Mooser thought critic of the French language Journalde Saint-Petersbourg. that Dalcroze's foremost contribution was his system of solfege wherein he concretely developed elements which were rather abstract. Of Dalcroze's 1 Mooser, as honest and forthright a man as he was a critic, in numerous conversations with the writer expressed no negative views concerning Jaques-Dalcroze. From his vast personal library he provided a number of articles and documents relating to Dalcroze's work which otherwise would have been virtually unobtainable. 2Pierre Meylan, "Aloys Mooser 20 septembre 1876-24 aout 1969," Revue musicalede Suisse romande 22 (Oct.-Nov. 1969) 11.

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music he ranked the early chansons highest, particularly the patriotic and folkloric songs. The Poemealpestreand the opera Janie,both written before the tum of the century, and the E Major StringQuartet, were also favored. He felt, however, that Dalcroze's composition suffered when he devoted so much attention to rythmique, soon after the composition of these works. None of the large orchestral works could stand performance in modem times, he said, although the songs could still hold interest. In his opinion Dalcroze had great talent, like Schubert, but was hindered by his facility and his circle of admirers. In his early years, when his talent was outstanding, Dalcroze met with resistance, although in time he overcame this and gained great admiration; yet at that point his talent had diminished. At one time Jaques-Dalcroze invited Mooser to teach a course in the history of music at the institute, but it never went further; Dalcroze never made the position available in a formal way. This delay may have brought forth some coolness on Mooser's part, as was evident in his writing for some time. Mooser was also on the best of terms with the Russian impresario Prince Serge Mihailovich Volkonsky and with the Debussy scholar Robert Godet. (Volkonsky's concern with rythmique has previously been discussed.) Godet became interested in rythmique when he observed a demonstration, later proclaiming, "Jaques-Dalcroze found an ingenious method, but he could not find a way to develop it. He could not find the practical application." It was also Godet, according to Ansermet, who coined the expression la lyreet la tirelire which Dalcroze may never have heard although it circuiated the entire country of Switzerland. The conductor Ernest Ansermet could often be seen waiting at the entrance to the institute near the closing hour, at which time he and Dalcroze would emerge arm in arm; they were good friends. Ansermet understood Dalcroze's ideas and supported them, as demonstrated in his articles, written in 1912 and 1924.3 In later years, however, his enthusiasm cooled. He too, felt that Dalcroze's solfege system was his most valuable legacy. Ansermet thought that the greatest influence on Dalcroze's composition came from the Austrian school, Mahler and Bruckner, and from the French leanings towards Chabrier. He said that Dalcroze, as a person, lacked depth, that he was more like a child, that he really knew childrenhow to give them enjoyment, and how to evoke enthusiasm from them. Ansermet commented further on certain qualities of composers who came under Dalcroze's influence: Frank Martin expressed strong feeling and produced interesting rhythms, but his scoring was not first rate. Ernest Bloch Ansermet, "La Gyrnnastique rythrnique :l Hellerau," Revue musicalS.l.M. 9, no. 7 Ouly-August 1913) 56-59; "Qu'es-ce que la Rythrnique?," Le Ryihme 12 (Feb. 1924) 5--8.

3Ernest

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exhibited no favors at all towards Dalcroze; Jean Binet and Fernande Peyrot-no rhythm at all. He claimed that Jaques (as he always referred to his friend) was a poor conductor. Why? He could not keep the rhythm! Here he did not mean tempo, but rhythm. Rhythm is more psychic than corporal, he said, not accepting Dalcroze's principle of stressing body response so vehemently. Dalcroze was too idealistic, he thought, and the complex ideas that evolved later in his career, those that equated rhythm with life itself, were wrong; it was too great a field for Dalcroze to exploit. The poet-novelist Jacques Cheneviere saw his first demonstration of rythmiq ue in 1912, but had previously met Jaq ues-Dalcroze in Paris. During the presentation of La Fetede]uin in 1914 he visited Dalcroze in his dressing room between acts. A friendship arose between the two that was quite unusual for a pair with an age difference of twenty years. When Dalcroze's troubles came to a head with the disassociation from Hellerau, it was Cheneviere more than anyone else who was responsible for Dalcroze staying in Geneva and for establishing the new institute at La Terrassiere. Besides assuming some of the administrative duties at the institute his enthusiasm engulfed him to the extent that he also took courses in rythmique. Cheneviere's texts to Les PremiersSouvenirs,La Fetede lajeunesseet de lajoie and Echo et Narcisse provided vehicles for major compositions by JaquesDalcroze. He also provided the text for another work at Dalcroze's request, a work for children's chorus, Mysterede Noel, for which Dalcroze also wrote words. Alas, it remains in manuscript. According to Cheneviere, the Fete de la jeunesse contributed to the break between Dalcroze and Adolphe Appia. With Cheneviere and Pierre Girard, Dalcroze also provided text for that work; Appia, however, did not like Dalcroze's contributions, particularly the section at the lake in the second act. Henri Gagnebin cites this portion as a masterpiece of composition, but he gives credit to Cheneviere for that segment of text. 4 (There are no author attributions given in the score for each part of the text.) As great as Appia was, Cheneviere said, he could not have achieved his dreams without Jaques-Dalcroze. Appia's ideas were pure; they had a great deal to do with Dalcroze's style, especially his tendency towards simplification. It was no wonder that they admired one another so much; their relationship was mutually advantageous. Cheneviere was very close to the Jaques-Dalcroze family. He classified Emile as an optimist, one who gave confidence to others with great warmth, enthusiasm and generosity. His sister Helene had no special influence on 4Henri Gagnebin,"Jaques-Dalcroze Compositeur," Frank Martin and others, Emile ]aquesDalcrozel'homme... (Neuchatel, 1965) 216.

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his creativity although she continually encouraged him. Despite Helene's personal strength Cheneviere claimed that Emile was the stronger. Nina, on the other hand, had quite an influence over him. She was very practical and often brought Emile back from dream to reality. Monsieur Cheneviere made a special point of stressing the fact that Jaques-Dalcroze never, never regretted leaving Hellerau. With that remark he exemplified the forward-looking spirit of the man. Gabriel Jaques-Dalcroze, now a retired attorney, reviewed for this writer the organizational history of the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze: its founding, its amalgamation into a foundation in 1945 (which owned the building at 44 Terrassiere and rented the facility to the school for a very nominal fee), the acquisition of the foundation's assets by the Republic of Geneva, and the subventions granted to the institute by the city and state of Geneva. He felt that because of the differences in organization, the Hellerau school always had greater possibilities than the institute at Geneva. In 1924 its staff would have preferred to transfer leadership of the institute to Paul Boepple, but this did not come about. Because of his close association with the administration, Gabriel noted that Edith Naef was the most effective teacher there. The director in 1972, Dominique Porte, expressed the opinion that his best teacher was Madaleine Hussy, especially for pedagogy. The musicologist Willy Tappolet commented that Jaques- Dalcroze was always busy, always doing something. On occasion he could be brusque to the point of insolence as he was, for example, in a group of several persons, one of whom (an American) was smoking a cigarette which was bothering him. Dalcroze said to him in English, "You smoke too much," and walked away from the circle unceremoniously. In spite of all the glowing impressions concerning Dalcroze's piano improvisations, Tappolet thought that they were full of cliches. He mentioned that Dalcroze was fond of improvising serious portraits of persons a technique identical to Virgil Thomson's, the American composer. In 1924, Thomson made his residence in Paris, where he had formerly been a student, the same year Dalcroze arrived to commence his two-year rythmique promotional period. Thomson acquired a reputation for entertaining at small, private parties by improvising portraits at the piano of persons present or known to the group. Later some of these ideas were polished as Portraitsfor piano solo.5 Dalcroze, however, never interested himself in publishing his improvisations. 5Couperin,

Schumann, Rubinstein, and Elgar, are among many composers who portrayed individuals in their music. Thomson made over 100 of these personality portraits, not only for piano (see "Portraits," Mercury Music Corp., New York, 1948), but also for other solo instruments, chamber groups and full orchestra.

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Tappolet claimed that the principal objection to Dalcroze's ideas in rythmique was the emphasis on the first beat of the measure, whereas in today's music meter is less rigidly controlled. He also criticized Dalcroze's students of composition for lacking discipline and form. He used to say to his students, according to Tappolet, "You don't need to think of form; just express yourself." Gustave Guldenstein offered some interesting insights on his association with Jaq ues-Dalcroze. Born in Munich, he studied composition in that city with Friedrich Klose, who had been Dalcroze's fellowstudent in Vienna. Since Guldenstein had a great interest in solfege and its instruction, Klose directed him to Geneva to work with Dalcroze. Beginning there, he then proceeded to Hellerau with the first wave of Geneva students. In his third year at Hellerau he was selected to teach the first-year students in solfege, among whom were Mary Wigman and Franz von Heuslein. Subsequently he worked with branch institutions in Frankfurt and then at the conservatory there. Following military service he returned to university study and in 1921 began a long association with the Conservatory ofBasle, instructing in rythmique, solfege, improvisation, harmony and counterpoint. For his study of tonality the University of Basie awarded him a doctorate in 1926. He served as an instructor at the Hellerau-Laxenburg School and afterwards at the consolidated Conservatory of Basie and Lucerne. As for Dalcroze's theories on solfege, Guldenstein felt that they were not sufficient, too one-sided. He claimed that Dalcroze was a great teacher, very inspiring, but a poor methodist; a good practitioner, but a lesser theorist. He found Rudolph Bode-another Hellerau student who rose to a position of importance in Germany in the field of music education, who broke with Dalcroze over differences of opinion-was the opposite, a better theoretician than a practitioner. Dalcroze was full of ideas, said Guldenstein, but he jumped from one thing to another. It was Nina Gorter who put his ideas and examples in order. She was very methodical, but not a pedagogue, and the students did not like her. Guldenstein described Dalcroze as a compulsive worker, full of tension. At times he was easygoing, but it would take little to cause him to explode; students were afraid to disagree with him. When Dalcroze was busy with his concerts, demonstrations and Festspielenaway from the school, the students tended to cut classes, not caring to work with his assistants. Guldenstein, too, had differences with Dalcroze. As a rule the master would not tolerate opposition. He would become angry and to Gustave he once said, "Go away. I do not want to see you ever again." He got over this feeling, however, and they remained friends. Upon leaving Hellerau Dalcroze had recommended that Guldenstein be his successor as director and that Mitzi Steinwender head the area of rythmique. 329

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Composers who were close to Dalcroze and his method had their own impressions. The Geneva composer Frank Martin, who spent the last years of his life a resident of Naarden in Holland, taught improvisation at the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze from 1928 to 1939. Dalcroze thought very highly of him, gave him private lessons in 1926--27, and even offered him the directorship of the institute at one time. He recognized the pedagogic qualities of rythmique, but for him the method mainly served to bring him into more direct observation of rhythms, always a viable consideration in his works. Rhythm, he said, became more meaningful to him since he was so close to the Dalcroze movement, and he could work it into his compositions more intelligently, more effectively. Still, he believed that rhythm was a quality that must be felt, that it was not solely an intellectual force. Martin recognized Dalcroze's accomplishments as a pianist, as an inventor; yet he felt that sometimes the music was in bad taste. He found beautiful moments in all of the big festivals, in their fantasy and the complications that were involved. Nevertheless, Dalcroze's facility was a detriment in that it prevented his concentration on construction, on development. Martin thought very highly of the texts of the chansons, suggesting that these may have been even of greater value than the music. In connection with the diploma offered in the study of rythmique, Martin frequently pondered the problems involved, chiefly that all students were not equally gifted in the several aapects of the training. Some students had more talent for movement, others for music. The idea of centering activity in the body, however, was a good one. It was advantageous to feel rhythm inside, even without gesture. The exercises in dissassociation, he felt, were most valuable. With practice, complicated rhythms became simple. But, he concluded, the composer does not need this. Although rythmique was only of peripheral interest to Martin he occasionally gave thought to the question. The information which he provided for the Preface of this book is similar to a broader exposition of rythmique which he had earlier discussed.6 Georges Auric, one ofles Six,had always followed Dalcroze's work with interest. He met him for the first time in 1914, showed him his scores, and had utmost respect for him. Although Emile made his home in Paris between 1924 and 1926, Auric did not actually see him there; their paths crossed several times in Switzerland. He knew of Honegger's great admiration for Dalcroze, personally, and for the method. He had no knowledge of Honegger's participation in Dalcroze's rythmique classes, but he thought 6Frank

Martin, "Eurythmics: The Jaques-Dalcroze Method," Music in Education(Paris, 1955)

225-31.

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PERSONALCOMMENTARIES that Mme. Honegger, also an accomplished musician, had taken part. (Mme. Honegger, in fact, reported that she had not taken part in the Paris lessons.) Auric had always favored the Dalcroze system for training musicians, thinking the ideas of Dalcroze "very Swiss," but that the man was too ambitious. He recognized that Dalcroze was the first to associate music and gesture in an organized way, yet found it very difficult to avoid confusion between gesture and dance. On the personal side, he always recalled the Swiss musician to be gay, charming and friendly, and had pleasant memories of the festivals which he attended in Geneva. After years of experience as a composer, choir director, organist, founder and director of the Bach Society, music critic, and teacher, Roger Yuataz undertook the study of rythmique at the institute at the age of thirty-seven. His daughter had been a student there, and he decided to explore rythmique as well. In two years he obtained the certificate and the diploma, concentrating on rythmique and improvisation; because of his previous experience, solfege was waived as a requirement. Although he never had a personal interest in teaching the method, he happened to take as his second wife an instructor of rythmique at the Conservatory of Lyon. Rythmique had no definite influence on him as a composer, he said, probably because he went into its study too late; he had already had the training and developed the facilities that a composer needs. Though rythmiq ue had no direct effect on him he always maintained an interest in the problem: What does rythmique do for the composer? Yuataz did not agree with all of Dalcroze's ideas, frequently disputing him in class-something which made the master unhappy. For example, Dalcroze thought that art was all spontaneity; Yuataz argued that it also entailed intelligence and hard work, reiterating that Dalcroze was too facile and depended too much on his instinct. As a result, he seldom changed a note in his manuscripts. Whereas critics associated Dalcroze, as a composer, with the German school at the time of his early operas, and then with the modern French school, Yuataz felt that he was more a representative of the Vienna spirit, never venturing beyond 1900. Dalcroze, he felt, did not like modern music in general. He admired Stravinsky to a point, but had no tolerance for serial music. He liked Mozart very much but did not "have Bach in his heart," as Yuataz expressed it. He commented at length on Dalcroze's influence on choreography which had become an historical fact. Bernard Reichel, Geneva organist and composer, was also a student of Jaques-Dalcroze and taught solfege, improvisation, and history of music at the institute, as well as harmony at the Geneva Conservatory. For him, rhythm is a natural part of a composer, but he could not say exactly what rythmique did for him in this respect. Frank Martin, he said, always pondered the problem of rhythm as a separate entity, but as for himself he 331

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could not. An excellent improvisor himself, Reichel also greatly admired Dalcroze's abilities. He remarked how magnificently Dalcroze played Strauss waltzes and Chopin's music, yet he played Bach fugues with his own additions of chords and octaves to produce greater sonorities. Dalcroze, he claimed, did not know Bach well. At a Geneva restaurant where he, Frank Martin and Jaques-Dalcroze were dining, the master, then age sixty-five, admitted that he had only recently discovered the chorales ofBach and their magnificence. The large works ofBach had been introduced to the Geneva public by Otto Barbian, and those works he knew. Reichel, too, believed that Dalcroze was not familiar with modem music and that he disdained it. He had an immense love for Wagner, especially for Die Meistersinger.Reichel once played accompaniments of Debussy songs for Dalcroze's criticism, explaining that he believed the piano accompaniments should be played in an orchestral fashion, i.e., by emphasizing one note of a chord as the oboe or the cello would stand out in the orchestra. Dalcroze did not like the idea, thinking it too fussy. Reichel's growth as a composer was recognized in 1971 when the City of Geneva awarded him the Prix de Musique, the same prize they gave to JaquesDalcroze in 1946. Mme. Reichel, also a rythmicienne, studied at La Chaux-de-Fonds under Charles Faller, then taking a year of study at the Geneva Institute. At that time (1939), there were only three other professional students in attendance-two Turkish girls and one Egyptian-and a staff of eight to teach them. Dalcroze was terribly concerned over this lack of interest, as he was about other facets of the institute (one of these being that it was always too cold in the building). Mme. Reichel continues to teach classes in solfege through the use of individually-made pipes, and is unusually competent at this technique. In addition to comments on the master, Paul Boepple, Jr., one of the most talented of the Dalcroze coterie both in the United States and Switzerland, offered much information concerning his well-known father, one of the first educators to believe in and promote the Dalcroze method outside of Geneva. Paul Boepple, Sr., a conductor and singer, had performed the baritone solo in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony over 200 times, as well as bass and baritone roles in oratorio and in Dalcroze's Festivalvaudoisof 1903. He and Dalcroze became good friends, and he was invited to come to Geneva to witness the early rythmique classes. Overcome by the demonstrations, he carried the techniques back to his home city of Basie, which he encouraged in the schools. He was not actually a trained rythmicien,yet he se1ved the movement well. Boepple translated into the German language many of Dalcroze's texts, literary and musical. In Basie he founded the 332

PERSONALCOMMENTARIES

periodical Rhythmusin 1907, which was taken over in 1911 by the Hellerau school. Paul Jr.obtained his diploma at the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in 1919. He went on to conduct several choruses in Geneva and in the Lausanne area and most importantly, was music director of the Theatre du Jorat at Mezieres where he had the distinct success of producing Honegger's "King David" in 1923 and "Judith" in 1925. In this interim he also taught at the Dalcroze Institute. Paul was particularly adept at improvisation at the piano, confiding that he would have been a composer but felt that this excessive improvising had hurt his compositional development. As for Dalcroze, Boepple also felt that so much improvisation on the master's part obstructed his ability to compose with depth. During Dalcroze's sojourn in Paris, Boepple was temporarily left in charge of the institute. He said that there were difficulties between him and Dalcroze, problems which had nothing to do with the intstitute's work. One could assume that the controversies were personal and may have arisen from the fact that Boepple was such an able improviser, even rivaling the master's ability. Frank Martin, one ofBoepple's best friends, stated that the Geneva school had actually offered Paul its permanent directorship, but he did not say when the offer took place. Boepple remarked, in reply to that question, that he would have accepted the directorship of the school if it had been proffered, which was not the case. In 1915, Margaret Heaton beceme director of the New York Dalcroze School after having served as Suzanne Ferriere's assistant the previous year. When Dalcroze returned to Geneva from Paris, thus relieving Paul of the duties of administration, she asked Paul to come to New York to assume the directorship of the school. Another Dalcroze diplomate was required in order to have the school certified, according to standards set forth in Geneva, to train and graduate teachers for the Dalcroze method. Upon Dalcroze's advice, Boepple accepted the post. Three years later the Stockholm Conservatory offered him a position and again Dalcroze counseled him to remain in New York, as that was a more important position. To induce him to stay, the trustees made him a part owner of the school. By this time they were awarding their first training certificates. Boepple had high regard for Dalcroze's ideas concerning rhythm, particularly for the fact that he got right down to its roots. Dalcroze interested himself in experiencing tempo and in expressing feeling. He was not much interested in the appearance of the individual doing the exercises, believing that if they were done right they would also look right. As for Dalcroze's solrege exercises, they were really quite musical. Boepple recalled a tenor performing them with all the interest and expression of a grand dramatic aria. He noted that in contrast to Dalcroze's ideas concerning 333

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rhythm, Stravinsky's were more cerebral than physical. Boepple called Dalcroze's performance of Bach fugues in movement one of his most successful projects. For the most part, this kind of exhibition was merely an example of what the music explored rather than a performance in itself. The difference between the example and the performance was known quite well to Dalcroze; but the students did not always understand the difference, to say nothing of the audiences, creating a problem of consistency of purpose. With regard to the high quality of some ofDalcroze's students Boepple gave special credit to Dalcroze, not for his selection of talented students, but for his ability to create, to form, that talent. It was not just a question of talent itself; Dalcroze found the way to bring out the best qualities in each student to the highest degree. Often it resulted in what appeared to be the emergence of a great (or a hidden) talent or capability. In dance Dalcroze's tastes were old-fashioned, a remark which seems peculiar since it was Dalcroze, along with several of his students, who are credited with the inauguration of the German School of modem dance. For the students Dalcroze stressed the use of originality of ideas and of materials. When students followed his ideas too closely he objected; ~t times becoming angry at this style of aping rather than employing constructive thinking on their parts. Dalcroze disciples recall anecdotes concerning their master and they retell them with pride and affection. Boepple is no exception. One of these incidences took place in Manchester, England. The day before a demonstration Dalcroze injured the middle finger of his right hand, yet the scheduled demonstration went on. Dalcroze played the piano, avoiding the use of the painful third finger which pointed upward, swollen and reddened. His pixyish smile pervaded and amused the audience as much as the nine finger feat pleased them. As the story goes, he played Bach and other music as beautifully as if there had been no handicap at all. Boepple liked most of all to relate stories of Dalcroze's forgetful habits: not remembering when he had a train to catch or where he had left some important belongings. Often when on tour with his young students, one of them, perhaps a girl of thirteen years, would make it her business to see that he was ready to leave the hotel on time and had taken care of everything before the group's departure. It was, therefore, particularly interesting when Emile returned after a tour and pointed out to his wife that he had remembered to hang on to his umbrella, something he frequently neglected to do. This time, however, his umbrella was still in its rack for he had not taken it along in the first place.

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PERSONALCOMMENTARIES In reviewing other Dalcrozians with whom he had had associations, Paul Boepple found the Braun sisters to be most memorable. In his words, they were "gifted, Bohemian and ferocious." Two other Dalcrozians speak appreciatively, glowingly of the Brauns; Monica Jaquet, who taught at the institute in Geneva for forty years, and Johanne Gjerulff, who taught at the New York Dalcroze School for an even longer period. Lilyand Jeanne Braun received their certificates at Hellerau, but Leonie was too young to have completed the training at the time the school shut down. They attempted, soon after, to come to New York where some performances had been arranged for them by an American impressario. Sailing from Copenhagen with their mother, their ship was turned back by the British who in 1915 were blockading the sea lanes. They managed to give a few Dalcroze demonstrations in one of the finest concert halls in Copenhagen with another Dalcroze graduate, Mr. Jelle Troelstra, at the piano. The first half of the program was devoted to various rythmique exercises; the second half included choreography to the music of Bach, Beethoven, Debussy and Moussorgsky. Miss Gjerulff explained, "The Brauns' own musical sensitivity, plus the experience and understanding gained in their Dalcroze training years, made this choreography absolutely perfect-"I have never seen the like ever since. It did become the turning point in my life."7 In addition to their performance ability, the Brauns paid great attention to pedagogical concepts. Their attitudes as teachers not only impressed Mme. Jaquet, but affected her whole life. The Brauns had set up a school in Copenhagen and it was there that Monica, as a young girl, worked with them. However, it was at their school in Rome during the years 1923-26 that she developed a greater appreciation. 8 Whether the young ladies appeared in the city in Greek tunics, a la Duncan, or in cowboy boots (an example of their disdain for convention), they maintained the deepest concern for art and its dissemination. They required their students to study the art treasures of the city, to note postures in paintings and statues and to apply their observations to dances and movement exercises. Studies in music were equally intense. Each of the sisters possessed a specialty: Leonie for rythmique and technique; Lily for plastic; Jeanne for music. They lived and held classes at an enormous isolated estate owned by Prince Strohl-fem where other artists, poets and musicians Qean-Andre Lun;at, French painter and tapestry artist; Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet; Bruno Barilli, Italian writer on music) lived and worked. Rare and profound artistry 7 Letter

from Johanne Gjerulff, New York, 5 Feb. 1981. from Monica Jaquet, Geneva 10 Oct. 1980. See Monica Jaquet, "To the Braun Sisters," Le Rychme(May 1965) 56--60. 8Letter

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combined with wild spirit pervaded the work of the Braun sisters, a team until later in life when Leonie left the trio and went her own way in Paris and Cannes. Unlike Marie Rambert or Mary Wigman, the great majority of Dalcroze students and practitioners did not attain international fame and notoriety. They did their work quietly, diligently and sometimes, indeed, under difficult conditions. Such an example was Annya Antik. Born in Riga, Latvia, she left the city (permanently, she thought) in 1914 when her father died, only to return in the 1930s, recognized there as an authority on rhythmic education. She had spent two years at Hellerau, then attended Yolkonsky's school in Petrograd where she received her certificate on 8 May 1915. Annya taught at that school for a year, then worked at the Imperial Conservatory at Saratov, as well as other schools in Moscow. In 1920 she returned to Dalcroze, assisting him at the Geneva Institute, taking her certificate the following year. For the next decade she taught in Riga and then left for Palestine where she instructed in conservatories, teacher training schools, and kindergartens. She traveled widely, giving courses in Copenhagen and at Bristol, England. In 1940 she came to the United States where she, for a long time, taught at the Buffalo Museum of Science, at the Park School (also in Buffalo), and in other localities. During the war she worked for the United States government in Washington where her skills in languages made her very useful. Although her governmental employment required a five-day week she made time to teach at the Georgetown Day School and at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington. On top of this almost impossible schedule Anna, as she ceme to he known in this country, commuted to Buffalo on weekends to give four courses, three in rythmique and one in music appreciation, at the Buffalo Museum. This single travel process involved some 870 miles each weekend, about 90,000 miles per year. Miss Antik returned north in 1949 to head the music education department of the Pittsfield Community School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, eventually retiring in 1955 to Silver Spring, Maryland. Her value as a teacher may have been summarized in this letter from a former student. Your discipline, integrity, independence, love of life (and sense of humor too) never fail to impress me. You are one of the greatest human beings I have ever known. You enriched my way of life.9

At the Pittsfield school Miss Antik succeeded another Dalcroze disciple, Helene Finsler, a Swiss who taught at Dalcroze schools in Paris and 9 Letter

to Miss Antik from Anthony (Bob) Fay, 4 May 1972.

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later, for eight years, conducted the Ecole Bilangue for American children in Paris. When the Germans occupied Paris early in World War II she went to Lyon where she supervised a school for refugee children. Because of political interference from the Vichy government she left France and came to Pittsfield. In addition to practicing the usual Dalcroze rythmique, she taught piano, music fundamentals, and the making and playing of bamboo pipes. Miss Finsler, known to her many friends as Fifi, returned to Geneva in 1950, joining the Dalcroze Institute in teaching and administrative capacities. Her particular interest outside of her work was to see to the well-being of foreign students of the institute, particularly American students. She remembered and appreciated the aid afforded her in Pittsfield by Mr. and Mrs. Jay Rosenfeld who made her feel comfortable and "at home" with them. These American friends continued to assist her even when she had returned to Europe. Fifi was also very active in the U.I.P.D., the International Union of Dalcroze Teachers, serving as editor and translator of their journal, Le Rythme. She is remembered for her friendliness and her beautiful spirit above her accomplishments as a teacher and musician. A measure of her amicability is shown in the fact that she kept the key to her apartment at 19, rue de la Cite, in Geneva, hanging outside the door, implying that anyone was welcome at any time. 10 In spite of the plaudits earned and awarded to Prince Volkonsky for his work in the Russian Theatre and his responsibility for introducing and developing rythmique in Russia, a word must be said regarding one of his colleagues, Nina Alexandrova. Mme. Alexandrova received her certificate at Hellerau in 1913, then worked with Volkonsky along with other Hellerau lights, Rambert, Wyzotsky, and Theodore Appia. The fact that rythmique was so well known in the primary schools, as well as in the music school, in Moscow and in St. Petersburg, as well as in the smaller cities, is certainly due to her efforts. Speaking of Monsieur Jaques to Charlotte MacJanet, who visited her in 1970, she said, "He gave me my life. All my life I have lived on what I received from him." 11

1°There is a custom in many of the smaller hotels in Switzerland for occupants, when leaving their room, to hang the key outside the door on a hook provided for that purpose. This convention is a symbol of honesty and trust, long associated with the Swiss nation. 11Letter from Charlotte MacJannet to Annya Antik, Geneva, 29 Sept. 1970.

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A caricature by Boris Petrovic, 1923

Appendices

ct Appendix A

Jaques.-Dalcroze as Music

Educator

by Marie Adama van Scheltema (February 1966)

I. Solfege From all persons who today read or hear about Jaques-Dalcroze who did not know him and his work, comes the thought that he was other things, but not a music educator. At present Dalcroze has undoubtedly demonstrated that music is that art which stimulates man towards movement and which imparts a strong impulse in many directions: to education, to therapy, and to opera staging. I would like to recall the following fact as an example. If today movement in opera, in ballet, in the smallest cartoon film conforms in a self-evident way to the music, it was not so earlier. And if it is so today, then we thank Jaques-Dalcroze for that. It is his work, his stimulus for the staging of Gluck's "Orpheus" in Hellerau ( 1913) and the "FetedeJuin" a year later in Geneva, for which we give thanks. I have seen, however, the same "Orpheus" of Gluck four years before the Hellerau presentation, without the cohesion of music and movement. Such a performance (about 1909) would be impossible today! Nevertheless, that does not alter the fact that Dalcroze was a music pedagogue from the beginning of his activities, with a long life span remaining, through which he later conquered wider horizons. The three orders of his music educational method, namely, Ear Training, Improvisation and Rythmique, treated in equally detailed ways, branch 339

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out into wide areas. On this account I shall speak briefly on two of these elements and at more length on the third, on the element which now is really his most original discovery. As he caused the children of Geneva to put into effect the first ryhthmic steps by practicing his gesture songs, that did not yet give the music education of the whole world any special, or penetrating, occupation with rhythm. On this part one can be properly astounded that music endures not only from sound, but also-and quite fundamentally-from rhythm. How great the role which rhythm plays in music becomes strikingly clear to us when we do the following experiment: from a known theme from the music literature, or from a familiar song, we set before us only the sound. Missing are rhythm, accent, phrasing, form. What comes out of this is a startling, meaningless series of thoughtless tones. Otherwise, do you think that the following has anything to say to us?

&J J J J J J r

JrrrrrrrrrJrr

(Opening: Prelude to Die Meistersingerby Richard Wagner)

First of all, rhythm brings order and sense to it. From it grows the necessity of challenge, after an intensive occupation and rhythm, for the purpose of studying the actual music. WhenJaques-Dalcroze was appointed in 1892 to the Geneva Conservatory as instructor in Harmony, and a little later also in Ear Training, there already was an ear training program in Geneva. Ear training, so-called lower level solfege, was given by Madame Chassevent for children of five years of age. And these children came with enthusiasm to their studies. This astonishing fact is a good sign for both the instructor and for the children. Upon this Dalcroze built an advanced solfege course, i.e., ear training for youths and for grown-ups. These ear training courses were for the regular conservatory students (majors in piano, instruments, voice, composition) and were not required courses. Thus it was almost a miracle to mention that these courses were very much in demad. It was the Geneva youth who

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attended these courses. Among them were students who came to Oalcroze's ear training and improvisation classes for six or seven years. From this, what Jaques-Dalcroze had hit upon, as far as I could see, was nothing other than to prescribe do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si-do as absolute pitch designations. What was the typical character of his ear training? It is perceived that building hearing and singing experience together is the manner and means by which singing the typical scale lay. There the scale is not treated from tonic to tonic by whole and half steps in major and minor in the usual series. Jaq ues-Dalcroze allowed the singing between c' and c" or c' -sharp and c"-sharp, or c'- flat and c" -flat, when these tones were not within the [natural] key. That had the advantage by which every scale had its own special individuality. The E major scale, for example, between c' -sharp and c'' -,sharp shows the following steps: whole step, half step, two whole steps, half step and two whole steps. The G major scale between c' and c" begins with three whole steps, a half step, two whole tones and a half tone. The F minor scale begin; with a half tone, then follows an augmented second, a half tone, a whole tone, a half tone and two whole tones. That gave occasion for many uses. One should know that in romance countries, in the solfege system, the specification "do" is also used for c-sharp and c-flat. We have here a work situation. Perhaps one time, by way of exception, wa can realize an example! Let us try to sing, for ex::i.mple,the A major scale between c'-sharp and c"-sharp

R J J RIJ in this rhythm while beating the meter with the right hand. Later, in advanced classes, Dalcroze treated the problem in the following exercise: he played a short improvisation in which he played the c, c-sharp or c-flat of the key, the class sang the scale of that key, and at the end of the sale sang the tonic tone. Intervals were for this "Pestolozzi of Music," as he well became to be known, the principal consideration for scale discrimination. Augmented and diminished intervals are treated in the regular vein. From this he evolved chords which, at first, are also sung as distinct scales, e.g., do - re mi, mi - fa - sol, etc. Seventh chords are handled in a similar, naturally with 341

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consideration for the seventh degree. After going over triads and seventh chords in major and in minor eventually comes figured bass on the blackboard. At first the whole class sings each chord in close position from bottom to top (now without the inner steps). Then the class is divided into four groups, each group now singing one part, but on the signal "hop," the voices suddenly change parts, the first voice now taking the third part, the second changing with the fourth, etc. And at the end Dalcroze plays the chord which is on the blackboard, but with an error here and there, which also must be recognized. Often one found Herr Jaques writing a melody on the blackboard before time for the class to arrive. The usual order was to sing first the scale [in the key] in which the melody lay. Then he erased one or two beats (notes) and the class sang the melody with the wiped out beats filled in, just as if they had been there, etc., (more erasures, more filling in) until nothing remains on the board, and the class sings the melody by heart with his lovely accompaniment. A very good exercise for memorization. Often small bookswere passed out in which, among others, four bar melodies are set forth, with the following four bars replaced by rests. The whole class sang the given melody and one student would sing the next section alone, improvising with correct pitch names. Also, longer melodies were in the book, here and there a beat or two are replaced by rests. Also, here the class sang what was indicated, and a soloist completed the omissions by improvising with correct pitch names. The soloist must carry out the melody correctly and must not sing in some perfunctory manner! We can speak at more length on the ear training system of Dalcroze . He was really inexhaustible in always finding new exercises.

II. Improvisation In general it is supposed that Jaques-Dalcroze gave improvisation instruction only so that his students of rythmique, later to be teachers of rythmique, would be capable of improvising at the piano in their lessons. This meaning is doubtlessly correct for later times, but as to this exclusive motive we cannot accept it. Since I have suspected this for a long time I wrote about it to one of Dalcroze's oldest Geneva students, Marcelle Moynier, who replied to me as follows: "Improvisation at that time had nothing to do with rythmique, which had hardly been born." In other words, improvisation courses were

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already given by Dalcroze while there was as yet no further talk of rythmique instruction for his students of a later period. The first allusion to this work also came from the study of harmony which Herr Jaques already was teaching at the Geneva Conservatory since 1892. In this course he soon discovered that only a few students had a clear, inner musical notion of the chords which they were writing. Others had only a vague concept of the simplest chords and generally no understanding of complicated inner sound representation. That, supposed Dalcroze, certainly could not be right. How can one write something of which he does not know precisely what it signified? Just as today we learn a new language, never would we begin by writing this language, but we would separate it at first through hearing it spoken, and after that we would try to speak it. Then, afterward, can reading, writing and grammar, be handled. Thus Dalcroze believed that a preparation for the study of harmony was necessary in opposition to chord listening (from ear training) and chord playing, and to know and to learn a process concerning the individual chords and their peculiar attraction to one another through one's own action. So he proceeded from the teaching of harmony and went next into teaching improvisation from the standpoint of the triad. His co-worker Nina Gorter later worked at length with beginners in improvisation with melodies in which she prepared all manifestations for our Berlin rythmique seminars. And Anna Epping, who, in our primary school taught small children who did not have keyboard experience, worked diligently in these classes in melodic improvisation. In his book La Musi,que etnous Jaques-Dalcroze highly praised her ABC of Improvisationwherein she laid down her course of instruction, and he warmly recommended it to all improvisation teachers.

It goes without saying that Dalcroze, in his teaching, also worked with melodic elements. In the first improvisation course, which I attended, melodic motives were on the blackboard and the students (an advanced class) improvised on them- a Scherzo! He also gave longer melodies which, at first, had to be harmonized, and after that the students were obliged to improvise variations upon them. Naturally, he presented many rhythmic problems. And then chord problems were to be worked out, and exercises in modulation. A lovely example of this technique for advanced students follows. A student had to play at the keyboard in the key Herr Jaques specified. If Dalcroze wanted him to go into a new key he had to modulate into it. In this way he improvised modulations very quickly throughout the entire cycle.

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Many wonder whether improvisation can be taught or learned; "One can do it, or one cannot," it is said. But Jaques- Dalcroze, his students, students of these students and further, the great-grandchildren of these students have well proven that this assertion is mistaken. To be sure, through insufficient instruction one does not go far in improvisation. However, just as an instrumental teacher, in his period of study, carries on his work on his instrument conscientiously, in a self-understanding way, better to master his instrument, so must also the rythmique instructor work himself further, not only in corporal and pedagogical regard, but also in musical considerations. As it is certain that it is not right for the rythmique teacher to sit too long at the keyboard, it is even more of a mistake to neglect keyboard improvisation. For music is the living source, the prime element of rythmique, and so must it remain; otherwise the mere gymnastic idea would soon take over. Jaq ues-Dalcroze said, "Music alone is a good educator for the elementary and emotive forces of our being." Before leaving the question of keyboard improvisation for rythmique teachers they must be warned about pure percussion instruments. Since the ears of townspeople already must endure a considerable measure of noise one should not be obliged in the rythmique course to burden himself still more with loud instruments. Therefore, the rythmique teacher should use a percussion instrument only sparingly, and also, the work with these instruments in the hands of the student should be carried out with moderation. It is noted that a Berlin psychotherapist declined to use the noisy percussion instruments for their being dangerous to the nervous system. Our rythmicians in Israel have well understood the worthiness of the educational development of improvisation. They work together in improvisation at the keyboard under the direction of a musician who knows rythmique very well and is very gifted. Herr Jaques had something else in mind with his improvisation instruction. To this, may I, to begin with, express a quotation from Schiller. In his Briefen zur asthetischenErziehungdes Menschen he wrote, "Man plays only where he is in the full meaning of the word Man, and he is only thus the complete Man according to his play!" This thought of Schiller's makes it clear to us as we say to "play" an instrument. Earlier it seemed to me this play meant to trifle with serious instrumental study, but this idea of Schiller's showed me that the expression "play" can have a much higher significance.

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In improvisation the music student now "plays" with sounds, with melodies, with chords, with musical forms, keys, modulations and rhythms. In short, he plays himself into the music in improvisatory fashion. Jaques-Dalcroze thus brought into music education through improvisation the "productive element" along side of the reproductive activity, i.e., the study of existing composition which [also] must have its place. Unfortunately, too few music institutions today have looked into this, or have carried it through.

III. Rhythmic-Musical Education Such is the tremendous field of rhythm that who cultivates it will harvest riches. -Berlioz

The great scholastic Thomas Aquinas wrote the following in the XIII. century: "We observe time when we perceive our soul in motion in the outer world or in the inner world. When, on the other hand, we observe movement, it thus comes to be accompanied by the impression of time." As we deeply consider these thoughts of the great scholastic we find therein important evidence of the truth of rythmique. Then, when we continue these thoughts further, so may we say we also note the passage of time in music, i.e. , the true rhythmic expiration of time when we observe motion in the outer world, or in the inner world of the soul. And then we can notice that movement best of all when we realize it with our own bodies. Thus we can say definitely that we profit by musical rhythm, we live and reward ourselves through it by the expedient of our own body movement. Accordingly, our body is the first and chief bearer of rhythmic experience! It is quite as clear physiologically as psychologically that we must expand rythmique from experience oflarge movement in space and to come from that to the small movement of the instrument. Who does not comprehend this has not felt the ingenious discovery of Jaques- Dalcroze, or has not understood it. Also, through rythmique, Jaques-Dalcroze attacked the abstract in music education. Here, reading and transferring rhythms on an instrument, or by voice, i.e., following movement, is something the student had never experienced as such.

345

RHYTHM AND LIFE

How very necessary this education is we can always reconfirm when, in concerts, rhythmically inaccurate references, yes, pronounced mistakes occur. An example of this. After an opera performance at the the New York Metropolitan the director of the evening, Toscanini, stormed into the dressing room of one of the singers, full of despair. Why? Because the world-famous singer shortend a tone by a quarter note value. The singer had overwhelmed Toscanini in begging pardon for the indiscretion and Toscanini said, ''I'll forgive you this time." But in spite of it, Toscanini did not speak to him for two weeks. Great musicians can be so sensitive in questions of rhythm. Should not every musician who publicly performs these works [do so] as the composer meant them to be in rhythmic qualities also? Therefore it is so important that work in musical rythmique occupy itself with the correct duration of longer note values and rests. However, this work goes forth beyond the borders of music education by com batting the students' nervous and restrained impulses. A similar important area of work is that which deals with various meters and with changes of meter. How often have musicians who have studied rythmique claimed that they, through this work with various meters, always carried within them secure, reliable qualities of conductors! Contemporary music often contains meter changes for which the study of this area is so important that often one can hear such metric organizations so played that one has the immediate immpression that the rhythm was not truly experienced. However, it is in one principle that the whole of rythmique should be comfortable-education towards the ability to react quickly. How important this ability is for the musician is self explanatory when one considers the matter that music is the art which passes in time and for and for which every moment demands positive reactions. Also, this discipline goes beyond the limits of music education. One needs only to think of the necessity of quick reactions in the tumultous traffic of the city. One of the most important domains, important in that it unites many others within it, is the practice known under the collective name, realization, the quick comprehension and transposition in movement of the rhythm the teacher plays, one of the most ingenious coincidences in music pedagogy. Realization trains not only quick but profound understanding of the rhythm. This consideration gives the teacher simultaneous, more accurate, observation of the students, and control over their progress, and over what is still lacking. For this a most deliberate, methodical, well-con-

346

APPENDICES

structed plan of work is also a necessity. This department is indeed only able to be done through a very rhythmically clear example played by the instructor. The practice is to bespoken of further in connection with tempo. Here, also, the skillful musician sustains a most secure feeling for the tempo of the performed selection. A mistake in tempo after training in rythmique is scarcely more than just possible. Later the student also will carry out regular increase or slowing down of tempo in his playing. That the occupation with syncopation in its various manners is important requires no further mention; it is self- explanatory to every musician. A distinctly important area which can also be connected with space is the study of phrasing and musical form. Jaques- Dalcroze often cited existing compositions for his advanced students to display occupation of space. Even earlier I reported his space representation of the three-part C minor Fugue of Bach with a seminar class for which Richard Strauss was filled with enthusiasm. I later realized this same Fugue in the Berlin Municipal Conservatory with an advanced class. All of the students brought their scheme as to how this Fugue could best be performed as an exercise in space, and from each plan we took those ideas which seemed best to us in such a way that from the many schemes something could be selected. An assistant asked her piano teacher about this and also requested permission to play the Fugue for him. He agreed, and was very pleasingly surprised that she, through her work in rythmique, as yet in the first course, could play for him the Fugue in such an accomplished manner. This piano instructor, who up to now had known very little about rythmique, was won over to it by this incident. Finally, there is still one more small, but important, division, namely, the triplet. Too bad it is often so astonishingly inaccurately played. Once we heard the Fourth Symphony of Bruckner, the "Romantic," wherein in the first movement, quarter note triplets occur; they were played approximately as two eigths and a quarter note. Whereas the triplet gives the phrase a controlled, concentrated spirit, so the quickening of the first two sounds and the lengthening of the third gives an entirely different expression. And that, without regard for the fact that what Bruckner wanted was the quarter note triplet. Rythmique became known as the study of a "well-calculated process." That is so correct because you learn to expand the borders, rather necessary

347

RHYTHM AND LIFE

at one time, when often limits were exceeded in amazing and amateurish ways. But, outside of that,all of us who went through rythmique musical training have experienced what it has bequeathed us in depth and in eliminating vagueries, and by opening up for us principally, on account of the training, the essence of music in all its profundity. These days there is much research being done on this question, such as rythmique for debilitated persons, or how it can work for the infirm child. How would it be if only we would, for once, probe how it works on normal people, on music students? He who had the good fortune to hear Jaques-Dalcroze play had truly experienced rhythmic piano playing. His playing of Chopin was for me a true revelation; he played exactly what was written, but full of sparkling life. No doubt Hector Berlioz knew the salient significance of rhythm before Jaques-Dalcroze's time. In Heinrich Edouard Jacob's book, Johann Strauss, we read, apropos a critic of Berlioz in a concert in Paris by Strauss and his band, a passage which dealt with his particular enthusiasm. "There is in music a practice that until now all have neglected, practicing as well as creative artists, and this significance is yet taken lightly! Everywhere advances are made, but in this area there is only the beginning of a development! Of what do I speak? Of rhythm." "The combinations in the realm of rhythm, declares the Berlioz critic, "are perhaps as numerous as the combinations in the melodic succession of tones. There connections and groupings in rhythm are analogous to that resulting from chords, melodies and modulations. There are rhythmic dissonances, consonances, and modulations of rhythm. How clear this really is!" And finally,he writes, "If the Paris Conservatory would only push rhythmic study!" Almost a half centuryy later Jaques-Dalcroze produced this "rhythmic study" in music education of which Berlioz was undoubtedly inspired. Another word on Jaques-Dalcroze as a universal pedagogue-which also he definitely was. He knew how to train his students, sometimes not without strictness. Should a peculiarity in one of his students seem unpromising to him, should this quality appear to him as unsuitable for the rythmicien and foremost right for the future teacher of rythmique, then, through small observations, through hidden wit, and also, naturally, when necessary, through a conference with him (or her), he could bring him

348

APPENDICES around so far that this problem was overcome--or else the student left the Institute. That also happend. The atmosphere surrounding the students at the Hellerau lnstitue was very good; there was not jealousy, no intrigue against one another, and the students had a sense of responsibility in their conduct oflife for rythmique, for the Institute, and for Herr Jaques. All was possible through rythmique, and music, under the direction of Jaques-Dalcroze, could develop their inherent, educational personality and disciplinary power in such a delightful, productive manner.

349

Appendix B

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352

APPENDICES

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