Dissolution and Solidification

We could make it very simple for ourselves: Musical forms, such as the sonata form, the song form or the rondo form, are filled with content – the sound. That would say it all. While the musical architecture forms the shape, the sounding element is the actual content of the music. But it is not that simple. The question arises as to whether the sounding element should ultimately be assigned to the form element. The content would therefore be – as Rudolf Steiner says in the tone eurythmy course - that which lives «between the tones». But what lives between the tones? What lives within the sounding tones of an interval?

In practical life, in art and in education, we are always exposed to a tension between form and content. Over-forming can easily lead to rigidity and artistic immobility, while over-emphasizing content can lead to chaos and exhaustion. It is therefore important to strive for a harmonious relationship between form and content as an ideal and to integrate it into daily practice.

Over forming

I dare to suggest that in contemporary music pedagogy, over-formation is cultivated on many levels – especially in the tradition of interpretation – and that the actual question of the essence of music is met with little awareness. If, for example, too much interpretative focus is placed on phrasing, articulation, the free use of tempo (agogics), dynamics, pronunciation of the text or the correct position to hold the breath in the melodic element, then the natural flow of the melody is severely restricted in favor of the learned expectations of interpretation. A child who is completely immersed in singing does not ask itself where it is allowed to breathe - it ultimately always breathes at the right place. A singing style that is too strongly consonantal and focused on text comprehensibility can also lead to a lack of melodic arc. While a vocal singing style promotes the flow of the melody (horizontal movement), consonant singing breaks up the melos and thus the internal energy of the melody (vertical movement). If musical elements such as sound, melodic arcs or harmonic tensions are shaped and practiced solely on the basis of learned interpretative ideas, the musical experience remains a past-oriented one. This leads to a museum-like musical culture, which we should not continue without reflection in contemporary music education.

In the above-mentioned tone eurythmy course, Rudolf Steiner suggests that music should not be interpreted «as an expression of something», but that the «flow of the melos» should be the focus of artistic activity. Knowledge of traditional performance practices in musicology has led to the formulation of clear evaluation criteria with regard to the correct interpretation of music. This fact has an impact on music education, as music teachers must adhere to these assessment criteria and organize their lessons accordingly. Due to the compulsion to fulfill the correct and serious interpretation, the consciousness remains focused on the old, the past. This prevents them from focusing their attention on the present moment when making music - on that which can arise directly from the artistic creative will of the people involved – that is to say, the actual content of the music. The evaluation standards to be met in our music culture and the associated expectations in society lead to a high pressure to conform, which does not promote the lively performance of music, but instead focuses on the idea of conformity.

The power of the natural

In contrast to spoken language, there are no concrete terms in music. Nevertheless, musical elements such as melody, tempo, dynamics, rhythm, agogics and intonation also play a decisive role in conceptual language. During the course of our biography, we instinctively refine our individual nuances of musical language and use them naturally in everyday life. Especially in a stimulating dialog, we can experience how many musical elements we can naturally draw on. We can also, for example, read a fairy tale to our children in a musical way, without the text giving interpretative information on dynamics or tempo. We rely on our experience and our instincts.

It becomes existential when we ask for forgiveness from the bottom of our hearts from someone we love after a serious conflict – then we speak for our lives. Do we also sing or play for our lives in music or do we use our life force to fulfill the traditional expectations of interpretation? The basic musical elements that we use in spoken language are also used by children in singing as a natural creative force and should also be considered and respected in music education. Just as a recitation of a poem can become artificial through over-interpretation, the natural melody brought in by the children becomes a mere sequence of notes without content through interpretative over-forming. Regardless of whether we are talking about melody, harmony or rhythm, I assume that these are not clearly defined terms, but that in music – just as in life – we are always dealing with a dynamic and highly ambivalent element. The all-encompassing unambiguousness with which music is currently created and interpreted can prevent us from even perceiving the basic musicality – so the feeling for melody, harmony and rhythm – that children and young people bring with them to earth, and from bringing it to life in the classroom. Artistic creative power means being open to one's own powers to shape life in the consciously experienced present moment, from which new creation, action leading into the future, can then emerge. This is a demanding exercise that requires an open mind and an interest in the new – in other words, the ability to be amazed.

Every year I was amazed anew at how my students had changed after the summer vacation and tried to remember the image of the young people that was still alive in me six weeks ago. With what enormous creative power must these young people have lived their lives in order to undergo such a transformation between the two points in their lives – the last day of the old school year and the first day of the new school year? What imaginative and willful activity has led to the two points in life shining with such quality?

The self-creative in the now

In this sense, I assume that the sounding tones can only unfold their life-forming power in music when they are (want to be) filled with «life content» – with creative power within the interval relationships – by the person making music. Sound is form and only becomes content when it is brought to life by animated vitality.

The quality of the relationship between practical action and one's own inner motives for development is still very pronounced in children and the ability to want to connect completely with the present must also be taken into account in music education. Making music is an event that must cultivate the present moment in order to be able to stimulate an artistic life-forming process that cannot be planned – because it is unavailable – but which can arise if the artistic activity focuses on the future, on the will to become – that is on the self-creative.