"Beckh ventures into provinces that I have not had the opportunity of
investigating myself." --Rudolf Steiner
Lost for decades, the manuscript of Hermann Beckh's final lectures on
the subject of music present fundamentally new insights into its cosmic
origins. Beckh characterizes the qualities of musical development,
examines select musical works (that represent for him the peak of human
ingenuity), and sheds new light on the nature and source of human
creativity and inspiration. Published here for the first time, the
lectures demonstrate a distinctive approach based on the raw material of
musical perception.
Beckh discusses the whistling wind, billowing waves, birdsong, and
especially the theme of longing. Always remaining well grounded, Beckh
writes from a cosmic context to penetrate perennial themes, from the
yearning for real spontaneity and the "mystery background" that unites
Heaven and Earth to the spiritual knowledge that can meet the needs of
the twenty-first century. Beckh does not write as a musical specialist
to explicate universal human concerns; rather, he writes from what is
universally human to reveal music as a special concern for us all.
In addition to the transcripts of fifteen lectures, this book contains a
valuable introduction and editorial footnotes. It also features
appendices that include Beckh's essay "The Mystery of the Night in
Wagner and Novalis"; reminiscences of Beckh by August Pauli and Harro
Rückner; Donald Francis Tovey's "Wagnerian harmony and the Evolution of
the TristanChord"; and several contemporaneous reviews of Beckh's
published works.
