The Eurhythmics of Jaques-Dalcroze | Page 9

first public recognition of the method was at the Music Festival in
Solothurn in 1905, where a demonstration was given which made a
striking impression on those present. The value of the method for the
elementary education of musicians was immediately recognized and
some slight idea obtained of the part it might play in general
elementary education. It has been made clear that the method had its
origin in the attempt to give life and reality to musical education, to
give a foundational development on which specialized music study
could be based, and that it had grown naturally and gradually as the
result of observation and experiment. Now it began to be apparent that
something still greater than the original aim had been achieved, that the

system evolved was one which, properly used, might be of enormous
value in the education of children. With characteristic energy
Jaques-Dalcroze, inspired by the new idea, took up the study of
psychology, in which he was helped by his friend, the psychologist
Claparède, who early saw the value which the new ideas might have in
educational practice. The change of outlook which now took place in
the master's mind can best be made clear by a translation of his own
words.[1]
[1] Address to students, Dresden, 1911 (Der Rhythmus, vol. i, p. 33).
"It is true that I first devised my method as a musician for musicians.
But the further I carried my experiments, the more I noticed that, while
a method intended to develop the sense for rhythm, and indeed based
on such development, is of great importance in the education of a
musician, its chief value lies in the fact that it trains the powers of
apperception and of expression in the individual and renders easier the
externalization of natural emotions. Experience teaches me that a man
is not ready for the specialized study of an art until his character is
formed, and his powers of expression developed."
In 1906 was held the first training-course for teachers; how the method
has since grown can be realized by noting that a fortnight was then
considered a sufficient period of training, whilst now the teachers'
course at Hellerau requires from one to three years' steady work. In the
years 1907-9 the short teachers' courses were repeated; in the latter year
the first diploma was granted, experience having shown the need of this,
for already individuals in all parts of the world, after but a few days'
training, in some cases after merely being spectators at lessons, were
advertising themselves as teachers of the method. In 1910
Jaques-Dalcroze was invited by the brothers Wolf and Harald Dohrn to
come to Dresden, where, in the garden suburb of Hellerau, they have
built him a College for Rhythmic Training, a true Palace of Rhythm.
II. PRACTICE[1]
[1] In the preparation of this chapter free use has been made of the
writings of M. Jaques-Dalcroze and of Dr. Wolf Dohrn, Director of the

College of Music and Rhythm, Hellerau, Dresden.
The method naturally falls into three divisions--
(a) Rhythmic gymnastics proper. (b) Ear training. (c) Improvisation
(practical harmony).
(a) Is essentially the Jaques-Dalcroze method--that which is
fundamentally new. As it is this part of the method which is likely to
prove of great value in all systems of education, not merely as a
preparation for the study of music, but as a means to the utmost
development of faculty in the individual, it will be dealt with in detail.
(b) Is of the greatest importance as an adjunct to rhythmic gymnastics,
since it is through the ear that rhythm-impressions are most often and
most easily obtained. Jaques-Dalcroze naturally uses his own methods
of ear-training, which are extremely successful, but he does not lay
stress on them; he does, however, emphasize the need of such training,
whatever the method, as shall give the pupil an accurate sense of pitch,
both absolute and relative, and a feeling for tonality. The more these
are possessed the greater the use which can be made of rhythmic
gymnastics.
[Illustration: Beating 4/4.]
[Illustration: Movements for the Semibreve.]
(c) This is not required in the pupil, however valuable it may be as an
additional means of self-expression; it is, however, absolutely
necessary for the successful teacher of rhythmic gymnastics, who must
be able to express, on some instrument--most conveniently the
piano--whatever rhythms, simple or compound, he may wish to use in
the training of his pupils. This subject, therefore, naturally forms an
important part of the normal course at the Hellerau College, since this
course is planned to meet the needs of students preparing for the
teaching diploma in Eurhythmics. Here, too, Jaques-Dalcroze has his
own system, with which he obtains results often remarkable, but, as in
the case of the ear-training, this is a detail not