A deeper glimpse of our master teacher, Christian Giersch

Lyre 2025 Conference Registration

This week, our LANA Blog will feature a deeper glimpse of our master teacher, Christian Giersch, who will be leading our 2025 Summer Lyre Conference in August. In the articles below, you can read reflections from one of Christian’s students, Board member Saeko Shibayama, followed by a short autobiography by Christian himself. Following these two ponderings, we are pleased to announce the formation of an American Lyre Ensemble for our international lyre conference in 2026! 

Last week to register for the summer Lyre Conference

Studying the Lyre with Christian Giersch

Saeko Shibayama, Nyack, NY

Christian demonstrating the lyre to visitors at Schloss Seehaus in August 2024

I first met Christian Giersch in the summer of 2018 at the International Lyre Conference in the city of Zeist in the Netherlands. At that time, I was still new to the lyre, and it was quite memorable for me to experience over 250 people from around the world playing the music Christian had composed and conducted for this occasion (A Dance of Peace). The plenum lyre orchestra for the conference reminded me of the flute orchestra I experienced as a high school student, making me realize that, just like with the flute, there are different ranges of the modern lyre, such as descant, soprano, alto, tenor and bass lyres, but unlike with the flute family, many lyres looked quite different, design and shape-wise. I also liked the inclusive gesture that this music had an easy part that could be played by virtually anyone.

At that time, I lived in Brooklyn, New York, and I was not able to find a single lyre player, let alone a teacher, in the metropolitan NYC area. But I was able to obtain a copy of Paths of Sound – Images of Listening, a lyre instruction book co-authored by Christian along with Gerhard Beilharz and Martin Tobiassen, and I self-studied it. Immediately, I became fascinated by the very different and unique pedagogical approaches of these three composers, all of whom became great sources of inspiration and important teachers for me over the years. 

paths of sound - images of listiening - Available in the LANA Store

Studying this important book, I was especially struck by Christian's poetic and imaginative approach to music playing that so beautifully blends hands-on tips for specific lyre playing techniques (such as exercises for the seamless use of the right and left hands, and learning to know the right timing for damping the strings) with his gentle way of assisting in the cultivation of one's musical sensibility in general. Even the title of each one of the 18 exercises is intriguing, curious and evocative, and I still remember six years later how I felt when I studied some of these exercises. For example, No. 8 is titled as "You are Gone, but I Still Love You," and according to Christian, it is an exercise to experience "the movement you execute before [making musical sound], that is actually the music itself." (Paths of Sound, p. 10.) No. 14, on the other hand, is an exercise with a humorous title, "Two [People] who Do Not [Understand] Each Other, Or?" meant to help in the exploration of dynamics on the lyre.  No. 15, "In the Evening" invites us to "listen to softly ringing bells in the cooler air, [when] someone is calling from afar." The effective use of the interval of the major second sounds like ringing bells, and when one can picture that in the music one is playing, the imagination becomes endless. 

Overall, the biggest characteristic in Christian's lyre teaching is his strong emphasis on the importance of learning how to sing on our instrument, i.e. how to sing a melody. Anyone who plays a musical instrument knows that this is one of the most important aspects in playing music, and we all need to learn to execute this by finding the best way to use our physical bodies to play our respective musical instruments, be it the piano keys, lyre strings, or violin bow, while using imagination and our listening capacity to assist with such highly specialized physical movement. 

So like any other fine music teachers, Christian advises us to "hear the next phrase in advance" and "listen before we make sound." In order to learn to achieve such singing quality in one's lyre playing, In Exercise 9, titled "Playing–Listening–Silence," he asks us "to take time" in playing melodies. I still remember vividly how different and refreshing it was to play Exercise 9 on the lyre. Having played the piano and the flute all my life as an amateur musician, I felt humbled at first that there are not so many tones on the lyre and that these were quite simple melodies, yet when I played this exercise again and again, observing Christian's instruction, I found myself experiencing each single tone as a living being, it was something I had never experienced qualitatively with the piano or the flute, that I could feel the presence of the sound and the melody I was playing on the lyre.  

After I finished studying this book, I did not wait too long to start going to Germany to study with Christian and Martin Tobiassen in person. Since 2019, I have gone to Christian and Martin's Summer Lyre Academy for Artistic Playing of the Lyre nearly every summer, except for 2020 when traveling overseas was impossible. Every year, we have gathered in this music-friendly, privately owned castle near Würzburg and stayed there for one week, while working on various solo, ensemble, and plenum pieces, which culminate in a public sharing on the last day. Over time, I have worked on various musical pieces under Christian and Martin's supervision, but what I have found most admirable in working with Christian, especially when he conducts our plenum pieces, is his "awakening and consolation" approach in selecting music.

The modern lyre is a new musical instrument, having been born in Dornach in 1926, and not only its sound, but its music is relatively new. Every year at the Academy, we have explored original lyre music by mostly anthroposophic composers such as Jan Nilsson, Volker Dillmann, and Lothar Reubke. A most memorable experience for me was to play Christian's own piece, "12-tone Canon," the sounding of which was so new and eye-opening that once I learned it, it was impossible not to hear it in my head for a long time. When presenting lyre music in a concert, Christian always combines such pieces that require some new attitudes toward listening with more classical pieces (hence "consolation"). For the latter group, every year we play pieces by such composers as Bach and Händel, mostly in four voices. One summer, Christian conducted us playing Mozart's "Priests' March" from the Magic Flute, which was delightful, as well as Samuel Barber's "Adagio," for which we as a group practiced to sing a melody together, like a snail movement. He also brought us classical pieces by lesser known composers such as Fanny Hensel and Wesselin Stojanoff, and every summer we have some surprises. I strongly believe that this practice of presenting both experimental, original lyre pieces along with classical pieces needs to be explored more here in the US, where I feel not many people actually know that a small lyre orchestra can play such a wide variety of music.

Christian teaching students at the Lyre Summer Academy in August, 2024

It should be noted that Christian’s unique and versatile musical approach has been so respected and recognized that a number of professionally trained musicians have began performing the modern lyre in concert halls in towns like Leipzig and Dresden, featuring some of these pieces we explore together with Christian and Martin in the summer, sometime as an ensemble with other musical instruments such as the violin, viola, and flute, both modern and period-instruments. I witnessed many examples of such fine performances of the modern lyre at the “Eurythmy-Lyre Festival III” at Goetheanum in October 2024.

Members of the Summer Lyre Academy, July-August 2024. Christian Giersch standing; Saeko Shibayama third from the left.

Last, but not least, it would need to be said that most of the lyre players in the world know Christian for his "Kleines Gebet in Klang für Leier round um die Erde," which he composed in the spring of 2020, when the world became an isolated place. Under the movement of the Lyre Mantle, we all played this piece in different parts of the world, imagining that even though humanity was experiencing a lockdown, the lyre sound was traveling and connecting us spiritually. 

In this spirit, Christian has already composed a new piece, "A Mantle of Time and Sound," which will become the seed of a larger plenum piece he has been working for the "100 Years of the Lyre Impulse" – A Lyre Centennial International Conference that will be held at the Goetheanum in Switzerland from July 29 to August 2, 2026. For all of these reasons, it will be a very special summer for us to welcome Christian here in the US, as a guest teacher at the Lyre Association of North America's annual conference in Camphill Village Copake, in New York, from August 15-20, 2025. Anyone who is interested in Christian's way of promoting music out of anthroposophy and through the modern lyre will be welcome (registration is still open; a lyre rental service and travel scholarship are available; we will also offer a children's program simultaneously). We will also have a final concert on the evening of August 19, which will be open to the public, so I hope that the lyre sound and music can reach many people this summer in New York! 

Christian Giersch Shares His Path to the Lyre

My Path to the Lyre 

Christian Giersch playing the bass lyre at Schloss Seehaus in 2021

As I grew up in a Lutheran parsonage, singing and playing the piano and organ were the most important musical experiences of my childhood. Starting around the age of 14, I regularly accompanied my father on his walks to the village churches in the area to play the organ for church services. This happened under the conditions of the atheistic regime of the German Democratic Republic. The churches were poor, the organs old and out of tune, the congregations small. What inspired me back then was the music of J.S. Bach and free improvisation – both of which I still love to this day.

At the age of 21, after an unsuccessful attempt to escape from communist East Germany, I was imprisoned for 11 months. During this time, in a completely unmusical environment, I had my first intense experiences of pure inner listening to music. However, I had not learned to write down these musical experiences.

After I came to the freedom of West Germany with the help of the West German state, I was finally able to study church music. The organ was my main subject, but I was lucky enough to meet a spiritual teacher in piano who worked with me on the essentials of sound. From this teacher, Dora Metzger, I learned to understand and work on the connection between breath and movement with inner and outer sound. I was also able to talk with her about my experiences of inner listening.

I have to say that I learned the essentials of playing the lyre on the piano back then, when I didn’t even know the lyre yet!

During this time of my studies, I also came into contact with anthroposophy. Through Rudolf Steiner, I found the gateway to a truly great understanding of what music is. Without him, I might not have remained a musician. 

The first time I heard lyre music was at a Christian Community service at Christmas time in 1977. I had the feeling that this sound expressed the supernatural truth of tones, and immediately the impulse was there: I want to learn this!  It was not easy to find teachers, but I was subsequently able to build on everything I had learned through the medium of the piano from Dora Metzger.

Since that time,  I have been a constant student of the lyre. This instrument is always about making the acoustic sound transparent for the movement of the supersensible or “etheric” sound. 

This is a new musical quality that we must gradually develop in our time in order to avoid becoming more and more spiritually, mentally, and physiologically numb, which is the direction we are being subtly pushed in our modern materialistic world. 

2026 International Lyre Conference Invitation

An Invitation to Members and Friends for the 2026 International Lyre Conference 

Dear LANA Members and Friends,

One year from now, in late July and early August of 2026, lyrists from all over the world will gather at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland for an international celebration in honor of the centenary of the lyre. During the next year, and beginning formally with our 2025 Lyre Conference in just a few weeks, members and friends will be hearing much more about the exciting musical activities planned for this special occasion.

Reproduction of the First Modern Lyre

 A prime spotlight for our 2026 gathering will be prepared concert offerings from different countries. The organizing committee expressed the wish to have the participation of the US in such an offering, and we are pleased to share that Christina Porkert, Saeko Shibayama, and Sheila Johns have agreed to be the organizers for the preparation of an America Lyre Ensemble to perform at our international conference next summer.

Participation in this ensemble is open for the consideration of any members or friends who are committed to traveling to Dornach for the conference, who are able to solidly learn the program of music being prepared, and who are willing and able to be present at the rehearsals that will be scheduled.

We will have an initial meeting during one of the post-lunch times in our upcoming conference in Copake, though it is not necessary to be at this organizing meeting in order to be a part of the ensemble. We will read through some music and discuss more details at that time, but we are aiming for a group of 12-14 at the most, and we are planning to schedule rehearsals for the whole group three times during the upcoming year – two of which will be mandatory for all participants. It will also be necessary to have a good spread of ranges in order to be able to form a balanced ensemble.

If you would be interested to learn more or to participate in this initiative, please contact Christina Porkert at cep@fairpoint.net before August 15th when our 2025 Conference begins.  

Warm Regards, 

Sheila Johns                                                                                                                    Christina Porkert                                                                                                             Saeko Shibayama

LAST OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF EARLY BIRD PRICING FOR OUR 2025 SUMMER LYRE CONFERENCE!

The Board of the Lyre Association of North America is very excited to welcome master lyrist Christian Giersch from Germany to Copake, New York, where we will work together with the theme ‘Let the Tone Come Alive!’ during the five days of our upcoming August conference. Lyre players of all levels are encouraged to join us as we explore this theme together. This conference will be, in many ways, a preparation for the historic 100-year anniversary of the birth of the lyre that will be celebrated at our International Lyre Conference in Dornach, Switzerland in the summer of 2026. We are most fortunate this summer to have the opportunity to work directly with one of the master lyre teachers in Europe, who also happens to be one of the organizers of next summer’s international conference! For further details, see last week’s LANA blog. Register TODAY at the following link to still receive our EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT!

A beautiful, simple 10-part round for all levels of players!

Our guest lyre master teacher and composer, Christian Giersch, has gifted us a further piece of music that will form a part of the full group repertoire for our upcoming lyre conference. Adding to the several other pieces composed for the 2026 International Lyre Conference, participants in our upcoming Summer Lyre Conference will get to enjoy a sneak preview of this majestic 8-bar canon for lyres in 10 parts, which serves as the prelude for a powerful sung 3-part round on the text Unitas en Sonum Est, translated roughly from the Latin as “Unity in Sounding” All participants will find this glorious Canon and Round, which builds from a single line of eight tones to richly textured full harmony, to be both compelling and easily accessible for all!

Follow the link below to download the music:

2025 Lyre Conference with Christian Giersch

This year, LANA’s Summer Conference will once again be held in beautiful Copake, NY. We are very excited to welcome Christian Giersch from Germany who will work with us on the theme ‘Let the Tone Come Alive!’ during the five days of the conference. Lyre players of all levels are encouraged to join us as we explore this theme together. This conference will be, in many ways, a preparation for the historic 100-year anniversary of the birth of the lyre, which will be celebrated at our International Lyre Conference in Dornach, Switzerland in the summer of 2026. We are most fortunate this summer to have the opportunity to work directly with one of the master lyrists in Europe who also happens to be one of the organizers of next summer’s international conference! 

What follows here are Christian’s vision for our time together, highlights of our planned activities, and our daily schedule. Please DO NOT MISS the important message to ALL LANA members and friends that follows the link to the daily schedule below!


Christian has elaborated on the conference theme and his intentions for our time together in the following short description:

The wonderful sound of the lyre can lead both listener and player to the experience that musical tones, intervals, and rhythms are more than mere physical phenomena. They want to be experienced and formed like living beings. Only then does their inherent strength to create peace and community unfold. I have worked with this theme for decades as a teacher and performing artist and would like to share my experiences with you. By means of basic practical exercises (suitable for lyrists of any skill level), through moving together, playing the lyre (with and without sheet music), through singing, and listening, we will come closer to the living essence of music: Let the tone come alive!

The conference will open with Registration on Friday afternoon, August 15th, followed by LANA’s Annual Member’s Meeting and official Opening Evening that will feature performances by local musicians and other lyrists, and with a talk and musical offering by Christian.

  • The conference will then run for the subsequent four full days of Saturday, August 16 Tuesday, August 19th.

  • Daily workshops include plenums, Strömendes Gestalten improvisation, Honing Lyre Skills and small group workshops according to skill level.

  • On Monday evening August 18th, Christian will give an interactive  ‘Sound Workshop’ concert.

  • There will be a public sharing of music for the community on Tuesday evening, August 19th.

  • The plenum, evaluations, and closing will take place on Wednesday morning, August 20th.

See the plan for our daily schedule at the following link:

Early Bird Deadline is July 15th . . . Register NOW!!

IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL MEMBERS AND FRIENDS:

The planning for this conference started the very week after our 2024 Summer conference. We were able to engage Christian as our Master Teacher, we obtained a commitment once again from Camphill Copake for our venue, and we secured dates – all by the end of the year, which is earlier than we have ever had such details in place for an upcoming conference.

Unfortunately, a little more than one month out now, our enrollment is much lower than we had expected or imagined. We are moving forward, past obvious financial concerns, because we feel strongly that meeting together will be an important spiritual deed as we form an American nexus in preparation for our much-anticipated international lyre conference in 2026. We ask that anyone who is planning to attend the conference and may not yet have registered to please do so as soon as possible so that we can plan appropriately. We both welcome and need your participation!

We would also like to support the attendance of those who might need to travel from a distance with a discounted tuition or scholarship, but at this moment, we are not sure we will meet the basic costs of hosting the conference. So, if you yourself are not able to attend, we ask you to help us by considering a donation of $50 to LANA so that we can welcome anyone who has not yet registered because of travel-related expenses.

It must be acknowledged that we are in a time of tremendous upheaval and change on numerous fronts, both nationally and globally, and we recognize that the resulting feeling of overwhelm can make it feel easier and perhaps safer to just stay home. But we also know very well the soul nourishment we receive when we come together in person to play, to move, to sing, and to create.  The warmth of camaraderie and music-making together is something that simply cannot be experienced online. Such in-person encounters to create something together under the guidance of a recognized master teacher can have a deep healing effect, affirming our sense of shared humanity and the creative purpose of our existence through artistic work together.  

If you are planning to attend the international conference in Dornach, this summer’s work will be an ideal preparation. If you are not able to attend the international conference next year, then this summer’s work will be as close as you can get to the kind of experience we will have there, including playing some of the music that has been expressly written for that conference! Please consider if it really could be possible for you to join us, register today, and encourage others in your circles to do the same.  Remember that we always welcome beginners, and that some financial aid IS still available!

We sincerely hope that you can join us!

The LANA Board / Conference Committee

A Mantle Of Time And Sound by Christian Giersch

Many thanks to Christian for sending us another piece of music that we will play together during our summer conference in preparation for its presentation at our 2026 international Lyre Conference in Switzerland!  In what follows, Christian describes the inspiration behind his piece and how it is to be played.

A Mantle Of Time And Sound

All people share the experience of the earth’s daily passage from day to night. This cycle unites us as humanity and, at the same time, allows us to witness the relationship that the different cities, countries, and continents in which we reside have to one other. Every location is at the same time eastern, western and central, depending on which direction it is seen from. The conference in Dornach is intended to bring together people from all parts of the world under the signature of the new sound of the lyre. It is as if all times of the day will meet in one place at the same time to search for a great harmony of the future. 

Based on this image, the composition, “A Mantle of Time and Sound” was created. Its four parts are dedicated to the four divisions of the day: morning to midday, afternoon to evening, night to midnight and midnight to dawn. The middle voice represents the path of human beings. It can be played on soprano and alto lyres and can also be sung. The upper voice is only for soprano lyres (and advanced players) and was composed with the air and light-beings of our atmosphere in mind. The lower part (alto and bass lyres) gives voice to those beings who accompany us on and beneath the earth. The capital letters indicate individual tones (not chords). They can be played “ad libitum” by beginner lyre players or they can also be played with bells and other metal instruments. After several repetitions, the last tone “a” concludes the piece. An asterisk (*) underneath a tone is a damping indication: Please mute when the next tone sounds. 

This music is part of the Plenum-Gesamtkunstwerk that is to be created in Dornach in 2026.

Christian Giersch, February 2025

Follow the link below to download the music:

More About We Love Music!

Come join the fun at Camphill Copake

Our summer youth camp kicks off on Saturday, August 16th!  We are delighted that master teacher Veronika Roemer will once again lead our youth program in an exciting exploration of music with instruments, singing, and games.  The “We Love Music” camp is being held in conjunction with the LANA Summer Lyre Conference and is designed for young people aged 9 to 16. The program fosters a deeper connection with music and encourages friendships through music-making.

This year’s camp runs from Saturday, August 16th to Wednesday, August 20th (9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) with an evening performance for the community on Tuesday, August 19th.  Camp participants will spend the morning session together with Veronika, developing music skills and creating community.  Lunch and a group activity will be provided on the Camphill Copake campus following the morning session.  In the afternoon, the young people will join the adults to participate in the lyre conference with master teacher Christian Giersch in preparation for the Tuesday evening performance.

We encourage any young person who may be thinking of attending the 2026 World Lyre Conference at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland to join the “We Love Music” camp this year.  This is an incredible opportunity to learn from two master teachers, Veronika Roemer and Christian Giersch, and to experience the power of musical community.

Please note that we are aware of the overlapping dates of the “We Love Music” camp and the Christian Community youth camp in northeast Pennsylvania.  If your child will be attending the Christian Community camp and is also interested in the “We Love Music” camp, please let us know.  Contact Julia Elliott with questions:  juliabelliott@gmail.com

We hope to see your child at the “We Love Music” camp!

Christian Community Musicians Meeting on the East Coast

LANA friends Undine Killian (IL) and Elliott Chamberlin (MD) have organized a meeting of Christian Community musicians on the East Coast. See details below:

CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY MUSICIANS MEETING ON THE EAST COAST – IN SPRING VALLEY, NY

LET'S CONNECT, SHARE, EXPLORE AND PLAY TOGETHER!

When: FRIDAY, 6/27, 7:00PM – SUNDAY, 6/29, 1:00PM

Accommodations: Holder House, Homestays or Hotels

COST: $100 participation fee (incl. 4 meals from Sat breakfast till Sun breakfast and covers facility costs)

Please register by emailing: Undine Killian, ukillian@posteo.de

with your name, instrument, city, and dietary needs. Thank you!

We Love Music!

Summer Youth Music Camp in Copake, NY

in conjunction with the
LANA Summer Lyre Conference 2025
For ages 9 – 16

Dates:  Saturday, August 16th –
Wednesday, August 20th
Time:  9:00 a.m. to 4:30
(with a performance on the evening of
Tues, August 19th)

Our Summer Youth Music Camp will be held again at Camphill Copake with master teacher Veronika Roemer.  Please join us as we explore the world of sound with percussion and wind instruments made from metal, wood, clay, and stone as well as string instruments (psaltery and lyre).  Participants are welcome to bring instruments that they would like to share with the group but no previous musical experience is required or necessary.

Our youth program will offer a wonderful foundation for any young people who are interested in attending the 2026 World Lyre Conference at the Goetheanum next summer!  

Contact Julia Elliott for more information.

Kimberton Regional Lyre Workshop

L to R: Lyrists Margo Ketchum, Samantha Embrey, Veronika Roemer, Molly Halliday, & Sumin Dai

It was a diverse group that assembled at Margo Ketchum’s home in Kimberton on April 4 for a regional weekend workshop: Our ages stretched from 17 to 83; our homes ranged from Long Island, NY to Crozet, VA; our experience of lyre playing varied from well over 30 years to only a few years: and our lyres were created in five separate workshops. Yet, under Veronika Roemer’s leadership, we quickly found common ground in making music together.

In addition to Veronika and Margo, the group included Molly Halliday, Sumin Dai, and me. Mostly, we played the sheet music that Veronika had previously sent us. There was a wonderful variety – music by Bach, Beethoven, and Telemann as well as music written for the lyre by Christian Giersch, Martin Tobiassen, Lothar Reubke, and Max Gross. Each piece posed its own set of challenges and prompted technical tips for lyre playing. For me, the most memorable tip was “flesh on the strings” – i.e., use the full finger pad to produce a full tone on the upper strings of the lyre. For the lower strings, on the other hand, we learned that the tips of the fingers are best.

As a musicologist, I have to note that, thanks to Veronika’s transcription, it was likely the first time that Bach’s B-flat minor prelude and fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Volume I, had ever been performed on the lyre! It was beautiful music that worked well on the lyre, despite its five flats!

Interspersed with playing sheet music were sessions of improvising, each session introducing a different approach to improvising. In one, for example, we took turns around the circle, continuing the thread begun by the person next to us. In another, we overlapped melodies –someone improvised a melody and another person joined in, the first person stopped and a third joined it, and so forth.

I suspect the rewards of the weekend varied somewhat for all of the members of the group but that we all found joy in overcoming our personal challenges and in making music together.

J S Bach Goldberg Variations

Book Review: JS BACH NINE CANONS from the GOLDBERG VARIATIONS BWV 988

  • FOURTEEN CANONS on the first eight notes of the ground of the GOLDBERG VARIATIONS BWV 1087

  • Arranged for lyres or other instruments by J S Clark

    Reviewers Note: After volunteering to review this new music edition set by JS Clark, I realized that all of the pieces are for two or more voices.  Because I do not have lyre colleagues nearby, I was only able to play the single lines.  John Clark’s introduction to this collection and how he came to compile it is fascinating, and much more interesting than anything I could say.  That said, I highly recommend finding other musicians and working through the content.

John Clark’s INTRODUCTION:

See in LANA Store

Sometime in the mid-1990s I was asked to contribute lyre music to a conference held in Emerson College, Sussex on the theme of Cosmic Music. I contacted a few friends, all of whom were very able players, and we performed the Nine Canons that run like a red thread through the Goldberg Variations. This was the beginning of the lyre ensemble called Naked Piano that went on to perform a wide variety of music, both contemporary and classical, for several more years. 

Printed in Bach's lifetime as the final part of his Clavier-Übung series, the Aria mit verschiedenen Veraenderungen or Goldberg Variations, as they came to be known, were not always as popular as they are in our time. Although the Goldberg Variations had been recorded before, both on harpsichord as well as on piano, it was Glen Gould's first recording in 1956 that brought the music to the attention of a wider public and allowed it to be gradually seen as part of the standard keyboard repertoire. 

In spite of my very modest keyboard ability, I had a very deep interest in Bach's music, and for many years I had explored it not only on piano but also on lyre with other friends and colleagues. I found myself particularly drawn to the Goldberg Variations because of the (now widely discounted) story about their origin, related by Nikolaus Forkel (1749-1818) in his seminal work on the life of Johann Sebastian Bach published in 1802. He describes how the Variations were commissioned by Count Hermann Carl von Keyserling who was the former Russian Ambassador to the court in Dresden and who had a very young protégé, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg (1727-1726), who had been a pupil of Bach. The Count was frequently ill and had many sleepless nights: 

"Goldberg, who was living in his house, was obliged to pass the night in the next room at such times and to play something to the Count during his insomnia. Once the Count mentioned to Bach that he would like to have some keyboard pieces from Goldberg with a delicate and lively character such as might cheer him up during his sleepless nights." 

Perhaps this description of the music as having a "delicate and lively character" piqued my interest, since this description could equally be a characterization of the tone and timbre of the modern lyre. Perhaps I was also intrigued that one member of the same Keyserling/Keyserlingk family had been involved with Bach, and another member, hundreds of years later, in 1924, with the inauguration of a new organic approach to agriculture proposed by Rudolf Steiner. 

It also has to be said that, as a music therapist, I had a professional interest. Was Bach trying to create a composition for the Count that could alleviate his insomnia therapeutically? At the hand of the lovely song by Henry Purcell, An Evening Hymn, I was well aware of the belief current in that time, that during sleep, as the body lay in the bed, the soul would repose in the arms of God. Were these variations, with their nine canons, a musical journey through the heavens of Dante, a substitute for the nightly heavenly journey the insomniac Count could not make? Moreover, was the structure of the 32 movements of the Goldberg Variations perhaps inspired by Dante's Paradiso with its 33 chapters? Was there a hidden 33rd variation? These and many other questions led me to create and offer a series of three lectures about the Goldberg Variations. 

No manuscript holograph copy of the Goldberg Variations has ever been found, but in 1974, Bach's own printed copy came to light in Strasbourg. In it, on a blank page at the end of the copy, he had added 14 short perpetual motion puzzle canons based on the first eight notes of the ground of the Aria. 

It is widely thought that these fourteen canons, found at the end of Bach's own printed exemplar, represent a signature to this final part of the Clavier-Übung, in cabbalistic number-letter substitution with the letters B-A-C-H (2+1+3+8)-14. 

The second part of this edition has a performing score in six parts with the solutions to the canons divided into four movements. Metronome marks are suggestions only. 

J.S.Clark
2024 Monassa, Ireland

2025 Spring Lyre Notes

Dear friends of the lyre, 

In case you missed it, the Board of the Lyre Association of North America, wishes to share with you our 2025 Spring Lyre Notes. In this issue you’ll find all the registration information for both our Summer Lyre Conference “Let the Tone Come Alive!” as well as our Youth Music Camp in addition to some timely reflections from our lyre community.

  • Letter from the Editor

  • Seasonal Inspiration: Veils – Margeret Collinson from Morning Prayers

  • 2025 Summer Lyre Conference 2025: Descriptions, Registration Links, Music, Schedule

  • 2025 Summer Youth Music Camp: Description and Registration Link

  • From the Archives: Listening to What You See

  • Workshop Review: Listening through the Sacred Silence

  • Festival Reflection: The Easter Occurrence and Johan Sebastian Bach

  • Music for Good Friday: The Seven Last Words from the Cross by John Clark

  • Music for Easter and Every Day by Christof-Andreas Lindenberg

Please enjoy this quarterly issue!
Catherine Read, Editor Lyre Notes

Read as a booklet online or download as a PDF

Regional Lyre Weekend with Veronika Roemer

Regional Lyre Weekend
April 4–6, 2025

with Veronika Roemer

Verronika Roemer (on the Right) with participants in the 2021 Kimberton Regional Lyre Workshop

An opportunity for lyre players to make music together: improvise, learn a few new pieces, strengthen your technique, and have joy!

Dates: Friday 4/4/25 at 7pm, Saturday 9AM – 7 PM, Sunday 4/6/25, 9AM –12 noon
Location: 2237 Kimberton Road, Phoenixville, PA 19460 

Cost: $60 for the whole workshop to be paid at the beginning of the gathering; $20 for children, who may join the workshop on Saturday between 2:00 and 5:00 pm

Food: Please bring or plan to purchase your own snacks/lunch/dinner. Kimberton Whole Foods is a short walk away.

This workshop is for any player, regardless of skill level. Upon registration, you will receive material to prepare for the weekend. Children and youth who have been introduced to the chromatic lyre are welcome on Saturday from 2:00 – 5:00 pm.

Veronika Roemer has many years' experience of working with groups of mixed abilities. Sessions include singing, improvising, and playing from sheet music. Music is chosen according to the players' abilities and often arranged to fit the need. 

For any questions and to register, please email: vbrtnstn@gmail.com.

Appeal for Korean Lyrist Hong Chang Kim

Dear friends in our worldwide lyre movement,

My name is Miranda Markgraf, and I am a eurythmist of Korean descent, currently living in Berlin. I am writing today to ask for the help of our colleagues throughout the world to support the Korean lyre teacher and anthroposophic music therapist Hong Chang Kim

Hong Chang Kim with a student in His Music Therapy studio

Those who have attended previous international conferences may remember Hong Chang Kim. And some of you may have heard that he suffered a grave misfortune at the turn of the year in South Korea. Due to a defect in the heating system of the monastery where Hong Chang spent New Year's Eve, he suffered severe carbon monoxide poisoning and third-degree burns. He fell into a coma for 10 days. We are relieved and grateful that he is awake again, but even today he is still in a sensitive condition and is hospitalized in a Seoul hospital. His condition requires around-the-clock care and there are still several surgeries and skin transplants ahead of him. So far, only a part of the burned skin and muscle tissue has been removed. Hong Chang Kim can barely speak or move at the moment. Due to a stroke last year, he is already under both physical and financial strain. Hong Chang’s visit to the Buddhist temple where the tragic accident occurred also has a lyre history, as Hong Chang taught the monk of the monastery to play the lyre when he was still a child monk…..

Hong Chang Kim with Lyre Colleagues, including Susanne Reinhold on the left

I, myself, have had professional and private contact with Mr Kim for about two years, but colleagues Susanne Reinhold and Joachim Lentz have known him for a much longer time and have shared the following history of Hong Chang’s work with the lyre.

Hong Chang became acquainted with the lyre when he came into contact with anthroposophy and Waldorf education through introductory seminars for Waldorf education in South Korea. To learn more, he traveled to Germany, learned the language, brought his small family to Germany, and studied both Waldorf education and anthroposophical music therapy. The lyre became increasingly important to him. He traveled to Wolfgang Friebe for lessons, attended lyre meetings, and visited Pär Ahlboom in Sweden. The lyre became his main instrument. Back in Korea, he set up a small lyre school, represented
lyre instruments from Sweden in Korea, later worked intensively with Horst Nieder, and organised many workshops with teachers from Germany, such as Pär Ahlbom, Andreas Lehmann, Susanne Heinz, and Susanne Reinhold. 

Students at Youth Lyre Conference

Hong Chang Kim and Joachim Lentz at International Youth Conference

He taught many groups of children, introducing them to the pentatonic children’s lyre in a very lively way that inspired them to take up the chromatic lyre, so that he was able to take them on trips to lyre conferences, e.g. to Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic, to Haus Arild in Germany, and to Jeju, an island in South Korea. At Haus Arild, a boarding school for socially handicapped children run by lyrist Joachim Lentz, Hong Chang brought 7-8 well-prepared young lyre players to join in a youth lyre conference in both 2017 and 2018, creating, in this way, an international atmosphere in the boarding school so that the local students, some also coming with Martin Tobiassen, could experience that there were young lyre players on the other side of the world...

Hong Chang Kim and Martin Tobiassen at International Youth Conference

Here follow two videos from these occasions with Hong Chang conducting his students, who had prepared these pieces to share with the German friends at Haus Arild. 

Hong Chang leading youth lyrists Video #1
Hong Chang leading youth lyrists Video #2

Hong Chang Kim with Susanne Reinhold and Korean Colleague

Hong Chang later combined a music therapy training program with the lyre impulse in collaboration with Susanne Reinhold, led two students to an external degree under the umbrella of the Musiktherapeutische Arbeitsstätte Berlin, and finally completed a four-year further training course in music therapy with seven students last summer, which is currently undergoing the recognition process at iARTe.

Local friends and colleagues in South Korea visit Hong Chang regularly. They raised some money to maintain Maria Music Therapy Room in Seoul. A colleague, the Waldorf teacher Ms. LangJoo Park, is carrying a large part of his care privately. But unfortunately, it's not enough. Since there is no statutory health insurance in Korea and medical costs, operations, medication, care, and hospitalization have to be paid privately, Mr. Kim and those close to him who feel responsible are now facing increasing costs.

It is difficult to forecast the future, but it’s very probable that the treatments in the hospital need to continue for several months and Mr. Kim's medical costs are currently of around 7,000 euros per month. The monthly rent for his Maria music therapy room is close to 1,100 euros. So the costs are currently at 16,200 euros for this January and February. When March is over, it is estimated to be around 24,300 euros. 

We are reaching out to the world lyre community to consider joining us to support this devoted lyre teacher and anthroposophic music therapist to whatever extent you are inspired and able.

In the U.S., all donations will be collected until March 30th in the donation account of the Lyre Association of North America which will then send the collected funds to the German account where 100% will be passed on to Mr. Hong Chang Kim in Korea. Depending on the current situation, we will either end the fundraising campaign or continue it if necessary. In any case, we will keep you informed about the progress. 

If you would like a donation receipt, please include your full donor address in the intended purpose when making the transfer, in addition to the keywords "Help for Hong Chang Kim".

Dear friends, please forward this information to anyone who may be interested to help. Hong Chang had many plans to bring new impulses from anthroposophy to Korea: the lyre, music therapy, singing therapy, external applications, death culture - all linked with the great desire to create a basis for anthroposophic medicine in Korea and to work together with it.

Let us hope that he will be able – at least in a reduced form – to continue working on these impulses.

Thank you very much and best regards, 
Miranda Markgraf and friends of Hong Chang Kim

Summer Music Camp for Youth

WE LOVE MUSIC!

Summer Youth Music Camp in Copake, NY in conjunction with the
2025 LANA Summer Lyre Conference, for ages 9 – 16
 

Dates:  Saturday, August 16th through Wednesday, August 20th 
Time:  9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
With a performance on the evening of Tues, August 19th

Our Summer Youth Music Camp will be held again at Camphill Copake with master teacher Veronika Roemer.  Please join us as we explore the world of sound with percussion and wind instruments made from metal, wood, clay, and stone as well as string instruments (psaltery and lyre).  Participants are welcome to bring instruments that they would like to share with the group but no previous musical experience is required or necessary.

Our youth program will offer a wonderful foundation for any young people who are interested in attending the 2026 World Lyre Conference at the Goetheanum next summer!  

Registration will open soon.
Contact Julia Elliott (juliabelliott@gmail.com) for more information.

Calling for Stories! Copy Deadline March 5 . . .

Easter this year, as cosmically determined from the equinox, full moon, and day of the week, is the latest that is possible for this festival:  April 20.  On April 19, 1924 Rudolf Steiner lectured about the Easter festival in Dornach, Switzerland. This, and the subsequent three lectures, would be the last time he would speak publically on this topic.  This year, in 2025, Easter falls on a date near the one of Steiner's final lectures on the Easter festival that relates to the evolution of the mysteries.  Perhaps we may have a particular resonance with those lectures this year. 

We celebrate Easter in the spring now, which, in temperate zones, is the renewal of plant life after the sleep of winter.  Each time that Easter comes around (and we must be particularly conscious about the time, as it is not a fixed date), we have a chance to renew our awareness of death, coming out of death, and the mystery of the Christ events at the time of Golgotha. And we are also aware that the Resurrected Christ continued to work with the disciples. 

In this time leading up to Easter, please send me your stories and accounts of playing and/or listening to lyre music around the time of Easter.  Music gives us the potential to be aware of the spiritual world and, also, to give something back to the spiritual world, especially in the form of  the freed tone of the lyre. 

Please send your contributions for our Spring Lyre Notes by Wednesday, March 5, which is the beginning of the 40 days before Easter. I look forward to hearing from you!

Catherine Read
Editor, Lyre Notes  

Lyre Music for St. Patrick’s Day

If you are looking for Irish music to play for St. Patrick’s Day, check out our LANA music store here.  We have books of Irish music arranged for lyres by John Billing, John Clark, Anna Prokhovnik Cooper, Beatrijs Gradenwitz and Cecilia Unsworth.  Most of the collections offer music for ensemble and also solo players, and you’ll find some of the most beautiful Irish melodies arranged by the best composers of lyre music. 

Many of John Billing’s music books are available on our website in both physical and digital format.  There’s still plenty of time to order books to arrive for your St. Patrick’s day enjoyment. 

If you are looking for personal recommendations, please see reviews of many of the books here.  And feel free to reach out with questions – we are always happy to help!