Soundings – Now available in the LANA store as a PDF Download

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Soundings: A Lyre Review

Volume 1 No 1

Autumn 2007

LANA has decided to make available previous issues of our Soundings journals and Music Supplements as PDF Downloads in our Store.

Introduction to Soundings: A Lyre Review

Autumn 2007 marked the inaugural issue of a new journal dedicated to the lyre and music related to anthroposophy. ​Since this first release, the Lyre Association of North America has published eleven more issues of Soundings. 

Volume 1, No. 1 celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Lyre Association and features a biography of Christof-Andreas Lindenberg and his contributions to our lyre impulse in North America.

Christof-Andreas Lindenberg: A Biography

Part 1

The opening article of Vol 1, No 1 details the early life and musical journey of Christof-Andreas Lindenberg, one of the principal founders of the lyre work in North America. In Part One of this interview with editor Catherine Read, we follow Christof-Andreas’ musical path from his childhood home through post-World War II Waldorf school experiences, where he learned violin, clarinet, and piano, before taking up the lyre in earnest during his early years of working with children with special needs in a Camphill community in Scotland.

The Lyre: A Tutor for a New Instrument

Part 1

For the second article, we are very pleased to reprint the first installment from a series of essays Christof-Andreas has crafted as a tutor of the new instrument of the lyre. In this opening installment, he discusses the historical context and significance of the lyre as a modern musical instrument, and how the lyre represents a shift away from traditional instruments against the backdrop of the musical landscape of the early 20th century. He goes on to introduce the reader to the practical steps in learning to play the lyre effectively, including proper handling and positioning of the lyre, the importance of touch and movement, and the connection between the player and the instrument. 

Towards a World Lyre Community:

The Birth of an idea inspired by Lyre 2006

In our final article of this premiere volume of Soundings, Sheila P. Johns and Channa Seidenberg share an idea inspired by the 2006 International Lyre Conference in Belfast, N.I. The authors discuss the need to develop a supportive community among lyre builders and lyre players in order to exchange needed dialogue that will allow the builders to create instruments that best serve the needs of the players. After acknowledging the isolation of lyre builders and the challenges they face, the authors propose the creation of a Lyre Builders’ Fund to support builders financially and spiritually. ​

They go on to outline the philosophical principles guiding the lyre community, rooted in anthroposophy and the Threefold Social Order, emphasizing that economic support should enable creative work rather than serve as mere payment for services. They further suggest that lyre players and teachers consider that we have a moral imperative to support lyre builders for the future of the lyre in the world.

 

Music Supplement

Index of Titles in Music Supplement 1:

  • Michael Stands Now at Our Door – Channa A. Seidenberg

  • Michaelmas – Words by A.C. Harwood; Music by John Clark

  • In Autumn St. Michael – Music by John Clark, text by Anke Weihs & Morwenna Bucknall

  • Raise Up Thine Eyes, traditional Welsh melody – Verses 1 & 2 by Anke Weihs, Verse 3 and the arrangement by Merwin Lewis

  • Maria Walks Amid the Thorn (Maria durch ein’ Dornwald ging) – Traditional words and melody; arrangement by Esther Schwedeler

  • In Dulci Jubilo – Original Latin & German words by Heinrich Suso; 14th century melody;

  • Limu leimen – Traditional Swedish Air, arrangement by Esther Schwedeler

  • From the Suite in D, No. 3 for strings by J.S. Bach, adapted for lyres

  • Accompanying Those Who Have Died – Christof-Andreas Lindenberg

 

It is the hope of our Soundings editorial staff to continue to receive contributions of substance from our worldwide readership for future editions!  
Email: lyrists@gmail.com for more information.