An approach to music as an instrument of philosophical inquiry, seeking not so much a philosophy of music as a philosophy through music.

‘Our neurosensory system is inwardly configured music, and we experience music as an artistic quality to the degree that a piece of music is in tune with the mystery of our own musical structure.’ – Rudolf Steiner What is music? Rudolf Steiner regards the essence of music as something spiritual, inaudible to the senses. The world of tones, borne on the vibrations of air, is not the essential element. ‘The true nature of music, the spiritual element in music’, he says, ‘is found between the tones, lies in the intervals as an inaudible quality.’ Rudolf Steiner spoke repeatedly about music as something inherent both in the cosmos and the human being. It played an important role in many forms of ritual and worship, and people once perceived a link between music and the world of stars, which was seen as the dwelling place of the gods. Nowadays our view of music is divorced from such religious outlooks, but research repeatedly demonstrates the profound effect it continues to have on us. In this unique anthology of texts, compiled with a commentary and notes by Michael Kurtz, Steiner describes the realm of the spiritually-resonating harmonies of the spheres and our intrinsic connection to this cosmic music. He also explores the phenomenon of musical listening and experience, as well as Goethe’s approach to music.

Originally published in 1937, this book examines the applications and implications of psychology on a variety of topics.

Carl Stumpf (1848-1936) was a German philosopher and psychologist and a visionary and important academic. During his lifetime, he ranked among the most prominent scientists of his time. Stumpf's intention, as evident in his book, Tone Psychology, was to investigate the phenomenon of tone sensation in order to understand the general psychic functions and processes underlying the perception of sound and music. It could be argued that modern music psychology has lost or perhaps ignored the epistemological basis that Carl Stumpf developed in his Tone Psychology. To gain a confident psychological basis, the relevance of Stumpf's deliberations on music psychology cannot be overestimated. Analyses of the essence of tones, complex tones and sounds are fundamental topics for general psychology and epistemology. By the end of this two-volume work, Stumpf had established an epistemology of hearing. The subject of Volume I is the sensation of successive single tones. Stumpf demonstrates that analysis leads to the realisation of a plurality (is there only one tone or are there several tones?), which is then followed by a comparison: an increase may be observed (one tone is higher than the other) or a similarity may be realised (both tones have the same pitch or the same loudness). With almost mathematical stringency, Stumpf developed a topology of tones. Volume II deals with the sensation of two simultaneous tones (musical intervals). The books are stimulating, rewarding and provocative and will appeal to music psychologists, music theorists, general psychologists, philosophers, epistemologists and neuroscientists.

An approach to music as an instrument of philosophical inquiry, seeking not so much a philosophy of music as a philosophy through music.