The Origin and Development of Eurythmy 1923–1925

GA 277d — 22 April 1924, Dornach

Eurythmy Performance

The sayings from Rudolf Steiner's “Laying of the Foundation Stone”
Air in D major by J. S. Bach
“Du hebst die Hände” (You raise your hands) by Albert Steffen
“Für meine Mutter” (For my mother) by Albert Steffen
Prelude in F minor by J. S. Bach
“Christus in mir” (Christ in me) by Albert Steffen
Andante teneramente in F minor by Johann Ernst Galliard
Minuet based on the song “Honesty lasts longest” by A.G. Rosenberg
“Like the flowers” by Albert Steffen
“Lies the mere earthly body” by Albert Steffen
Largo in B-flat major, Op. 2,8 by G. F. Handel
“Vermächtnis” (Legacy) by Robert Hamerling
Prelude by Pugnani-Kreisler

The performance for members, which took place on April 20, 1924, at 11 a.m., was repeated on April 22, 1924, at 5 p.m.

My dear friends!

Today's eurythmy performance is intended to reflect the fact that the essential events within our anthroposophical movement since the Christmas Conference at the Goetheanum have taken on a new direction. And an impulse should be given that is not temporary, but continues and develops further. Only in this way will we make progress in the anthroposophical movement, not by constantly making new attempts, as we have done in the past, but by ensuring that what has once been inaugurated really does find its proper continuation.

That is why you will see here what was presented to you for the first time during the Christmas Conference. You will hear the words that were meant to sink into our hearts at the Christmas Conference in order to lay the foundation stone for the newly formed Anthroposophical Society in these hearts. Today you will see these words translated into eurythmy, and thus what began at Christmas will be taken a step further. This will be followed by eurythmic representations of poems that can be dedicated to the Easter festival in a very extraordinary sense. And so, just as we tried to give something at the Christmas conference that was a beginning at that time, such things are meant to be a continuation. And it is to be hoped that, as more and more of the dear friends of the Anthroposophical Society become aware of the significance, the continuing significance of the Christmas Conference, we will be able to continue on this path, so that our anthroposophical movement will not merely be a kind of string of pearls, with the pearls strung one after the other, but something that grows, sprouts, buds, and develops further as it grows, sprouts, and buds.