100 Years of the lyre >>> New sound, new listening experience

Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland, 22 June 2026

A hundred years ago the search for a deepened experience of sounds, intervals and tones led to the emergence of the new lyre. Since then, it has been developed further by instrument makers and pieces have been written especially for it by composers such as Siegfried Thiele and György Kurtág.

The artisan carpenter and sculptor Lothar Gärtner and the pianist and composer Edmund Pracht met at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, in 1923. As they were searching for a suitable sound for eurythmy with children at the Sonnenhof, a school for supportive education in neighbouring Arlesheim, Switzerland, they discovered the archetypal form of a new stringed instrument together. Their search had been inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s question about a new instrument for tone eurythmy. The asymmetric form of the new instrument and the modern, chromatically arranged steel strings are closer to the piano of the nineteenth century however, than to the instruments of antiquity. The sound is delicate, intensive as well as spherical.

The lyre had been used for decades in anthroposophical centres for supportive education, largely protected from the influence of twentieth century musical developments. This picture began to change around the turn of the century. The lyre has since been in use in North and South America, Europe, Japan, China and Korea and no longer exclusively in anthroposophical contexts.

Composers such as Siegfried Thiele and György Kurtág wrote pieces for this instru­ment, while lyrists such as John Billing and Martin Tobiassen promote the artistic development of lyre music and playing techniques. The original form of the lyre has also experienced diverse metamorphoses.

The Goetheanum will hold an International Lyre Festival from 29 July to 2 August to celebrate this instrument. The lyre can be heard in concerts and as accompaniment to choir and eurythmy. In one of the work groups, participants will have the chance to carve their own child harp. The festival is aimed at a broad audience, from beginners to masters, from children to adults. There will be a lyre exhibition and literature on the lyre.

(2127 characters, 340 words/Christian Giersch; English by Margot M. Saar)

International Lyre Festival (German, English, Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese) 29 July to 2 August 2026, Goetheanum Web

Contact person Hanna Koskinen