Dane Rudhyar

UNDER CONSTRUCTION
UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Dane Rudhyar

Dane Rudhyar was a French-American composer, writer, artist, and astrologer.

Personal life

Dane Rudhyar was born in Paris on March 23, 1895 under the name Daniel Chennevière. The maiden name of his mother was Bajaud, but little else is known of his early childhood.

At age twelve, a severe illness and surgery disabled him and he turned to music and intellectual development to compensate for his lack of physical agility. He studied at the Sorbonne, University of Paris (graduating at age 16) and at the Paris Conservatoire. His early ventures into philosophy and association with the artistic community in Paris led to his conviction that all existence is cyclical in character.

His music led him to New York City in 1916, where he composed some of the first polytonal music performed in the United States. He also met Sasaki Roshi, one of the early Japanese Zen teachers in America, who led him in the study of Oriental philosophy and occultism. His interest was further stimulated by his association with Theosophy, which began when he was asked to compose music for a production at the society's headquarters in Los Angeles in 1920.

He stayed on in California. In June 9, 1930 he married Malya Contento, a well-educated Italian immigrant who worked as secretary to independent Theosophist Will Levington Comfort. Comfort, a writer whose novels were produced in films, was acquainted with screenwriter Marc Edmund Jones, and introduced Rudhyar to him. Jones became his mentor in the study of astrology.

Rudhyar married five times altogether. After his 1945 divorce from Malya, he wed Eya Fechin (m. 1945-1954); Gail Tana Whithall (m. 1964-1976), whom he assisted with immigration; Tana Tyler (dates unknown); and Leyla Raël (m. 1977-1985). Leyla was 28 years old when she married the 82-year-old Dane. Leyla wrote extensively about

Mr. Rudhyar died in San Francisco on September 13, 1985.

Theosophical Society involvement

Rudhyar was admitted to the Theosophical Society at Krotona in Old Hollywood, California on January 31, 1920. His sponsors were A. F. Knudsen and A. P. Warrington.

Music and compositions

Soon after his arrival in the United States, Rudhyar became known as a ultra-modern composer whose ideas about dissonant harmony influenced such composers as Ruth Crawford Seeger, Henry Cowell, and Carl Ruggles. Most of his works were for solo piano or small ensembles. They have frequently been performed in concerts that also featured other 20th-century composers such as Aaron Copeland and Charles Ives.

Rudhyar also wrote extensively about music, including his own compositions:

Now I am not coming here to interpret my music, to tell you about what it means either symbolically or technically. I am not interested in that because I feel that music is something that must be experienced, that must be lived. It is not even an esthetical product because my approach is not esthetical as much as it is what you might call magical. To me, music is a power of transformation. It has the power to change the vibration of a person — as the Old World knew very well in India, in China, in even the Greece of Plato and Pythagoras — and it is to that approach to music that my life as a musician has been dedicated.

You might even say that music is a psychedelic factor, or at least that it can be so. It can be so because it can change the vibrations of a person, of his aura or his nervous system or whatever is susceptible of changing, of being transformed. It can expand consciousness in different ways. It can bring to the audience something which that audience is not normally able to feel, to be moved by. All great virtuosos, all great performers, are emoters. They are people who should stir you, who bring to you an intensity of emotional life and of realization of deepest factors within yourself, which is often difficult for us to reach in our ordinary life.

Book cover

Astrology book cover

Honors

Rudyar's art and philosophy have frequently been the subjects of exhibitions, concerts, and symposia in the United States.

According to The American Theosophist in 1980,

Dane Rudhyar, who has contributed generously to The American Theosophist through the years, was recently awarded an honorary degree of Doctor in Humane Letters from John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, California and an honorary degree of Doctor in Transpersonal Philosophy by the California Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Menlo Park.

In 1983 the Rudhyar Institute for Transpersonal Activity (RITA) was established as a nonprofit corporation in 1981 to preserve and disseminate the work and essential message of Dane Rudhyar. In 1983 RITA held a weekend conference attended by over 100 people.

Dane Rudhyar painting "Avatar", 1938.

Writings

Dane Rudhyar published more than forty books and over 1500 articles, mostly concerning astrology and spirituality. Claude Bragdon wrote, "Rudhyar is a man of profound and penetrating vision, whose writings cast an illumination upon life."

The Union Index of Theosophical Periodicals lists 83 articles by or about Dane Rudhyar in nine different Theosophical periodicals.

Bibliographies

• Lists of Rudhyar's books, pamphlets, art works, and musical compositions are available at "Dane Rudhyar: Musical, Written, and Artistic Works".
• Another lengthy list of his books can be found in Dane Rudyar: A Bibliographical Checklist at DailyRareBooks.com.

Additional resources

Biographies and catalogues

• Hay, Robert C. Dane Rudhyar and the Transcendental Painting Group of New Mexico 1938-1941: a Thesis Submitted to Michigan State University. Michigan: University Microfilms International, [1981]. 346 pages, B/W illustrations. Based on interviews with DR, Raymond Jonson, and Florence Pierce, William Lumpkins, and others associated with the TPG.
• Here, James. Dane Rudhyar 1895- A Brief Factual Biography with a Listing of Works [N.p.]: (James Shere), (1972).
• Human Dimensions. Edited by John White. Buffalo: Human Dimensions Institute Quarterly, 1975. Special issue, vol. 3, no. 3, devoted entirely to Rudhyar’s life and work. Includes published and unpublished articles, photographs, and color reproductions of his paintings.
• Levin, Gail and Marianne Lorenz. Theme and Improvisation: Kandinsky and the American Avant-Garde 1912-1950. An Exhibition Organized by the Dayton Art Institute. Dayton: Dayton Art Institute, 1992. The events surrounding the founding of the Transcendental Painting Group are related.
• Piper, Raymond & Lila. Cosmic Art. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1975. 152 pages. Illustrated. Reproduces Avatar, 1938, an early drawing of Rudhyar. Also includes paintings by members of the Transcendentalist Painting Group in Santa Fe.
• Ruperti, Alexander. The Journal of the Rudhyar Institute for Transpersonal Activity 1.1 San Francisco: RITA, Fall/ Winter, 1986. A study of DR by Alexander Ruperti.
• Seminar. Dane Rudhyar, un Humaniste du 20e Siecle. Nouvelle Acropole, 1985. 75 pages. Illustrated. Transcript of a seminar, including nine papers by A. Ruperti, G. Sabian, M. Cavaignac, L. Winckler, and F.I. Fouchou Lapeyrade. Includes a short biography and bibliography.
• Seminar. Un Nouvel Homme pour un Nouvel Age: Centenaire Dane Rudhyar, Actes du Congrès des 25 et 26 Mars 1995. Suresnes, France: R.A.H. Editions, (1995). 203 pages, charts & diagrams in the text. Published by the Association pour la Recherche des Rythmes Cosmiques Réseau d’Astrologie Humaniste.

• Symposium. Rudhyar. Catalogue of an Art & Humanities Symposium, California State University, Long Beach. March 24-26, 1976.

Articles

• "Dane Rudhyar" at Astro Databank.
• "Dane Rudhyar Natal Horoscope" at Khaldea.com.
• "An Introduction to Dane Rudhyar" by Mari Garcia and Joy Usher.
• "An Illustrated Biographic Sketch".
• "A Brief Overview of Dane Rudhyar's Approach to Cycles" by Nicki Michaels.
• "The Riddle of the USA Horoscope" at Khaldea.com.

Audio/video lectures and poems

• Dane Rudhyar Audio Archives at BeyondSunSigns.com. Recordings by and about Dane Rudhyar, including the presentation of the 1983 RITA Conference.
• Dane Rudhyar 4.4.14. Cosmic History Chronicles Vol. 4, Book of the Initiation by José Argüelles and Stephanie South. Biographical account of Dane Rudhyar.
• Astrology and the Transpersonal Life. A talk by Dane Rudhyar at the University of California Berkeley, June 22, 1975. Ray Couture YouTube channel.

Musical compositions performed

• Rudhyar Archival Project. Recordings of at least 17 Rudhyar musical compositions.
• Third Pentagram, 1926. Five movements: Gates, The Gift of Blood, Pentecost, Stars, and Sunburst. Performed by Steffen Schleiermacher, piano. TheWelleszCompany YouTube channel. Posted December 7, 2011.
• Granites, 1929. Performed by Steffen Schleiermacher, piano. Steffen Schleiermacher - Topic YouTube channel. Posted April 30, 2015.
• Music of Dane Rudhyar. Sixteen movements. Kronos Quartet: Hank Dutt, John Sherba, Joan Jeanrenaud, and David Harrington. Kronos Quartet YouTube channel. Posted Feb 10, 2015.
• Top Tracks - Dane Rudhyar. Tango d'Antan and other compositions. The Orchard Enterprises YouTube Channel. Posted November 7, 2014.
• Three Melodies, 1918/1955. A 1955 composition based on an earlier 1918 sketch. Performers: Elizabeth Coronata, flute; Gay Wuthman, cello; and Karen Jacobs, piano. Recorded on April 22, 1977 at the first concert of that year's Palo Alto Music Festival. Matt Marble YouTube channel. Posted on April 19, 2013.
• Sinfonietta, 1925. RIAS Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jonel Perlea. Wellesz Theatre YouTube channel.

Additional resources

• Dane Rudhyar's Natal Chart at Astrodienst.
• Rudhyar Archival Project. This astrological website offers musical recordings, sources for sheet music, biographical data, art, astrology and extensive discussion of philosophy in "The Essential Rudhyar" by Leyla Raël.