Music and the Theosophical Movement

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Musicians influenced by Theosophy

• Agustín Pío Barrios (1885-1944) was a Paraguayan composer and virtuoso performer of classical guitar music who was influenced by Theosophy. He sometimes used the names Agustín Barrios Mangoré and Nitsuga Mangoré in homage to Paraguay's native Guarani culture.

• Vahdah Olcott-Bickford (1885-1961) was an American guitarist, teacher, composer, arranger, and writer. Her Guitar Method, Op. 25, and the Advanced Course, Op. 116, continue to be highly influential. She and her husband Zarh Bickford were avid astrologers and had many connections to the Theosophical Movement.

• Charles Wakefield Cadman (1881-1946) was an American composer who was a member of the American Theosophical Society. Many of his compositions were in classical formats, but he was especially known for his adaptations of Native American themes and instruments.

• Margaret Cousins (1878-1954) was an Irish Theosophist and educator who composed the music for the Indian National anthem, working with lyricist Rabindranath Tagore.

• John Foulds (1880-1939) was an English Theosophist, cellist, and composer in the English Musical Renaissance.

• Charles Elliott Fouser (1889-1046) was an American composer and music professor.

• Maud MacCarthy was an English composer and Theosophist.

• Gustav Mahler(1860-1911) was an Austrian late-Romantic composer and conductor.

• Dane Rudhyar (1895-1985) was a French-American composer, writer, artist, and astrologer.

• Marie Russak Hotchener (1865-1945) was an American opera singer, architect, writer, editor, and secretary to H. S. Olcott and Annie Besant; she was quite prominent in the Theosophical Society (Adyar).

• Alexander Scriabin (1871-1915) was a Russian pianist and composer who was much influenced by Theosophy and by the Symbolist movement in the visual arts.

• Cyril Scott (1879-1970) was an English composer and Theosophist.

• James Ingall Wedgwood (1883-1951) was an accomplished organist and expert on organ construction best known as the first Presiding Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church.

Other Theosophists who were musicians

Many Theosophists were accomplished musicians without making music their means of livelihood. Some include an engineer, singer, and pianist, Edi D. Bilimoria; Alice L. Cleather, a student of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky; international lecturer Clara Codd; Theosophical leader Arthur L. Conger, Jr.; adventurer Alexandra David-Néel; Maud MacCarthy; and piano teacher Marie Poutz.

Others influenced by Theosophy include Agardi Metrovich, an Italian or Hungarian opera singer and an early friend of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky; and painter Paul Klee.

Additional resources

Articles

• Theosophy and Music at Theosopedia.

Books and pamphlets

• Arundale, Rukmini Devi. Dance and Music. Adyar, Madras, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1952. 16 pages.
• Mayer, Elizabeth C. The Lotus Songbook. New York: Elizabeth C. Mayer 1897.
• Sturzaker, James. Sound and Color. Theosophical Order of Service, 197x. 16 pages.
• Ward, William C. The Art of Richard Wagner. London and Benares: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1906.
• Warner, Sybil Marguerite, Music and Listeners. London: Service Magazine and Publications, 1923. London: Service Magazine and Publications, 1923. Foreword by C. Jinarajadasa; original edition London: Service Magazine and Publications, 1911.