The Rudolf Steiner Archive

58. Hamerling and Lenau Evening

[ 1 ] The Workers’ Educational School had organized a Hamerling and Lenau evening at the union hall on Sunday. Or, to be more precise, these two poets were intended to be the centerpiece of the event, which also featured a chamber music evening curated with refined taste. In an excellent lecture, Dr. Rudolf Steiner illustrated the political conditions under which Lenau and Hamerling traveled in their native Austria. While Lenau, constrained by censorship, composed his hymn to freedom, “Die Albigenser,” the later-born Hamerling depicted images of the process of social decay and the new seeds of development that came to fruition amid this rot. The epic “Ahasver in Rome,” which depicts the moral decay under the Caesars with Makart-esque fiery colors, can certainly be described as Hamerling’s most successful work. Miss Marie Holgers recited poems by Hamerling and Lenau, while Miss Martha Schley, with her charming voice, performed several of Lenau’s songs set to music by Franz [Liszt]. Brahms, Chopin, Winiawsky, Beethoven, and Schubert were performed with excellence by the chamber musicians Altmann, Hänsgen, and Neumann. The large hall of the Trade Union House was packed. It was a joy to see the workers—both men and women—listening intently to the music, which was by no means easy to understand.