author
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze
1865–1950
Best known for creating Dalcroze eurhythmics, he changed music teaching by treating rhythm as something to be felt with the whole body, not just read from a page. Composer, teacher, and reformer, he helped generations of students experience music through movement, listening, and improvisation.
1 Audiobook
The Eurhythmics of Jaques-Dalcroze
by Émile Jaques-Dalcroze
About the author
Born in Vienna on July 6, 1865, to Swiss parents and later based in Geneva, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze became one of the most influential music educators of his time. He studied music in Geneva, Paris, and Vienna, and in 1892 became professor of harmony at the Geneva Conservatory.
While teaching, he grew dissatisfied with purely mechanical music training and began developing the approach that made him famous: eurhythmics, or Dalcroze rhythmics. His method linked movement, ear training, improvisation, and musical feeling, encouraging students to understand rhythm physically as well as intellectually.
Jaques-Dalcroze was also a composer, writing songs, piano pieces, chamber music, and stage works. He died in Geneva on July 1, 1950, but his ideas continued to shape music and dance education around the world, especially through the Jaques-Dalcroze Institute and the many teachers trained in his method.