The Mood of the Fifth: A Musical Approach to Early Childhood

To create an environment that nourishes the young children in our care . . . an environment filled with beauty, warmth, and joy. . . an environment that supports the child’s growth in body, soul, and spirit: This is our goal as adults inspired by Waldorf education. And music is part of that environment! Rudolf Steiner tells us that "song is an earthly means of recalling the experience of pre-earthly existence." How can we joyfully do honor to this inspiring thought? After many years of experimenting with the mood of the fifth, I am so glad to be able to offer this collection of articles by our colleagues in the Waldorf movement. Many teachers find the journey into mood-of-the-fifth music a bit daunting; and many may share my resistance to making such a journey just because "we are supposed to." The authors in our collection present a wide variety of approaches to this topic, sharing their own experiences and research into the "what, why, and how" of mood-of-the-fifth music. -- From the Introduction by Nancy Foster