Dane Rudhyar

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Lore & Background

Dane Rudhyar was born Daniel Chennevière in Paris. At age 12, a severe illness and surgery disabled him, leading him to focus on music and intellectual development. He studied at the Sorbonne and the Paris Conservatoire, graduating at 16. Influenced by Nietzsche, he envisioned himself as a 'seed man' of new age cultural evolution. In November 1916, his music brought him to New York City, where his compositions were performed at the Metropolitan Opera in 1917, one of the first polytonal pieces in the United States. He adopted the name 'Rudhyar' between 1917 and 1919, a cognate of Sanskrit words including the god Rudra.

Rudhyar's interest in Theosophy began in 1920 when he composed music for a production at the society's headquarters in Los Angeles. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1926. In 1930 he married Marla Contento, secretary to Will Levington Comfort, who introduced him to Marc Edmund Jones, who in turn introduced him to astrology. Rudhyar learned astrology while studying Carl Jung's psychology, and he began to merge the two, publishing The Astrology of Personality in 1936. He argued that the stars do not cause effects but are synchronistically aligned with human psychological forces, preserving free will. He later developed transpersonal astrology in the 1970s.

Rudhyar also wrote novels, including When Cosmic Love Awakens (1952), and joined the Transcendental Painting Group in 1938–1939, painting images of Jungian archetypes. His musical compositions, such as Tetragram and Pentagram, employed dissonant harmony and influenced early-20th-century composers like Ruth Crawford and Carl Ruggles. He died on September 13, 1985, in San Francisco.

Reader's Guide

Dane Rudhyar's significance lies in his synthesis of astrology with depth psychology, creating humanistic and later transpersonal astrology. His 1936 book The Astrology of Personality was a foundational text for 'free-will' astrology, arguing that astrological symbols represent psychological forces rather than deterministic fate. This approach resonated strongly with the New Age movement of the 1960s and 1970s, especially among San Francisco hippies, whom he regarded as potential harbingers of a New Age. He predicted the Age of Aquarius would begin in 2062.

Beyond astrology, Rudhyar was a modernist composer whose dissonant, non-systematic music influenced the 'ultra-modernist' circle around Henry Cowell. His transcendental painting, part of the Transcendental Painting Group, explored Jungian archetypes and anticipated later cosmic, psychedelic, and visionary art. His writings on music, such as Dissonant Harmony and The Magic of Tone, reflected his theosophical and Bergsonian influences. Though little known outside astrological circles for decades, major publishers rediscovered him in the 1970s, and his work continues to be studied for its interdisciplinary contributions to astrology, music, and art.

Did You Know?

• Rudhyar adopted his name from Sanskrit words including the name of the god Rudra.
• He was one of the first to perform polytonal music in the United States, at the Metropolitan Opera in 1917.
• He predicted in 1972 that the Age of Aquarius would begin in 2062.
• He joined the Transcendental Painting Group in 1938–1939, painting images of Jungian archetypes.