Register for ourFor Kestenberg, socialism and music always represented an indissoluble unity, even if that unity was not without contradictions. In his autobiography Bewegte Zeiten [Turbulent Times] he sums up: "As important as all artistic-aesthetic interests were to me, I was equally attached to all the ideological-socialist ideals." As a music educator, Kestenberg was imbued with the ascendant reformist pedagogical ideas of his time. From the start, he valued "musicality in general, that which is humanistic and full of life, above virtuosity and one-sidedness". It was a matter of cultivating not "wunderkinder, but musicians"; the aim was "not to increasingly specialize their gifts, but rather to develop talent from the open ground of musical culture" (ibid., p. 47). To the end of his days, Kestenberg strove to "find in music the means that can influence people in their whole beings so immediately that they are able to gain greater insight into themselves." (ibid., p. 48) It was Kestenberg, after all, who coined the now-familiar phrase about education toward humanity with and through music, even if, later in life, he called this into question. (e.g. in Die Klavierstunde. Ein Lehrgedicht, MAN000 74, p.3 ["The Piano Lesson. A Teaching Poem"])
Music education and the fostering of music quickly became the mainstays of Kestenberg's ideas for reform. As a newly hired music consultant, he wrote a work with the same title, Musikerziehung und Musikpflege [Music Education and the Fostering of Music], which he published in 1921 and began to put into practice step by step. The system of music education he implemented (until he was relieved of his duties in 1931) has gone down in history as the so-called Kestenberg Reform. In its essential features, the system continues to exist to the present day. (See: Wilfried Gruhn, Geschichte der Musikerziehung)
Kestenberg's Blueprint for Music Education was holistically organized, socialistically oriented, and inspired by the reform pedagogical approaches of the Youth Movement (Jugendbewegung). It encompassed the entire spectrum of music pedagogy, from the Volksmusikschule (schools for singing and music-making for all ages) and kindergarten to the university level, including teacher training. His Blueprint for the Fostering of Music embraced the nurturing of both traditional and popular music as well as professional institutions in the musical world: opera, choir and orchestra. The concept behind this was on one hand based on Kestenberg's socialist convictions: all human beings, whatever their origins, should be able to take part in (the practice of) music. On the other hand, it was shaped by the music aesthetics of Ferrucio Busoni. Kestenberg was convinced that only the creative acquisition of musical works, that is, re-creating a work while playing it or understanding it spiritually and emotionally (e.g. through listening), makes a living experience of musical works possible and can lead to realization of socialistic and musical ideals - an "education toward humanity" or, as he formulated it in the last decade of his life: a "shaping of human character" "with and through music". (cf. ibid., p.3)
"The guiding principle is: finding the way to make the education process alive, not mechanized, because it is not skill alone, but only spiritually mastered practice that leads to the development of aptitudes."
Leo Kestenberg, Musikerziehung und Musikpflege, p.61
Kestenberg designed his concept of music pedagogy starting from the individual. This put him in a position to make assessments without preconceptions and to set up areas of emphasis for each age group and type of educational programme. He didn't think much of mechanical drills or the mere practice of skills of whatever sort. Rather, the basic idea of the lesson lay "in the strengthening of general musical sensitivity and expression (...)". (ibd., p.19)
At the same time, Kestenberg emphasized the spiritual understanding of the musical work. By this, he meant not only purely theoretical conceptual comprehension, but also "spiritually mastered practice". Students should play music themselves and experience the music while playing. Therefore, creative music playing or improvisation, a focus on experience, e.g. playing music together, and rhythmics, the connection between music and movement, also were central components of Kestenberg's music pedagogy.
It is no contradiction that Kestenberg, who advocated the participation of amateurs in music, pushed ahead like no one else with professionalizing music instruction. He did away with "singing" as a subject, introducing the subject of music in its place. Instead of singing teachers of the old school, state-examined music teachers and secondary school music teachers were now trained and accorded equal status with instructors of other subjects. In addition, the newly established training institutions for music teachers conducted state examinations for private music instructors for the first time. Finally, the musical training of children in kindergarten also was reformed. On this newly established foundation, the teachers' freedom was paramount:
Every experienced teacher can claim the right to teach in his or her own way, as long as he or she is animated solely by the thought of conveying stimulating content and fresh, lasting impressions for living life, not ready-made systems. (...) Successes will be achieved only if the freedom of teachers is ensured. Leo Kestenberg (Musikerziehung und Musikpflege, p.20)
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