Monday, 14 November 2016 is the bicentenary of the birth of John Curwen (1816-1880) who was the developer of the Tonic Sol-fa Method. Curwen based his Tonic Sol-fa Method on an earlier movable solmisation system invented by Sarah Glover and later, in the first half of the twentieth century, the pedagogical principles of Tonic Sol-fa were adopted by the Hungarian composer and music educator, Zoltan Kodály, and developed into what is now known as the Kodály music education method.

To commemorate this event, a John Curwen Bicentenary website is now available .  The includes details of the Tonic Sol-fa Method, links to some key references and to some of Curwen’s pedagogical textbooks, a gallery of relevant visual images and a page on Tonic Sol-fa today. There is also a link to an article entitled A system ahead of its time which outlines the main features of Tonic Sol-fa and Curwen’s contributions to music education.

Please make contact with Robin Stevens with any queries or comments.