ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Rubbra’s youthful interest in Theosophy and other esoteric thought. Drawing on newly researched documentary evidence, it discusses how his membership of the Theosophical Society and the Order of the Star in the East influenced his lifestyle and early career, including his work with the Arts League of Service. Three case studies exemplify how Rubbra’s engagement with Theosophy was reflected in his music: the simple yet deeply mystical song ‘Rosa Mundi’, Op. 2; the unpublished The Secret Hymnody, Op. 1, a setting for chorus and orchestra of an ancient Gnostic text, bearing some resemblance to Holst’s Hymn of Jesus; and his incidental music to Velona Pilcher’s anti-war play The Searcher, Op. 27, demonstrating his involvement in an experimental, ostensibly secular Gesamtkunstwerk that nevertheless communicated the strongly held Theosophical convictions of its creators and performers. The music discussed demonstrates Rubbra’s use of significant keys and tonal centres, and carefully worked out structural proportions, at an early stage of his career. The chapter ends with consideration of the extent to which theosophy and related ideas continued to influence Rubbra’s lifestyle and musical thinking long after he had left the Theosophical Society and even after his conversion to Roman Catholicism.
