About the Author

In 1931, after his medical studies, Bernard C.J.Lievegoed (1905-1992) founded The Zonnehuis, a home for children with disabilities, of which he remained the director until 1954. The thesis on the therapeutic elements of music, which he wrote for his higher doctorate in 1939, is based on his experiences in this residential home. Lievegoed co-founded various others institutions in the Netherlands, among which the Waldorf School of Zeist in 1932, the Publishing House 'Vrij Geestesleven' in 1952, and founded the NPI, Institute for Organizational Development in 1954 and the Free High school in 1971, of which he was the dean for the next 11 years. He also became the manager of the Free Pedagogical Academy (now Hogeschool Helicon) in 1973. Lievegoed published a large number of books on various subjects, like Organization Development, Human Development, Psychology, Organic Agriculture, as well as on several spiritual scientific subjects. Edeline LeFevre has worked with children and adults with learning disabilities for 43 years now, 30 years of which as a therapeutic music practitioner. Her work in therapy was based, among other sources, on Lievegoed's findings in his thesis 'Beat, Rhythm and Melody'.