Gustav Holst (1874-1934), a composer, was a friend of the Theosophists Clifford Bax (1886-1962), George Mead (1863-1933), and Alan Leo (1860-1917). He was being interested in Theosophy although he did not become a member of the Theosophical Society. He studied Hindu philosophy and Sanskrit, translated texts from the Mahabharata, Ramayana, and Rigveda and created several vocal compositions for his own translations and for words of Kalidasa as well as other Indian poets. He composed a chamber opera Savitri in 1908 and The Hymns of Rigveda, for a womanish choir, in 1909.
In 1913, Bax and Leo introduced Holst to the basics of astrology, and Leo's book The Art of Synthesis inspired him to create a seven-movement symphonic suite The Planets (1914-16). Describing in his book the astrological characteristics, Leo devoted on a separate chapter to each planet. The last part of the suite "Neptune, the Mystic" obtained a name of the 12th chapter from the book by Leo. In 1917, Holst has written The Hymn of Jesus, containing Gnostic text translated by George Mead. (Godwin, 2012; Lachman, 2002)
Luigi Russolo (1885-1947) was a composer, painter, and one of the ideologists of futurism, inventor of various kind of the mechanical and electrical tools for noise music. According to Chessa, he was interested along with studies in the field of the "physics of light, sound, waves, acoustics, magnetism" in spiritualism and metaphysics. Judging by his "personal documents" and stories of his acquaintances, his worldview did not actually differ from the "Theosophical orthodoxy", which proclaimes the reality of the superphysical world. To develop his concept of the "art of noises", he used the Theosophical ideas about sound and music "forms", taken from the books by Besant and Leadbeater. (Chessa, 2012, pp. 78, 113, 225)
Russolo's painting La musica (Fig. 4) represents, according to Leadbeater, "the hidden side of the performance of a piece of music." (Leadbeater, 1913, p. 268; Chessa, 2012, p. 106) The painting demonstrates a pianist playing in a "state of rapturous enthusiasm." The lines of his face can hardly be distinguished. His hands are "represented in a mad, virtuosic dash along an infinite keyboard." This work shows a series of flying masks with various expressions that can readily be interpreted as a "visualization or materialization of the different states of mind" of a pianist-medium, which performed by spirits he himself has summoned. In Chessa's opinion, this painting is "structured according to criteria presented in Thought-Forms, in particular the section of the book that describes the forms produced by music." The many-armed pianist symbolizes here Shiva Nataraja, the "creator and lord of the cosmic dance in the Hindu pantheon," and it proves Russolo's interest in Eastern philosophies, which "were a main source" of Theosophy. (Chessa, 2012, pp. 78, 84, 100)
Fig. 4. Luigi Russolo. La musica, 1912.
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) believed in the "divine origin" of music – his compositions relate to the religious theme and the mystical ideas. Musicologist Victor Yekimovsky notes several moments pointing to the "Theosophical nature" of his worldview. His pantheistic love for nature manifested itself in the interest for singing of birds – he considered them, with his characteristic mysticism, "the servants of the spirituality." He created a system of transformation of the bird whistles, appeals, screams, jubili on musical instruments with an equal temperament. He studied the rhythms of ancient Indian music, creating his own rhythmic "dictionary" based on the "deci-talas" formulas systematized by the Indian musicologist Sarangadeva. (Екимовский, 1987, pp. 79, 106, 144)
According to composer Kurt Leland, in Quartet for the End of Time, Messiaen "may have produced the ideal piece of Theosophical music." It supportes "brotherhood and oneness," originates from the "study of sacred scripture," investigates philosophical concepts such as "timelessness", and changes the "consciousness of listeners." (Leland 2011, p. 64)
Messiaen's synesthesia was bidirectional, because music created for him color, and color sounded like music. He was completely persuaded that his experience was not an illusion, and he invented a way to describe "music in color terms". He could talk about "color chords" and could say that they were "colored" by the harmonies, and not "harmonized in the classical sense". (Cytowic, 2002, p. 310) According to his stories about "color" hearing, when he listened to music or read a musical score, he sensed specific colors that "swirled, moved, mixed" in the same way as sounds. However, unlike Scriabin, he did not seek to demonstrate his color visions. Nevertheless, between Scriabin and Messiaen, as Yekimovsky notes, the "amazing" parallels can be drawn.
The central themes of both composers' creativity are both cosmogony and universal ("fatal," by definition of Messiaen) love, and a kind of "supra-church" scale of thinking, of course, the religious-mystical interpretation of the ideas of Apocalypse, the creation of the world ("Divine play", according to Scriabin), and the literary-theatrical mystery-play – Scriabin conceived his Mysterium for all mankind – Messiaen intended to perform his Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum (more modestly) on openly air, on a high mountain, for example, in La Grave, opposite a glacier of La Meije, against the backdrop of a powerful and majestic landscape. (Екимовский, 1987, pp. 240, 275)
Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007) was a student of Messiaen. In musicologist Svetlana Savenko's opinion, he embodies in contemporary music "Wagner's typology." This is confirmed by such his features as the "theurgic character" of creativity and the desire to form an "artistic cosmos." (Савенко, 1995, p. 35) Many researchers have noted "esoteric character" of his musical ideas, for example, Godwin states that his creativity "best exemplifies the Theosophical program of brotherhood, ecumenism, and research into human potential". Intending to produce a "transformative effect" on the listeners, he filled his heptalogy Licht (1977-2003) with "esoteric ideas", partly taken from The Urantia Book. (Godwin, 1998) Hanegraaff pointed out that creativity of Stockhausen is an "ultimate example of how avant-garde music can be wholly grounded in an esoteric worldview." (Hanegraaff, 2013, p. 154)
All religions, both Western and Eastern, were acceptable to Stockhausen, and he made no secret of his faith in reincarnation and astrology. In his music of the late 60s one can notice the influence of the Buddhist culture, meditative practice, and Zen philosophy. He believed that "Lucifer's Requiem" from his Saturday may be played after a person's death during 49 days to help his/her soul in "the journey through the bardo." World music was seemed to him as the result of the combination of Western rationalism and Eastern mysticism. (Савенко, 1995, pp. 24-26)
Scriabin's dream of a "new age" spherical hall for music was partially realized in 1970, when Stockhausen's works were performed in the West German pavilion at the World Exhibition Expo '70 in Osaka. (Godwin, 1998)
The rock musicians. According to his biographer, Elvis Presley was interested in Blavatsky's writings and those of "her disciples", like Besant and Leadbeater. His favourite reading included Leadbeater's The Inner Life, from which he often read aloud before going on stage to perform.(Goldman, 1981, p. 366)
In Hanegraaff's opinion, progress of rock music was exerted by the fashion of "alternative spiritualities" that emerged in the 1960s due to the "influences from Oriental as well as Western esoteric traditions." (Hanegraaff, 2013, p. 154) Thus, Todd Rundgren used in 1975 for his compositions in the second side of the album Initiation headlines from the Theosophical book A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by Alice Bailey. (Bailey, 1925, Contents) That same year, Rundgren's rock band Utopia recorded an album Another Live, which included compositions "Another Life" and "The Seven Rays", associated with the Theosophical concepts, like reincarnation and "seven rays."