Music pervades all nature. It is coeval with the creation. There is nothing in nature that arouses our attention or affects our feeling so quickly as a sound. The murmuring of water, the sighs of the zephyrs, the whispers of the evening breeze, the roar of the storms, the chirpings of the birds, the cries of the animals, the hum of distant multitudes and the concussion of sonorous bodies, excite in our minds feeling of pleasure, pain or fear and contain in them the germs of music. A musical sound is a noise, no doubt, but every noise is not a musical sound. There is a marked difference between the two. Noise is a confused combination of sounds resulting from the concussion of non-elastic bodies; musical sound is a pure harmonious effect, produced from a simple elastic body, such as the tone of a bell. It flies further and is heard at a greater distance than a noise. The musical instruments played at a gathering may be heard at a distance of a mile, but the noise made by the people at the gathering may be heard at a distance of a mile, but the noise made by the people at the gathering, however overpowering it may be on the spot, is scarcely audible at a similar distance. Sound [Sanskrit, Nada] has been described as either inarticulate [Dhanyatmaka] or articulate [Varnatmaka]. Instrumental music is considered inarticulate and vocal music articulate. By the curious structure of the vocal organs, man is capable of making a greater variety of tones than any other animal and has at his disposal the power of giving expression to every emotion. The human voice, in its tone and accent, is undoubtedly the purest and most sonorous of any which distinguishes the vocal animals.
