Universal History of Music

Music Pervades all nature. it is co-eval with the creation. There is nothing in nature that arouses our attention or affects our feelings 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, by every noise is a confused combination of sounds resulting from the concussion of no n-elastic bodies; musical sound is a pure harmonious effect, produced from a simple elastic body, such is heard at a greater distance then 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, 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. The those countries where man may be said, like a plant, to grown and flourish, the voice expands, and colder regions, where the mouth is more constantly kept closed, the voice is restricted an escapes with difficulty. Hence it is that the Afghan, Dutch and similar other languages are so guttural that in the delivery of some of their words, the speakers seem as if they are choked; and hence it is that in India, Greece, Italy and other Southern countries, the climate of which is noted so much for its beauty and mildness, the vocal art has risen to so much fame.