It is not merely and absolutely through its own intrinsic beauty that music affects the listener, but rather at the same time as a sounding image of the great motions of the universe. Through profound and secret connections to nature, the meaning of tones elevates itself high above the tones themselves, allowing us to feel at the same time the infinite in works of human talent. Just as the elements of music – sound, tone, rhythm, loudness, softness – are found throughout the entire universe, so does one find anew in music the entire universe.

Eduard Hanslick – Vom Musikalisch-schönen

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:
I love not Man the less, but Nature more

Lord Byron – Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage

Here is something I have come to understand. In a world of tech coming at us at the speed of light, there are precious few things left from the past that still inspire us. Take the electric guitar. There are no processors, no firmware, no updates and no chargers. You can hold each of the parts (even the electrical bits) in your hand and understand how they work. Two pieces of wood, either glued or bolted together with six wires strung across them makes a guitar. You can study it every waking hour until your dying day and you will never uncover all of its secrets. You will never reach the bottom of the well of what it can teach you. It will never fail to take you on new adventures. And there is not a lot in this world….about which you can say that.

@ScotYount2025