"The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus.
Let no such man be trusted."

::: William Shakespeare (1564-1616)




"I would certainly like to praise music with all my heart as the excellent gift of God which it is and to commend it to everyone. But I am so overwhelmed by the diversity and magnitiude of its virtues and benefits that...as much as I want to commend it, my praise is bound to be wanting and inadequate...For whenever you wish to comfort the sad, to terrify the happy, to encourage the despairing, to humble the proud, to calm the passionate, or to appease those full of hate...what more effective means than music could you find?"

::: Martin Luther (from a preface to Georg Rhau's Symphoniae iucundae, 1538)




"Music is the universal language of mankind."

::: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow