Roger Scruton Quote

Music exists when rhythmic, melodic or harmonic order is deliberately created, and consciously listened to, and it is only language-using, self-conscious creatures... who are capable of organizing sounds in this way, either when uttering them or when perceiving them. We can hear music in the song of the nightingale, but it is music that no nightingale has heard.

Understanding Music: Philosophy and Interpretation (ed. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016) - ISBN: 9781474270182