Notes from nature

The small musical note that came from the tree was unlike any other sound I had ever heard. The moment it caught my ear I knew it was no bir...

The small musical note that came from the tree was unlike any other sound I had ever heard. The moment it caught my ear I knew it was no bird song.

I looked up to scan the tree. There was no wind, not even a small breeze, and not a ripple in the leaves. The tree stood in absolute peace except, of course, for that small, solitary, honey-dipped song which descended from it like the refrain of some old folk tune being played over and over again.

I couldn8217;t discover the mysterious source of that song. And then, just as I was turning my gaze away, I beheld a fascinating sight. It was just a single leaf on the extreme top of the tree which, as though under some uncanny magic spell, was twirling almost in a state of ecstasy and producing those sweet, stirring, soulful notes.

There is nothing to match nature-made music. All else is imitation. Just imagine! The entire tree standing mute, as if in a trance, and that lonely leaf, with no perceptible movement of air, whirling at a fantastic speed to produce that matchless melody. It was like a Kathak dancer jingling the bunch of little bells around her ankles and then, with well practised ease, slowly reducing the number of chiming bells till at last all but one are muted. This bell with its sole surviving music carries a unique charm.

As I watched the mute tree with that single singing leaf, it occurred to me that the ancient Kathak dancer must have learnt to do this from some such sight in nature. It must have been this kind of music about which William Congreve wrote, 8216;Music has charms to soothe a savage beast8217;.

God has given us music. He has also given us the faculty to create music. As a child, I remember, I would tie a long piece of string from one tree to another and, as the wind struck it, it vibrated and produced musical notes.

If you have the ear, everything beautiful has music in it. Even a stone has it. 8216;Architecture in general8217;, it is said, 8216;is frozen music8217;. Music really is the queen of arts. In fact the best art, in whatever form or medium, culminates in a state of music. As Walter Pater put it, 8216;All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music8217;.

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A friend who recently returned from the US after a short visit had a strange experience to share. The house in which he stayed there had a couple of trees in its courtyard. When he reached there, it was night and he went straight to bed. In the morning he woke up listening to a strange, sweet, soft music.

As he put it: 8216;One moment it8217;d be heard and the next moment it8217;d fade away, presently emerging again. As I stepped out of the house pursuing that sound a strange sight met my eyes. Little bells hung from the trees, suspended by slender strings of varying lengths. They looked beautiful. Suddenly a gust of breeze hit the trees. The bells swung and filled the place with pure temple music.8217;8217;