All of us have a favourite tune – perhaps a whole list of them. But when was the last time any of us asked ourselves what melody actually is, where it came from or how it differs from other pleasing sounds? The animating spirit of music, melody travels deep into the human soul, moves the heart like no other sound and can be traced to the dawn of humanity. But what is it? Probing the evanescent force that is melody, David Solway finds that while the metaphysics may remain forever enigmatic, ...
