see, dance, laugh, sing
These are four things, each one more related to sound: seeing is independent, but dancing is associated with music, while laughing and singing are both direct sound. It almost works as a progression of one's actions when encountering a situation like the one described.
I play marches for conquer'd and slain persons.
He makes music not for the enjoyment of the victors, but as remembrance for those who had died in battle. Later in the piece, he references that those who have died may be just as heroic as those who survived.
Weshall,corpe-tqconsiderlivingmatterasricheriatimbres,moresensitiveto echoes, andmoreextravagantwithresonancethaninertmatteris
Life separates itself from nonlife based on its ability to create and interpret more vibrations. It should be important to emphasize the word "more," as nonliving things like particles still vibrate.
thesenseofhearingwasmorevitalthanthesenseofsight.ThewordofGod,thehistoryofthetribeandallotherimportantinformationwasheard,notseen
Schafer gives an argument for the importance of the study of sound by contending that the sense of sound preceded sight in terms of importance, as ancient times could more easily convey sounds via speaking than teaching a community to read, write, and gather necessary materials to do both. Sound is therefore a more natural form of communication, prompting the necessity to study it.
hereforethemusicofawell-orderedageiscalmandcheerfulandIfm^^lel
Schafer takes an approach of sound as not just a byproduct of culture and the state, but as a reflection of how the state is doing. Similar to how an immune system will react with a response of swelling and itching to a mosquito bite, music is feedback for a society to know when, and sometimes how, the culture is decaying or stabilizing.
youwilljoingenerationsofintellectuals,whohaveliftedtheir earstowardthesonicairspacearoundthem,takenstockofit,andreactedtothechangestheyheard
This sentence seems to imply that the study of sound rests solely on generations of intellectuals; they are the ones who study, define, and categorize sound. In a way, the text suggests that the common man is left out of this phenomenon of classifying novel sounds.
eachofthewritersâ– !havequotedaboveusedsoundtoaskbigquestionsabouttheirculturalmomentsandthecrisesandproblemsoftheirtime
Sterne defines sound studies as not a standalone study, but as a key factor in almost every form of study; for example, Sigmund Freud is not known for his involvement of the advancement of sound studies, but he was able to use information gathered from the field to advance humanity's knowledge of psychology. In essence, sound studies is one of several frameworks studies on which every other study is built.