Fiona got me to thinking about music. I've been thinking a lot about it for the past hour. I don't know about other types of music (although I suppose it is true in those cases too) but at least with Baroque and Classical music, the music really tells a story. I think most people who love Classical music would agree with me. But it's not a story with words. It's not even really a story meant for the mind. It's a story meant for the heart. Through music, the composer tells us a story. But if we try to interpret the story in our minds, our brains don't quite get it. But our hearts do. So we listen to the music with our ears, our ears hand the music off to our brain, our brain appreciates and enjoys the music and then passes it to our heart. And it is in our heart that we understand and enjoy the musical story.
When I play music, I often feel like I am cheating, because I get to tell the story even though I didn't write it. For some, this is an honored position I suppose, but I always like to remind everyone who actually created the tale in the first place. I am simply telling the story through my instrument.