Standing on a remote hilltop some months ago, attentive to the sounds we too often dismiss as background noise — the enveloping wind brushing leaves, the rumble of a distant car — made me think about just how the world sounded before recorded music permeated, then saturated the air. The privilege of birdsong; the preciousness (and impermanence) of human performance.

Which is one reason why I’m observing No Music Day.