Great was my surprise to hear music; to be told that I was listening to the same songs that the earnest men and women had previously sung but which for me had been buried under a tumultuous din.
Thenceforth my ears were opened and never again, no matter how confusing the conditions, did I fail to catch the hidden melody.

As my appreciation of the value of Indian music grew, I determined to gather and to preserve these wild flowers of song.

I wanted them not merely as a contribution to the study of music but that they might help to vibrate the chords that belong to a common humanity.
Of the songs I heard in solitude, some were published over thirty years ago.

Since then many of my gleaning have been used by different composers and the musical message sent far and wide.
With the Indian, words hold a secondary or an unimportant place in a song.
The music and accompanying action, ceremonial or otherwise, convey the meaning or purpose.

When words are used they are few, fragmentary and generally eked out with vocables.