They are fairly simple and uncomplicated;
they suggest few obscure problems which call for analysis; they do not
bring before us any remarkable perversions of feeling.
At the same time, the stimuli to sexual excitement received through the
sense of hearing, although very seldom of exclusive or preponderant
influence, are yet somewhat more important than is usually believed.
Primarily the voice, and secondarily instrumental music, exert a distinct
effect in this direction, an effect representing a specialization of a
generally stimulating physiological influence which all musical sounds
exercise upon the organism. There is, however, in this respect, a definite
difference between the sexes. It is comparatively rare to find that the
voice or instrumental music, however powerful its generally emotional
influence, has any specifically sexual effect on men. On the other hand,
it seems probable that the majority of women, at all events among the
educated classes, are liable to show some degree of sexual sensibility to
the male voice or to instrumental music.
It is not surprising to find that music should have some share in arousing
sexual emotion when we bear in mind that in the majority of persons the
development of sexual life is accompanied by a period of special interest
in music.
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