Calvin on the power of music

Excerpt to John Calvin's Preface to the Psalter.

"Moreover, in speaking now of music, 

I understand two parts; namely the letter, 

or the subject and matter; 

secondly, the song, or the melody. 

It is true that every bad word (as St. Paul has said) 

perverts good manner, 

but when the melody is with it, 

it pierces the heart much more strongly, 

and enters into it; in a like manner as through a funnel, 

the wine is poured into the vessel; 

so also the venom and corruption is 

distilled to the depths of the heart by the melody."