ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how far “the human” can be essentialized in relation to music and in which sense agency beyond the human could be, or even has to be, acknowledged within this context. The possible musicality of non-human animals, plants, and even celestial bodies is treated, and indigenous and traditional concepts of spirits, divine beings, or other entities functioning as sources of musical ideas are investigated. These are juxtaposed with agencies of technological devices (musical instruments and new technology algorithms alike) and agencies located within sound perception, like so-called sonic beings or virtual personae.
