He made the choice not to be bitter, and worked hard as South Africa's first black president to establish harmony and helped society reconcile its conflicted past.
But although it is culturally specific, some of its building blocks are universal: melody, harmony, rhythm, the timbre produced by a variety of instruments and the distinctive style added by particular composers.
The holy harmonies of Nature, the sounds of gushing waters, the rustle of the leaves above him, the wild flowers, the frost bloom of the woods, -what were they to him?