You can actually get there using evolution by way of the advantages that come from being curious about the world and the human ability to cooperate in ever-increasing numbers, however much such explanations leave gaps similar to those that result from contemplating how life got started in the first place. But let's give it a shot.
By the way I attend church nearly every Sunday, sing in the choir, and believe in God. My fundamentalist sister would no doubt consider me an atheist in all but name and consign me to Hell. If you are interested please see my https://medium.com/illumination/how-to-believe-in-god-even-if-you-are-an-atheist-110fe05a119c which started life as a response to our mutual friend Benjamin Cain's https://medium.com/gods-funeral/why-we-should-worship-absurdity-9a665c3576fc.
Ahem.
If we take sentience, consciousness, agency, and free will to be more or less all the same thing, we can note that while human sentience is different from that of animals, it isn't hard to see how it scaled up from, say, the ability of frogs to seek food while simultaneously avoiding danger. An animal that can take care of more than one contingency at a time has a survival advantage. A world teeming with life is a complex place full of dangers and opportunities. The more fully an organism can take advantage of the opportunities while avoiding the dangers the more it can thrive.
We find the sight of a beautiful vista pleasing. It also provides a good vantage from which to scout possible dangers and opportunities. We find a dense, swampy thicket threatening, yet strangely alluring. Though danger is more likely sneak up and overtake us in such situations, they can provide opportunities for those with sufficient skill.
You mentioned music. I believe we had music before we had spoken language. Musical skill may provide an advantage when seeking mates, but such explanations of our appreciation of beauty quickly degenerate into just-so stories.
Music is mystical. Schopenhauer believed music would outlast the world. I think he was on to something.
As our social structures increased in complexity from those of our ape ancestors we reached the point of no longer having to wait for biological evolution to provide us, in its merciless way, with the ability to adapt to new situations. It is as if the human race is one vast hyper-adaptable organism. We are now at the point where we realize we may well have exploited this ability to the point of jeopardizing our very survival. May God have mercy on us.
Are you familiar with the work of Michael Tomasello? You should check him out, in particular his "The Evolution of Agency: From Lizards to Humans" (2022).
