The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
— Exodus 15:2
Music is always with us. Mothers are singing to their children. Children are singing at school and on the playground. We sing at football games, in our cars, in the shower, at Church. We sing in sorrow and in love, and we hope to join those choirs of angels who sing eternally in heaven. Music is everywhere, and it has the power to unite many hearts and voices into one song.
Music is the pattern for the world. The planets move in concert, and the earth enjoys the four movements of the year. Our lives have their rhythms, their themes, and variations. Relationships grow in harmony or fall into dissonance. Music has the power to shape the world, reveal the world, and change the way that we approach the world.
This issue of Dominicana focuses on music: the music of the whole universe, of the religious house, of jazz clubs and folk songs.
Some of the pieces explore the role of music in an individual life. In an interview of Fr. Basil Cole by Br. Irenaeus Dunlevy, we hear how music guided Fr. Basil’s journey from jazz to the Dominican Order and into theology, and he shares his vision of music formed by these experiences. Brother Columba Thomas explores the history and significance of just one of Beethoven’s pieces, his Missa Solemnis—a work born of personal faith and deep engagement with the Church’s musical tradition.
Other pieces consider the particular role of music in the Christian community. Brother Vincent Bernhard presents music as a teacher and a manifestation of our hearts. He shows us the importance of sacred music and especially of Dominican chant. Brother Justin Bolger’s interview with Ricky Skaggs, a Grammy award-winning bluegrass artist, roams around folk and bluegrass music, the communities where it arises, and how music can bring forth faith in our hearts.
Two brothers reflect on creation, sin, and redemption through the lens of music. They draw from Sacred Scripture and also from authors like Dante, Tolkien, and C. S. Lewis. Brother Luke VanBerkum considers the harmony of the whole, the clamor of sin, and how the Trinity brings about the new and beautiful song of heaven. Brother Philip Nolan helps us see how God’s voice is too fearful to be fit into music and too loud for our ears to endure. He turns us to the singing voice of Jesus Christ, who breaks through our deafness with a merciful melody, a sound that we can hear with joy.
This issue also contains a special feature: As if to balance sound with light, we are featuring the work of fray Guillermo Butler, an Argentinian Dominican painter. Brother Josemaría Guzmán-Domínguez has translated for us a reflection on the work of Butler, written by fray José María Cabrera, another Argentinian Dominican. The work of fray Butler appears throughout the journal, and you can find an index of included pieces on the last page of this issue.
Lastly, you will find reviews of several new and interesting books, as well as a brief survey of this past year in the Studentates of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph.
We hope that this issue sheds light for you on God’s gift of music, just as we hope, one day, to sing together in heaven.
Br. Isaiah Beiter, O.P.
Editor
Br. Damian Day, O.P.
Associate Editor
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