Dear Reader,

More than any other art form, music seems to possess a mysterious power over our minds and hearts. It thrills our emotions, triggers memories, and creates bonds between listeners. We use it to affect the mood of a scene on film or stage. We sing to babies to calm them and lull them to sleep. We set children’s lessons to song to help commit them to memory. It can even exercise this power without our trying—who hasn’t had the experience of getting a catchy earworm stuck in their head?

The twentieth-century poet W. H. Auden recognized music as fundamentally different from other artistic endeavors, which he characterized as works of mere translation: painters copy visible beauty in the world and poets draw on lived experiences for imagery. But, addressing the musical composer, Auden writes “Only your notes are pure contraption, / Only your song is an absolute gift.” Indeed, there is something awe-inspiring in the ability of a talented composer to manifest pure beauty in its natural tongue, speaking directly to the heart without translation. And yet there’s also something undeniably universal about music—anyone can participate in making music. While instruments might broaden the horizon of what is musically possible, no tools are really necessary: a painter without brushes or paint might be out of a job, but anyone with a voice or a body can make music.

In this issue of Fare Forward, we explore the power of music from multiple perspectives: listeners, semi-professional musicians, and everyday people making music in community. Whatever your relationship is to music, we hope these essays inspire you to reflect on the role it plays in your life, your community, and the world.

Fare Forward,
Sara Holston, Managing Editor
Michael Carlowicz, Executive Editor