Illuminations
What Was Done Before
by Anthony Esolen
For several years I've been delighted to write in this column about the beauty, the liturgical propriety, the scriptural profundity, and the sheer might of the great hymns of the Church. Yet once in a while someone asks me whether I think that the only good art is the old. Why can't we have good things now? Have people become incapable of writing hymns, just because they were born too late?
I don't believe so. What was done before can be done again.
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Anthony Esolen is the author of over thirty books, including Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church (Tan, with a CD), Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture (Regnery), and The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord (Ignatius). He has also translated Dante’s Divine Comedy (Random House). He and his wife Debra publish a web magazine, Word and Song (anthonyesolen.substack.com), on poetry, hymnody, language, classic films, and music. He is a senior editor of Touchstone.
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