Vatican Aide: Gregorian Chant Must Be Recovered

Zenit has an interview with the President of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in which he gives some very interesting insights. Check it out.

Among my favorite quotes are:

I think that new musical products, in the majority of cases, have not learned or have not been able to root themselves in the tradition of the Church, thus dragging in a general impoverishment.

And:

A Vatican body is needed that would directly oversee the matters of sacred music.

AMEN!

Speaking of the technical difficulty of some chant, Msgr. Miserachs' answer serves as a good dictum for approaching even other, newer liturgical music:

In liturgical chant the assembly does not have to be the only protagonist. A certain order must be kept. The people should sing their part and the rest should be done by the choir, the chanter, the psalmist and obviously the celebrant.

Monsignor allowed that other liturgical music is acceptable insofar as it grows from the legitimate tradition of the church. Remarkable was the phrasing which he used to describe this condition: he spoke of such music as being "worthy of being beside the Gregorian repertoire."

In related news, I'm going to try to slip in the Alma Redemptoris Mater at Midnight Mass... Saint Cecilia, pray for me!