Sacred Music editor bullish on new missal, Simple Propers Project
December 31, 2010
In an interview with the National Catholic Register, Jeffrey Tucker, the managing editor of Sacred Music, said that the forthcoming revised translation of the Roman Missal may augur a revival of sacred music.
“This is a chance for a new beginning with the ordinary form,” he said. “The new translation is so much better, so much more beautiful. People will notice immediately, not just in the order of Mass but in all the celebrant parts, too. The chants are now embedded in the structure of the missal; this was not previously true.”
Tucker also discussed the forthcoming Simple Propers Project, which he says will help parishes make the transition “from silly songs to serious Gregorian chant.”
Asked “What do you say to people who think that ‘contemporary’ or rock music is necessary to attract young people to Mass?”, Tucker replied:
So far as I can tell, the only people who really argue this way are old people. It’s true that plenty of young people are not interested in true liturgical music, but those same people are not interested in Catholicism either. How do we draw people to the faith? By lying about it and substituting false teaching? I don’t think so. The faith draws people when it is not ashamed of itself and when it has the ring of truth. It is the same with liturgical music …
We are living in times of transition, and young people seem to know this even more than older people. I don’t think there is any doubt where that transition is headed: People are discovering the sacred music tradition. If you look around at the Catholic music world, you quickly find that this is where the interest and energy is. This is the future.
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