"An authentic updating of sacred music can take place only in the lineage of the great tradition of the past, of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony.”
Pope Benedict XVI
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I have a poster on my office door with this quotation of which I am quite proud. However, I have had second thoughts. It initially sounds quite good, but I am made uneasy by the term "updating." This may very well be a poor translation of the Italian word for "renewal," which I find better. The problem is that you don't "update" sacred music - you PRESERVE it in regular practice, and then you ADD to its treasury, its storehouse, via those regularly experienced models.
"Updating" makes it sound like the model itself needs to be altered - electrical wiring put in, a new coat of paint, extensive interior remodeling, etc. OR it makes it sound like the model itself need not be preserved in regular practice, only that the architechts of the new need to refer to some old blueprints for "inspiration" when building the new buildings.
I doubt that either of these is what Papa Bene actually meant.
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