That's an interesting question...
The Accidental Choir Director has an interesting question on his blog:
why can't we sing chant as energetically as praise and worship music? Isn't chant joyful?
Well - no. Chant is not particularly joyful. Chant expressed with very subdued emotion the sacred from within us. In that respect it's counter-cultural, non-Romantic, utterly different from the mundane music that has made it's way into the liturgy. The energy of a chant is prayer expressed in a very different way than, for example, Evangelicals at a worship service. It's not as much a theological difference, simply a cultural difference in the type of expression.
Where people fail in the execution of chant is often around the tempo and style. Chant sung too slowly or not smoothly ceases to be an effective prayer just as hymns that are too slow or too fast do. Slow chant is a "dirge" or "no fun" or even worse "boring." Fast chant doesn't happen tool much since it's human nature to sing somewhat slower if you're not following an accompanist. The cantor becomes the leader in a chant and shouldn't be afraid to keep it moving.
Of course there's the crowd that thinks anything written before 1960 is boring. To address that point: Amy Welborn has a post today that states it very simply. It's not about boring, it's about prayer and encouraging prayer.
And that means there are times where one needs to get over their tastes and just pray.
