In Rome, classic sacred music struggles to survive

L'espresso

St. Mary Major’s is the only of the great Roman basilicas left that celebrates the liturgy according to the classical tradition of Gregorian chant and polyphony.

Fact: Two years ago, when another Roman basilica wanted to accompany its Holy Week liturgies with this form of music, it had to turn to Germany and the excellent singers of the “Singer Pur” choir, invited by Brandmüller.

Another, more striking fact: the metamorphosis imposed on the Cappella Sistina, the choir that accompanies papal liturgies.

The coup de grace came in 1997 with the firing of the Sistina’s director, Maestro Domenico Bartolucci, an extraordinary interpreter of the great Roman tradition of sacred music. Since then, the papal rites – music included – have as their unchallenged director Bishop Piero Marini, the maestro of pontifical liturgical celebrations.

The despair is closing in on me again: where's my Prozac?