Yesterday we attended Mass at our local parish which can often be a gamble as to which music genre we must be subjected to. Unfortunately it was the happy clappy music with the Gloria, Gloria in excelsis Deo, (clap, clap). I found this beautiful version by Palestrina to offset what I heard at Mass. I found one of the comments following on this YouTube clip truly telling.

this is my favorite recorded version of this piece :) I'm not a very religious person, but the music of this can literally give my entire body chills.

Perhaps this is why the Vatican has seen the need to create a new commission within the Congregation for Divine Worship tasked with improving Church architecture and music in the liturgy.

A team has been set up, to put a stop to garage style churches, boldly shaped structures that risk denaturing modern places for Catholic worship. Its task is also to promote singing that really helps the celebration of mass. The “Liturgical art and sacred music commission” will be established by the Congregation for Divine Worship over the coming weeks. This will not be just any office, but a true and proper team, whose task will be to collaborate with the commissions in charge of evaluating construction projects for churches of various dioceses. The team will also be responsible for the further study of music and singing that accompany the celebration of mass.

See the full story at Vatican Insider.