A post on marginalrevolution.com speculates that choral music is "harder to
appreciate" than symphonies or chamber music.

https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2025/08/why-is-choral-music-harder-to-appreciate.html

My thoughts follow.

The mainstream ear has changed. As a result, traditional choral compositions
have become less accessible to mainstream audiences, but the form of choral
music remains accessible. People who participate in choral music train
themselves into a traditional taste as a side-effect of participation.

Sung pentatonic music seems to be accessible to everyone from a young age.

For most things beyond that, our brains need exposure to the form to be able
to appreciate it. This affects rhythm, melody and instruments.

My three-year-old hates the sound of guitar distortion. I am confident he will
acclimatise to it.

Accessibility of traditional choral music will be influenced by what the
audience knows. People who grew up with sung carols on at Christmas will be
more open to it than people who have grown up with post-war pop Christmas.

Everyone now living in the developed world has been exposed to beat-backed
major/minor easy-listening music by television, films, car radio and shopping
centres. This is recent. People a hundred years ago did not have the same ear.
The large choral work Elijah was easy-listening to audiences who had heard
sung mass hundreds of times.

In 2025, a church music director wanting a twentieth century composer would
schedule Rutter easily - Rutter writes music that suits the ear of pop
Christmas. They would prefer Howells if they thought the congregation had a
more traditional ear. They would schedule Messiaen only for a particular
occasion.

The OP wrote - "It has struck me that most recommenders and lovers of choral
music [are] themselves singers (or conductors) of choral music."

It is easy to get involved, so many people who are curious get involved. Once
involved, people will find their tastes becoming traditional as a side-effect
of exposure to the repertoire. This creates a running division between people
who participate and the mainstream.

Note that before seventy years ago, almost everyone who loved music would have
participated in it, even if only singing to young children or helping out at
church. Outside royal circles, the practice of loving music yet being a pure
consumer is a recent phenomenon.

Some forms of choral music will have a different relationship with pop than
high-church music. For example - Gospel, accompaniment to rock songs like
/Under the Bridge/ or /You can't always get what you want/. The Beatles were a
mainstay of post-war pop, but /Because/ on Abbey Road has the character of a
Renaissance choral work - George Martin was classically trained.

The mainstream ear may be making another shift now to more sophisticated beats
with closer melodies (smaller pitch jumps) and simpler chords. If it happens,
we will see evidence of it in popular Christmas music. As far as I know there
has not been a new addition to that repertoire since /All I want for Christmas
is You/ which is c20 pop.