The way "tradition" gets to be around is by being forwarded. To the degree the elements of sentiment, tone, rhythm, voice and soon are well received, there is no reason you can't extend that tradition by adding new music consistent with its legacy. People write new blues all the time, as well as new limericks, new ballads and so on. Greg is right that only time will prove that you interpreted the legacy well enough to actually make something that goes on in time. But someone who really understands the legacy can tell immediately when something blemds perfectly with it, and when something does not. The better something blends the better the chance it has of achieving longevity.

An example of a beautiful addition to the legacy of American 1890's romantic songs is Jed Marum's Letter From Lilac Acres. An example of jarring violation of the legacy is in period films where a not-quite-sensitive-enough script writer has included a phrase that is totally wrong for the period, such as a Revolutionary War soldier saying "No way!", or an Elizabethan courtier saying "Are you kidding me?". You get the same kind ofr thing in some latter efforts to imitate traditional songs. There are certain overtones that mark the literacy of the period, whether high or low, that you have to be sensitive to if you're trying to emulate the legacy. Otherwise it just falls flat.

But there is no reason it can't be done well.

A