FRANK MORANA
AmerOrganist 34/6

Leutkirch/Allgau. The outer sections of this work are

based almost entirely upon the plainchant for the dismissal

formula in the Roman Catholic rite ("The Mass is ended,

Alleluia"). The sureness of the composer's harmonic style

is everywhere apparent, but the use of massive chord blocks

is seldom relieved by contrasting figurations and textures.

The work is strong on exposition--in the outer sections,

some part of the plainchant is present in almost every

measure--but not on development, and only in the middle

section does the piece ever break free from the cantus.

This brief middle section is possibly the most attractive

part of the work, and would repay close study. But

elsewhere, one could wish that the composer had not driven

the cantus quite so adamantly, and had taken a freer road in

the connections from one idea to the next. This composition

will resound well on almost any instrument with a good

plenum and a reverberant space.