Like Reger, Brahms, Rheinberger, and others of his school, Bruckner was a true master at fusing the best pieces of every genre he was influenced by into a complete whole. He exemplified the fugal form in his symphonies and in the conclusions to the Te Deum and Psalm 150; his harmonic choices are Brahmsian in their objectivity yet Wagnerian in their lushness; his approach to form was spacious and yet never flagging. In his church music, we see all of the above combined into a synthetic whole that, in its pure objectivity and yet expressive power, overcame the complaints of the Cecilians to become the finest Catholic music of its era. His music would certainly hold up to far higher artistic scrutiny than any of theirs, yet to call it unsuited for the liturgy would be pure hogwash.

As one of the finest examples a Catholic musician can hope to be measured by - long live Thee, Anton Bruckner.