Did anyone catch Kresta in the Afternoon today? His last segment was an interview with Fr. John Gallagher of the Catholic Foundation for the Arts, about a commission they gave to a Los Angeles composer, Patrick Cassidy, for an orchestral Mass. It hasn't been premiered yet, but they did a demo with the London Symphony.

I was not impressed with the excerpts I heard; the ideas struck me as faceless and there wasn't anything particularly interesting about their working-out. It was not so much beautiful as not-ugly (which is itself an accomplishment, these days.) Granted, I was put off by Fr. Gallagher's claim that it was "the first symphonic mass in 200 years". I'm not even sure what a "symphonic mass" is, except a Mass for forces and durations so large as to preclude it being used at a Mass....in which case is it actually a Mass? While I can see an evangelistic point in writing such a piece, getting a big chorus and orchestra piece done in these times is a masochist's mission.

So my question is twofold: did anyone hear this, and what did you think? And, as a side excursion, what's your favorite post-Missa-Solemnis Ordinary setting for voices with orchestra?