The compositional goals strived for in this work are (1) to unify the past and present, (2) to present a rhythmically simple but harmonically complex use of the voices, (3) to explore the timbral complexities of voices and instruments, (4) to explore rhythmic changes without changing meters, (5) to integrate the orchestra and chorus so as to produce one musical entity rather than two opposing groups, (6) to produce a work that is both practicable in performance and contemporary in spirit.

Crux Fidelis is a musical and theatrical setting of the Roman Catholic Good Friday service. The work consists of three movements during which seven themes are developed in cyclic fashion thus making the overall form of the piece one of thematic variations. Variable tempos and moods are used throughout the work and are determined by the text. Linear construction, used primarily throughout the work, results in occasional vertical sonorities. A further synopsis of the elements of the work is included in the discussion and analysis.

The background of the mass may be considered from many angles. This present discussion concerns itself with the early development of the form. Since the mass is a Catholic rite, the Catholic viewpoint is followed in religious matters. The purposes of this paper are to provide backgrounds for the Catholic tradition of mass and for Austrian composer Franz Schubert, and to analyze the masses written by Schubert.

Master of Arts / Department of Speech Communication, Theatre, and Dance / Charles J. Griffin / This thesis is a response to a contemporary debate over the nature of rhetoric. Specifically, it has recently been declared that rhetoric is aesthetic. This move is known as the "aesthetic turn" and it has been both praised and denounced by rhetoric scholars. An aesthetic rhetoric is concerned not with the content of a message, but rather with the presentation of the message. In this thesis, I argue that an aesthetic turn is a good turn to make in theory, but that the actual turn taken by a number of prominent rhetorical scholars has been misguided. A Catholic theory of beauty is developed within this thesis as an alternative to the postmodern aesthetic. The Catholic theory posits that beauty flows from three forms: the accidental, the substantial, and the transcendental. Accidental beauty is concerned with physical traits and can be judged through integrity, proportion, and splendor. Substantial beauty deals with an object's telos or end and is judged according to the actualization of telos. Transcendental beauty is a trait of all beings and can be judged hierarchically according to participation in Being. Finally, a methodology for analyzing beauty is developed within the thesis. In order to reify the Catholic theory of beauty and its methodology the Roman Catholic Mass of 1962, also known as the Tridentine Mass, is analyzed as a case study. This artifact was chosen in particular because it was recently liberated from bureaucratic imprisonment by Pope Benedict XVI. In addition to analyzing the traditional Roman rite, several changes that were made to the Mass after the Second Vatican Council are examined. This study is important for several reasons. First, it provides rhetorical scholars with a clear understanding of beauty with which rhetoric can be analyzed. Also, the aesthetic theory offered by this study transcends the differences between rhetoric-as-epistemic and rhetoric-as-aesthetic scholarship. Most importantly though, view of beauty that is advanced implies an ethic from which rhetoric can be evaluated. Finally, the study has important implications for the development of the Roman Catholic liturgy.