Nearly thirty works – including motets, masses, cantatas, and other sacred compositions – attest to the central role of religiously inspired music in Nino Rota’s (1911–1979) vocal, choral, and symphonic output. Of particular interest, owing to their close connection with the liturgical sphere, is the series of three masses he composed in rapid succession between 1960 and 1962, the first of which is the Messa per coro e organo “Mariae dicata”.

The Mass is structured according to the five fix...