This paper is an analysis of four recent musical compositions for chorus and orchestra:Benjamin Brittens War Requiem, Leonard Bernsteins Kaddish Symphony, KrzysztofPendereckis Credo, and Tim Rumseys Neither Life Nor Death. For each work, emphasisis placed on the role of text, form, musical style, and harmonic language in portraying areconciliation theme. The inference of a reconciliation theme in each work is made based on the presence of a struggle between man and evil, man and sin, or man and God. A full score to Neither Life Nor Death is included.