Frank Martin’s Mass for two four-part choirs and Ildebrando Pizzetti’s Messa di Requiem for voices alone were both created in 1922, and they are rightly considered to be two of choral music’s absolute masterpieces.

These are beautiful and magnificent and they invite for contemplation. In their sublime expressions they seem almost divinely inspired, and each in their own way expresses a drama that contains in itself both the deepest degradation and the highest bliss.

On top of the collapse of civilization in the World War I, many composers felt that a radical new tone language had to be added as a replacement for the dominant Romantic style. This was true of both Frank Martin (1890 – 1974) and Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880 – 1968), both of whom returned to the old masters and musical forms in their effort to create something new.