The Mass in G Minor is one of three contemplative and otherworldly scores written by Vaughan Williams immediately following his World War I service as an ambulance driver in France, the others being A Pastoral Symphony (Symphony No. 3) and the one-act opera The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains. The Mass was written in 1920-21 and is dedicated to Gustav Holst and the Whitsuntide Singers. The first performance was by the City of Birmingham Choir on December 6, 1922; the first liturgical performance was on March 12, 1923, by the choir of Westminster Cathedral, conducted by Dr. Richard Terry, a seminal figure in the revival of interest in England's Tudor composers. The Mass in G Minor may be seen as the choral equivalent of Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (for double string orchestra and solo quartet) in its aural evocation of archaic modes, expressed in thoroughly modern ways.

The Kyrie's swaying, five-note theme, sung by the altos, is the basis from which the serene counterpoint grows as the chorus enters voice by voice. The middle Christe eleison, sung by the solo quartet, is dark and supplicative; while the return of the Kyrie brings back the modal five-note motif and concludes quietly.

It is in the Gloria and Credo sections that Vaughan Williams unleashes the full harmonic and antiphonal potential of the double choruses. After widely spaced chords for "Et in terra pax," the choruses launch into the jubilant "Laudamus te," trading fanfare-like volleys of praise. The solo quartet brings a pleading, devotional note in the middle section, "Qui tollis peccata mundi," before the return of joyful praise in the fugal "Cum sancto spirito." The Credo is the dramatic center of the Mass, its narration of Christ's passion, coupled with the confession of the articles of faith, eliciting an almost oratorio-like response frrom the composer. Always there is a remarkable sensitivity to the text: the vigorous canon of "Patrem omnipotentum," the hushed devotionality describing Christ's incarnation and cricifixion, the triumphant return of the opening canon's melody at "Et resurrexit," and the measured chordal treatment, led by the solo quartet, of the recitation of the articles of faith bring a rare sense of drama to the familiar liturgical text.

The Sanctus and Benedictus, to simpler texts, are brief and effective. Divided sopranos suggest the swaying of censers as they intone the triple Sanctus; while at "Pleni sunt coeli et terra," an airy fugue evokes the image of cherubim dancing attendance in the heavens. The solo quartet meditates with contrapuntal devotion on the text of the Benedicite, while the double chorus responds with forthright, antiphonal Hosannas.

The dark, even despairing Agnus Dei brings the Mass full circle, the prayer for peace, "Dona nobis pacem," reprising the five-note theme of the prayer for mercy that opened the work at "Kyrie eleison."

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