It may have been the many years of carrying an excessive work load, rigorous musical studies, the deaths of loved ones and friends, disappointments in love, or all of these factors which plunged the 43-year old Anton Bruckner into a state of depression. This culminated with the composer entertaining thoughts of suicide. However, after a successful period of treatment at the sanatorium at Bad Kreuzen in 1867, the devout composer began to compose his third setting of the Mass, as an act of thanksgiving for the restoration of his mental health. Indeed, there are moments in this great sacred work which seem to hint at human crosses borne in step with the service.

Although all of Bruckner's Masses (in addition to the numbered three, there are the Requiem and the little "Windhaag" Mass) have much in them to admire, the Third in F minor is undoubtedly the crown of this section of his output. Contemporary with the First Symphony, this is Bruckner's one mass in his mature idiom and represents an application of symphonic technique to the ceremony central to the composer's faith. The mass opens with the Kyrie, ushered in by a brooding descending string motive in F minor; at the Christe of that section relief comes when the music shifts to major; a verbatim premonition of the violin solo of the Te Deum is noteworthy. The somber mood returns to close the section. The following Gloria, however, is buoyant in brilliant C major, cast in sonata form, and also features a colossal double fugue, joyful and martial in spirit. The extrovert spirit continues in the immense Credo, that section highly varied in texture and dynamics. Particularly effective are the chorale-like accompaniments in the brass, serving as a sonorous backdrop for the vocalists. Many of Bruckner's familiar clerical cadences (best known, after all, through his secular works) appear in this section. At the words "Et resurrexit" the music becomes almost barbaric in its jubilance. An impressive pause precedes the remarkable closing segment, punctuated by robust cries of "Credo! Credo!" By contrast, the following Sanctus is serene, making a symphonic link by quoting material from the opening section, and then flares up to the vigorous Hosanna. The fifth section, Benedictus, begins with a sensitive string prelude much like the sinfonia of early oratorios and is followed by a melody passed from contralto to soprano to tenor; there is a reprise of the joyous Hosanna. The final Agnus Dei returns to the opening key of F minor. From another sinfonia-like opening, a tragic theme emerges and is picked up by the chorus. The tonality shifts to the parallel major at the words Dona nobis pacem and material from the Kyrie reappears, further solidifying the symphonic link. The music evolves into a deliberate but triumphant march based on a carillon-like motive. References to the Gloria and Credo appear one last time before Bruckner's greatest Mass draws to a tranquil close.

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