This is the major religious work in the canon of compositions by this composer who was a church organist for most of his life. It is an extended setting of the entire text of the Sermon on the Mount. It starts with an introduction in which a tenor solo and a celestial choir introduce and praise Christ. The eight Beatitudes are each depicted in extended meditations, each illustrating the blessing pronounced by Jesus. While three of the Beatitudes contain elements of dramatic tension ("Blessed are they that mourn..."; "Blessed are the peacemakers..."; and "Blessed are they that are persecuted...") for the most part the music mystical and rapturous, without a dramatic element. The unusual nature of the musical feeling in the work both attracts admiration and puts off the average audience.

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