On 10 December 1852 Robert Schumann wrote that his Missa sacra was a work ‘of medium size, not difficult to perform’ and ‘suited for church and concert use’. But the composer himself never saw a performance of the complete mass, and it was not until 1863 that the work was printed. Contemporary reviews criticized that it flouted liturgical conventions. The work was said not to be religious enough because of its ‘romantic rapture’ and ‘peculiarly colourful splendour of imagination’. In...