It is idle to compare this Mass with the religious works of Palestrina and Bach and to say that if Beethoven had been a devout Catholic or an orthodox Lutheran his Mass would have been more thoroughly imbued with religious feeling. In the first place it is necessary to define the word "religious." Palestrina wrote in his peculiar style not because he was a devout Catholic, but because his religious individuality found expression in the methods of his time. Bach wrote his great Mass in a time when counterpoint ruled in the music of the church and of the dance. Beethoven was a man, not only of his time, but of the remaining years of this century. Now in this mass Beethoven wherever he is most imposing, he is intensely dramatic, and when he follows tradition, he is least himself. Notice for instance the change from the passionate entreaty that is almost a defiance in the _Kyrie_ to the ineffable tenderness in the _Christe eleison_; the wonderful setting of the _Incarnatus_ and the _Crucifixus_. On the other hand, where Beethoven felt that it was his duty to follow the approved formulas, as in certain passages of the _Credo_ that relate to the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, etc., we realize fully the story of Schindler, who found the composer singing, shouting, stamping, and sweating at his work; for although he was a master of the _fugato_, the fugue was to him, apparently, not his natural mode of expression. But von Bülow's commentary should not be forgotten: "The fugue is with Beethoven the last and highest means of intensifying the expression of emotions." Again, the religious element in the music of Beethoven is not confined to works which have a sacred text. The yearning after heavenly rest, the discontent with the petty vanities of life, sublime hope and humble thanksgiving,--these are not found exclusively in his works for the church or in such a movement as the _canzona in moda lidico_ in the A minor quartet Op. 132. The finale of the Ninth Symphony as well as movements in the sonatas, the chamber-music and the symphonies are religious music in the profoundest sense of the word.