I. Kyrie II. Gloria III. Credo IV. Sanctus V. Benedictus VI. Agnus Dei

Bruckner completed no fewer than seven masses between the ages of 17 and 44 in addition to a variety of other liturgical works. Five of these masses were of the Missa Solemnis Viennese type. It was the mass in B flat minor, written in 1854, which gave the clearest indication of Bruckner's talent and commitment as a composer. It was premiered in the St. Florian monastery, a location that decisively shaped Bruckner's spiritual and musical development. Bruckner was only thirty years old when he composed this mass and he took it to Vienna to show to Simon Sechter, the famous composition teacher at the Vienna Conservatoire, in the hope he would be accepted as a private student. He was, but interestingly, very little of anything Bruckner wrote over the next decade survived. But in 1864, Bruckner suddenly began writing superb works again. These were primarily masses, again in the Missa Solemnis mould: the D minor from 1864, the E minor from 1866 and lastly, the F minor of 1868. These three symphonic masses were composed in parallel with Bruckner's first experiments in orchestra symphonic writing. These fecund years saw Bruckner locate his own characteristic musical voice and procedures, which inspired by the liturgical texts, were to recur again and again in his later symphonies. All three masses were premiered relatively soon after their composition (the F minor was first performed in 1872), and this enabled Bruckner to gain some important experience with practical orchestration.

The F minor mass stands closes to Beethoven's grand concept of concert masses, but the thematic material – as with earlier Bruckner masses – is inspired by Gregorian chant. The opening of the Gloria is a fine example of this: Bruckner hands a melody evoking traditional Gregorian intonation to the choir. The text of the mass was supremely important for Bruckner, which is why he largely sets it homophonically. Even in contrapuntal passages, such as the fugue at the end of the Gloria (In Gloria Dei Patris) or the double fugue that interrupts the Credo (Et vitam venturi saeculi Amen), Bruckner endeavours to avoid the usual pitfalls of musical structure obscuring the enunciation and comprehension of the text. Bruckner's polyphonic writing primarily draws on the style of Palestrina and the harmonic practises of 18th century Austrian church tradition. In this sense, Bruckner has much in common with Liszt.

The most monumental movement and the one executed in the greatest detail is the Credo. Every element of Bruckner's style, musical thinking and religious faith can be observed in this movement. Et incarnatus est” (which characteristically bears the tempo marking Moderato misterioso) is intoned by a tenor solo, with a violin and viola solo counterpointing the gossamer harmonic veil produced by the woodwind. The passage beginning in E major in the “Crucifixus” drops to E flat major, but when we reach “Et resurrexit”, the music triumphantly returns to E major, accompanied by tympani. The enormous soundscapes, characteristic string figures and striking fanfare motives from the brass predict the climaxes of Bruckner's future symphonies. The flowing cello melody of the Benedictus foreshadows the composer's later symphonic adagio movements.