Croatian Mass in B minor for mixed chorus, organ and orchestra

Composer, conductor and teacher Josip Vrhovski (1902 – 1983) belonged to the generation of composers that between the two world wars sought the inspiration for their work in the music of the people and blazed what was called the neo-national music direction in Croatian music. His most important sacral work is the Croatian Mass in B minor. The Mass was written of at that time by N. Faller, K. Krenedić, F. Lučić, S. Stražnicki, L. Šafranek-Kavić and B. Širola. They concurred in their reviews that the work reflected the talent and maturity of the composer, his excellent understanding of the vocal and instrumental setting, with an emphasis on fine and sonorous instruments. They described the Mass as a work in which the homophonic texture prevailed, that it was lyrically oriented in its character, that it was unpretentious and had a natural flow of musical thoughts, reflected the mood of true spiritual music and finally left a very powerful impression. Franjo Lučić thought that in terms of conception and arrangement it could be counted among the best works of the kind in this country.