"A mass for chorus and orchestra to be composed by the contemporary Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki ( 1933-2020) was commissioned in 1996 by the Internationale Bachakademie in Stuttgart and the Oregon Bach Festival. It is the result of the vision of Helmuth Rilling and Royce Saltzman to bring an other world premiere performance to the United States, to Oregon, and to the Festival that was the external incentive for the composition of this new work. The work is based on the standard Latin version of the historic Nicene Creed. It is scored for five soloists ( SSATB), boys choir, mixed choir, and orchestra. The world premier (July 11, 1998) was conducted by Helmuth Rilling . When asked recently why he had limited his musical setting to the third part of the Mass Ordinary, the com poser repIied: ""Because the Credo has gone beyond the dimensions I had planned, the world premiere in Oregon wiII only feature the third part of the mass, i.e. the Credo (it will be about one hour long, the time I had originalIy planned for the entire mass)."" And then he added: ""But this is the work you compose only once in your Iifetime""."