In 1587, Victoria returned to Spain and lived a cloistered life as one of several musically-literate chaplains to the Dowager Empress María, daughter of Charles V, for whose death in 1603 he composed his exquisite six-part Requiem Mass. The foundation was sufficiently wealthy to allow the composer leave to publish and republish his music in 1592, 1600 (two books), 1603 and 1605 the (six-part) Requiem. It is from the first of the 1583 publications that ‘Missa O quam gloriosum’ is taken. This Mass has endured as one of Victoria’s most popular settings, aided no doubt by the widespread use of its motet basis. It is perhaps a curiosity that, contrary to common practice, nowhere in the Mass does Victoria utilise the very opening of the motet with its thrust of block chords, preferring instead to open the Kyrie with the following phrase. Nonetheless, this setting is a model of the embodiment of Tridentine ideals, with its intelligibility of text and economy of movement. Although the motet is wedded to the feast of All Saints, it is by no means necessary that the Mass be restricted to that observance alone. Indeed, its sunny disposition makes it ideal for use throughout the year, on Sundays and other feast days alike.