When in 1848, after a long time, Liszt returned to his birthplace, Doborján (Raiding), he also visited the Franciscan priest, Stanislaus (Szaniszló) Albach, who served in Kismarton (Eisenstadt). This was where he started composing his Mass for male choir with organ accompaniment. He later revised the work for the 1868 consecration of the Újváros church in Szekszárd. ‘More than ever, I insist on the most perfect precision, clarity, suitability and transparency of the musical language,’ he wrote to Baron Antal Augusz. In the end, the work was not performed at the time, and over a century had to pass before the Mass could be heard in Szekszárd, in 1978. The composition was popular in Liszt’s lifetime and was presented in a number of European cities. At the Choir Marathon, along with a few movements of the Mass and some of Liszt’s emblematic pieces for male choir, the Bartók Béla Male Choir will perform works by two of his Hungarian contemporaries, Ferenc Erkel and Mihály Mosonyi. Mosonyi, who was held in high esteem by Liszt, wrote his Spring Song for the Pest-Buda Choral Society, who premiered it at their debut concert in 1865.