It is scored for two tenor soloists, soprano, alto and bass soloists, SATB choir with divisi, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, violin I and II, viola, cello, and double bass.

[4] It was composed in response to a commission or request from Michael Leitermayer, choirmaster of the Church of the Holy Trinity (Alserkirche) in Alsergrund, Vienna.

[3] References to Bach's fugues are present in the Gloria and Agnus Dei, as well as Mozart's Requiem and Haydn's Heiligmesse.

[9] These are distinguished from his four early masses by their "musically interpretive stance to the words";[10] Schubert began to take advantage of an overall maturation in his technical capabilities and knowledge of harmony, coupled with his experience in composing both sacred and secular music, to add further meaning to the standard text.

[14] Schubert's biographer Kreissle von Hellborn wrote that the Mass in E-flat "takes rank with the foremost compositions of the kind written at the time".