The finale, named after the Dona nobis pacem from the Mass, is more episodic, with an insistent, brutal marching rhythm building to a dissonant climax, before a long, lyrical coda concludes the work.

Honegger himself wrote an extensive commentary on the work, making explicit the music's connection with the horrors of the War, and the desire for peace.

[2][3] Written in 1945-46 on a commission from the Foundation Pro Helvetia,[4] Honegger's Third was first performed in Zürich on 17 August 1946 with Charles Munch conducting the Suisse Romande Orchestra.

Munch made a live recording of the work in Prague with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1956, which has been released by the Multisonic label.

[3] The Symphonie Liturgique has strong thematic similarities with Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem written in 1940, although it is in no sense imitative or a reworking of the earlier piece.