Rausch returned home late in 1946 after spending nearly three years in a POW camp. In his autobiography he writes “My mind was filled with new ideas like an overflowing cup. … Opus after opus burst forth for the organ, orchestra, and string ensemble. For a short time, I even dreamed of becoming an organist at an obscure country church with a meager income and plenty of leisurely hours left for compositions.” The Serenade für Streicher und Bläser and the Missa für Orgel Solo, both written in 1947, have a great deal of music in common. It is assumed that Missa was written during his time as music director of a church. It could be that a pressing need for service music caused him to borrow from one of his orchestral works. Maybe the composer felt the organ music would be better suited scored for orchestra. Or perhaps he wrote the two works in simultaneity.