The Messe de Minuit pour Nöel (The Midnight Mass) is one of twelve settings of the Mass Ordinary found among Charpentier's autograph manuscripts in the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris. Scored for soloists, four-part mixed chorus, flutes, strings, and organ, it is not perhaps the most spectacular or most profound of the composer's Masses, but it is without question the most charming, especially since most of its music is based on noels, or French Christmas carols.