“Panis Angelicus”
César Franck
“Panis Angelicus” (Bread of Heaven) is the penultimate
strophe (stanza) of the hymn “Sacrum solemnis” written by St Thomas Aquinas
for the feast of Corpus Christi.
This particular stanza has often been set to music separately
from the rest of the hymn. In 1872
César Franck set the stanza for Tenor voice, harp, cello and organ and
incorporated it into his “Messe à trios voix” Op 12. Today’s version was arranged by Henry Geehl.
César Franck (1822 – 1890) was born in Liège (now Belgium
but in 1822 part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands). He was a composer, pianist, organist and
music teacher working in Paris during his adult life.
He gave his first concert in Liège in 1834 and studied
privately in Paris from 1835. He returned briefly to Belgium but after a disastrous reception to “Ruth”, an
early oratorio, he went back to Paris.
He married and started his career as teacher and organist. He gained a reputation for improvisation.