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The Worlds of Gilbert and Sullivan

Césare Auguste Jean Guillaume Franck was born in Liège, Belgium, in 1822. A child prodigy, he toured Belgium as a pianist at the age of 11. When 13 he went to Paris to study harmony under Reicha, and from 15 studied at the Paris Conservatoire. On leaving he concentrated on composition, teaching, and playing the organ at the church of Sainte-Clotilde in Paris.

His brilliance on the organ drew visitors to the church from far and wide, including Franz Liszt, who compared his skill with that of Bach.

Franck was influenced in his early years by the composers of opera-comique, later he concentrated on religious subjects. His harmonies were influenced by Wagner and his organ playing, but were highly individual in character. He undoubtedly had a great influence on later composers, and particularly on the French composers Achille-Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Olivier Messiaen.

The beautiful tune attached to this page is one of Césare's  religious masterpieces. Panis Angelicus¹ (O Lord of Mercy) is one of those unforgettable melodies. Although originally written for Tenor, organ, harp, 'cello and double bass, we have heard several superb arrangements over the years. One of the most memorable for us was an arrangement for two treble voices singing in cannon. We have tried to embody these qualities into our MusicSmiles arrangement here. The English translation is by Michel Whitehill.

Panis Angelicus
(O Lord of Mercy)

O Lord of mercy,
O Lord of justice,
Thine own and humble servants
Seek to find redemption.
With infinite wisdom,
Thou dost look on us,
Saviour, Saviour,
Thou art miraculous;
Saviour, Saviour, we would Thy servants be.

Singing our praise to Thee,
To Thee our hearts flee,
Glorious Thy name shall be
Until eternity.
Thy glory shining bright,
Proclaims to mortals
Thy ever glorious might,
Father of men,
To Thee we bring our song, of praise.

We hope you enjoyed singing along with Césare, or just listening to those two trebles in the cathedral galleries! We personally prefer singing it in the original Latin, but everyone to their own personal choices.

Footnote 1.  Panis Angelicus - true and living bread.

Panis angelicus fit panis hominum;
Dat panis coelicus figuris terminum.
O res mirabilis! Manducat Dominum
Pauper, pauper, servus et humilis.

The concept comes originally from St John's Gospel, in which Jesus says: "unless you, eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you do not have life in you". This totally confused his disciples and many centuries of scholars. Finally 12th Century experts described the process of consuming the bread and wine at communion as transubstantiation. This was accepted as official church dogma in 1215, and reconfirmed at the Council of Trent in 1545-63. 

To celebrate this doctrine, Pope Urban IV established the feast of Corpus Christi (The body of Christ) in 1264, and asked St Thomas Aquinas to compose some appropriate hymns. St Thomas wrote five - one of which is Sacris Solemnis (our solemn feast). The sixth and penultimate stanza contains the words of - you've guessed it - Panis Angelicus.

There are, of course, many translations. One of the best we've seen is from Clavis Regni - the website of St Peter's Church, Nottingham. It reads:

The bread of angels becomes the bread of man;
This bread of heaven does away with symbols.
What a marvel! The poor, the servant and the humble
May feed on their Lord.

The site also quotes Elizabeth I's famous response to a difficult question about its meaning:

'Christ was the word that spake it.
He took the bread and brake it;
And what his words did make it
That I believe and take it.'

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921) was also inspired by this poem and composed an anthem in 3/4 time, in the key of D flat major. It added a second verse.  Experts comments please.

Panis angelicus fit panis hominum;
Dat panis coelicus figuris terminum.
Panis angelicus fit panis hominum.
O res mirabilis! Manducat Dominum
Pauper, servus et humilis.

Te trina Deitas unaque poscimus,
Sic nos tu visitas, sicut te colimus.
Per tuas semitas . . . duc nos quo tendimus
Ad lucem quam . in habitas.
 Ad lucem quam . in habitas.
 Ad lucem quam . in habitas.

Panis angelicus
Fit panis hominum
A . . men

We have included below a kitchen-sink pronunciation guide to the Latin of the verse. It is a good idea to get agreement on this in your singing group before you launch into production, or accept the undemocratic direction of your choir leader. If you are flying solo, however, you are at liberty to please yourself.

Panis angelicus fit panis hominum;
Parnis anjelicus fit parnis hoaminum; 

Dat panis coelicus figuris terminum.
Dat parnis coalicus figooris tareminum. 

O res mirabilis! Manducat Dominum
O rez meerarbilis! Mandoocat Dominum

Pauper, pauper, servus et humilis.
Powpear, powpear, sarevus et hoomilis.

The letter r in latin script is invariably slightly exaggerated, but don't overdo it!  The letter i is pronounced ee, but make it a short ee. The letter a is pronouced ar, but with a silent r of course (as in ah!) The letter u is oo. The letter e nearly equates to a very short ay.

Have a go! If this is new to you, a little more practice and you'll soon love the pure sound of singing it in Latin, particularly now we have an idea of the meaning of the song. Expert opinion on pronunciation or translation is very welcome.

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