The words for Panis Angelicus form an extract taken from St Thomas Aquinas’s hymn Sacris solemniis and frequently treated as a separate hymn. Of the many settings, César Franck’s from 1872 is the bestknown.He included it in his Messe á Trois Voix for Tenor, Harp, Cello and Organ some years after that piece was written. Of all the works by Franck, the Panis Angelicus, with its serene, meditative Vocal line andrestrainedaccompaniment, is the best known and certainly the most frequently recorded, in all Voices and in many arrangements.
