[Publius]

"Panis Angelicus" was written by the great French composer Cesar Franck, composer of a symphony, some fine chamber music, and some of the best organ music since Bach.

This hymn was a standard in the Latin mass days, but has disappeared since the Catholics went to English in the Sixties. This particular version is the contrapuntal version arranged in the Forties.

My mother was fond of this hymn and specified it for her funeral. However, when it was performed at her funeral in 2002, we almost had a train wreck.

First, the soprano splattered on the high E in the second line.

Then came the structural problem. The hymn is through-composed, although Franck reprises the first two lines in the middle. But then he takes off in a different direction. I suspect the soprano cantor had first heard the hymn in rehearsal the night before. When she hit the reprise in the middle, she tried singing the third line, but found that it didn't match the harmonies on the organ. She hesitated. The organist hesitated. At that point, I put my head in my hands and bent over. It was too horrible to bear. My relatives were whispering, "Poor guy. He must be prostrate with grief."

Then the singer began improvising her lines based on the harmonies from the organ. It wasn't Franck, but it wasn't bad either. By the next to last line, she had found her place and ended where she should be. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was a close call.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

~~Tunes For The Troops~~

Celtic Woman~Panis Angelicus

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Oh, my!
Here is another version for you..