Panis angelicus

The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci

The last two stanzas of the hymn Sacris solemniis, composed by St. Thomas Aquinas for Matins of Corpus Christi and of the Votive Office of the Most Blessed Sacrament. The rhythmic stanza imitates the classical measures found in Horace and in several hymns of the Roman Breviary; but for whatever excellence the hymn lacks in respect of classical prosody it compensates in the interesting and intricate rhymic scheme.

Several references are made to the hymn by Hincmar of Reims, one of the most interesting being his objection to the theology of the last stanza (Te trina Deitas). Hincmar admits that he knew not the author of the hymn which "some people end with the chant or rather blasphemy [a quibusdam cantatur vel potius blasphematur] Te trina deitas." The phrase objected to was nevertheless sung in the doxology of the hymn down to the revision of pope Urban VIII.

Delaporte (Les Hymnes du bréviaire romain in the Rassegna Gregoriana, Nov.-Dec., 1907, col. 501) remarks that, when the edition of 1602 of the Roman Breviary was in preparation, Cardinal Gesualdo in 1588 wrote to various nuncios to get suggestions for emendations. The nuncio at Paris consulted alcuni principali della Sorbona, with some curious results, one of which was the criticism demanding a change in the doxology of the Sacris solemniis from "Te trina Deitas" to "Te summa Deitas", for the reason that "it is impious to call the Deity, or the essence of God, threefold".

Notes on selected settings

• Théodore Dubois Tenor solo with org, harp & VC
• César Franck Tenor solo with org, harp & VC
• Camille Saint-Saëns SATB & organ

Settings by composers (automatically updated)

• Giuseppe Baini — Panis angelicus  Latin SSA
• Claudio Casciolini — Panis angelicus a 3  Latin ATB
• Claudio Casciolini — Panis angelicus a 4  Latin SATB
• Marc-Antoine Charpentier — Panis Angelicus  Latin S,T
• Hermes Coelho — Panis angelicus  Latin SATB
• Adrian Cuello — Panis angelicus  Latin SSAA
• Adrian Cuello — Panis angelicus (soprano solo)  Latin Solo Soprano
• Christoph Dalitz — Panis angelicus  Latin 
• Lorenzo Donati — Panis angelicus  Latin TTB
• Théodore Dubois — Panis angelicus  Latin Solo Tenor
• Carlotta Ferrari — Panis angelicus  Latin SATB
• César Franck — Messe à trois voix, FWV 61  Latin STB
• César Franck — Panis angelicus  Latin SATB, SSAA, TTBB, Solo SS, Solo TT
• Mariano Garau — Panis Angelicus 2021  Latin SATB
• Mariano Garau — Panis Angelicus II  Latin SATB
• Francesco Gasparini — Panis angelicus  Latin Solo high
• Óscar Manuel Paredes Grau — Panis angelicus  Latin SATTB
• Antonio Grimaldi — Panis Angelicus  Latin SA
• Antonio Grimaldi — Panis angelicus no. 2  Latin SA
• Oliver Hayes — Panis angelicus  Latin ATB
• Nobuaki Izawa — Panis angelicus  Latin SATB
• Józef Kocięda — Panis Angelicus  Latin Solo Soprano, Solo Tenor
• Louis Lambillotte — Panis angelicus  Latin SATB, TTBB
• Santiago Lichius — Panis angelicus  Latin SATB
• Gonçalo Lourenço — Panis angelicus  Latin SAATTBB
• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina — Panis angelicus  Latin TTBB,SATB
• Paolo Pandolfo — Panis angelicus  Latin B
• Ignaz Reimann — Sacris solemniis  Latin Solo Soprano
• Camille Saint-Saëns — Panis angelicus  Latin SATB
• Oscar Santos — Panis angelicus  Latin SATB
• Douglas Walter Scott — Three Aquinas Motets  Latin SATB
• Franciszek Walczyński — Panis angelicus  Latin SATB
• Matthew J C Ward — Panis Angelicus  Latin SATB
• Gaspar van Weerbeke — Panis angelicus  Latin SAAT

Text and translations

Latin text Panis angelicus Fit panis hominum; Dat panis coelicus Figuris terminum: O res mirabilis! Manducat Dominum Pauper, servus et humilis. Te trina Deitas, Unaque poscimus, Sic nos tu visita, Sicut te colimus; Per tuas semitas Duc nos quo tendimus, Ad lucem quam inhabitas.

English translation The bread of the angels becomes the bread of mortals; the bread of heaven puts an end to prefigurations. O wondrous thing! the poor, the slave and the humble feed on their Lord. Of you, threefold and one God, we ask: Come to visit us as we worship you; lead us on your paths to where we want to go: to the light in which you dwell.

French translation Le pain des anges Devient le pain des hommes. Le pain du ciel met Un terme aux symboles. Ô chose admirable ! Il mange son Seigneur Le pauvre, le serviteur, le petit. Dieu Trinité Et Un, nous te le demandons, Daigne par ta visite Répondre à nos hommages. Par tes voies, conduis-nous Au but où nous tendons, À la lumière où tu demeures.

Dutch translation Het brood der engelen wordt het brood der mensen. Dit hemelse brood maakt een einde aan de schaduwen. O wonderbaar gebeuren! Arme, dienstknecht en geringe: gedenkt uw Heer!

External links

• Panis angelicus on Wikipedia