Hyperion Records

Panis Angelicus of 1872, one of Franck’s most popular works, represents the religious music for which he was best known at that time. Perhaps it sounds somewhat Victorian to modern ears; but the sincerity of Franck’s devotion is still touching.

(A footnote: this version of Panis Angelicus is taken from one of the innumerable arrangements published during Franck’s lifetime. Since it lists no arranger’s name the arrangement may well be by the composer himself, as he made many of them. We have slightly altered it, however, to bring it closer to the original version, in which the cello takes a more prominent role than the keyboard—very noble of my friend Mr Hough, I must admit, even if a bottle of good red wine did have to change hands in order to cement the arrangement!)

from notes by Steven Isserlis © 2003