Sor, Fernando: Motete Al S.S. Sacramento

The manuscript of the motet is held in the archive of Málaga Cathedral and is in Sor’s own hand writing. The work is scored for choir with 2 clarinets, 2 French horns and strings. The text of the motet, O Salutaris Hostia is the penultimate verse of the hymn, Verbum supernum prodiens, written by St. Thomas Aquinas for the Hour of Lauds in the Office of the Feast of Corpus Christi. That Sor should choose to set this hymn whilst engaged as a serving soldier in the struggle against the invading French is entirely appropriate when we consider the appeal for divine aid that the words contain.