"Thaxted" is a
hymn tune by the English composer
Gustav Holst, based on the stately theme from the middle section of the Jupiter movement of his orchestral suite The Planets and named after
Thaxted, the English village where he lived much of his life. He adapted the theme in 1921 to fit the patriotic poem "
I Vow to Thee, My Country" by
Cecil Spring Rice but that was as a unison song with orchestra.[1] It did not appear as a hymn-tune called "Thaxted" until his friend
Ralph Vaughan Williams included it in Songs of Praise in 1926.[2]
The tune
Hymns written to the tune
Many Christian hymns have been written to the tune. Notable ones include:
Sarah Brightman recorded the song "Running" in 2007. It was the theme song for the IAAF Championships; she performed it at the opening ceremony in Osaka.
A choral adaptation of the tune for women's voices features prominently in the 2003 film Mona Lisa Smile.
Maddy Prior includes the tune in two pieces of her 2003 album Lionhearts.[15]
A literary reference appears in "The Adventure of the Lost World",[18] a Sherlock Holmes pastiche written by
Dominic Green, where the tune is a major plot element, though the story contains a chronological error in that its Autumn 1918 setting would pre-date the publishing of the tune under the name "Thaxted".
References
^Holst, Imogen (1974). A Thematic Catalogue of Gustav Holst's Music. Faber. p. 145.
ISBN978-0571100040.
"Thaxted" is a
hymn tune by the English composer
Gustav Holst, based on the stately theme from the middle section of the Jupiter movement of his orchestral suite The Planets and named after
Thaxted, the English village where he lived much of his life. He adapted the theme in 1921 to fit the patriotic poem "
I Vow to Thee, My Country" by
Cecil Spring Rice but that was as a unison song with orchestra.[1] It did not appear as a hymn-tune called "Thaxted" until his friend
Ralph Vaughan Williams included it in Songs of Praise in 1926.[2]
The tune
Hymns written to the tune
Many Christian hymns have been written to the tune. Notable ones include:
Sarah Brightman recorded the song "Running" in 2007. It was the theme song for the IAAF Championships; she performed it at the opening ceremony in Osaka.
A choral adaptation of the tune for women's voices features prominently in the 2003 film Mona Lisa Smile.
Maddy Prior includes the tune in two pieces of her 2003 album Lionhearts.[15]
A literary reference appears in "The Adventure of the Lost World",[18] a Sherlock Holmes pastiche written by
Dominic Green, where the tune is a major plot element, though the story contains a chronological error in that its Autumn 1918 setting would pre-date the publishing of the tune under the name "Thaxted".
References
^Holst, Imogen (1974). A Thematic Catalogue of Gustav Holst's Music. Faber. p. 145.
ISBN978-0571100040.