"Thaxted" is a

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrai ...

by the English composer

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite '' The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

, based on the stately theme from the middle section of the ''Jupiter'' movement of his orchestral suite ''

The Planets ''The Planets'', Op. 32, is a seven- movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is named ...

'' and named after

Thaxted Thaxted is a town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of north-west Essex, England. The town is in the valley of the River Chelmer, not far from its source in the nearby village of Debden, and is 97 metres (318 feet) above sea level ...

, 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 "I Vow to Thee, My Country" is a British patriotic hymn, created in 1921, when music by Gustav Holst had a poem by Sir Cecil Spring Rice set to it. The music originated as a wordless melody, which Holst later named "Thaxted", taken from the ...

" by

Cecil Spring Rice Sir Cecil Arthur Spring Rice, (27 February 1859 – 14 February 1918) was a British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1912 to 1918, as which he was responsible for the organisation of British efforts to end ...

but that was as a unison song with orchestra. It did not appear as a hymn-tune called "Thaxted" until his friend

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

included it in ''

Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK. The series was first broadcast in October 1961. On that occasion, the venue was the Tabe ...

'' in 1926.

The tune

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Hymns written to the tune

Many Christian hymns have been written to the tune. Notable ones include: * "

" –

, 1921. This setting was sung at the

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage ...

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

and Diana, Princess of Wales in 1981 and again at the latter's funeral in 1997, and the funeral of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

in 2013. * "O God Beyond All Praising" – Michael Perry, 1982. * "We Praise You and Acknowledge You, O God" – a paraphrase of the '' Te Deum Laudamus'' by Stephen P. Starke in the 2006

Lutheran Service Book ''Lutheran Service Book'' (''LSB'') is the newest official hymnal of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC). It was prepared by the LCMS Commission on Worship and published by Concordia Publishing Hou ...

* "The Answer" – song with lyrics by

Corrinne May Corrinne May (born Corrinne Foo May Ying; 19 January 1973) is a Los Angeles-based Singaporean musician, singer, and songwriter. Life and career She graduated from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, and began her career as a si ...

, which appears on her fourth album, '' The Gift''. *"The Iron Rod" – a hymn using lyrics from a hymn of the same name in the

hymn book A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chr ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...

(LDS Church).

Other uses

The tune has been played at various major events: * The funeral service of United States Senator John McCain at the

Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...

on 1 September 2018. *The funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

on the 17th of April 2021. *The funeral Mass of Justice Antonin Scalia in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Secular songs written to the tune include: * "In the Quest for Understanding" – sesquicentennial anthem for Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin * "

World in Union "World in Union" is a theme song for the Rugby World Cup. Its melody is "Thaxted", from the middle section of "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity", a movement from Gustav Holst's ''The Planets'', and was originally adapted by Holst for its use in th ...

" – the anthem with lyrics by Charlie Skarbek, introduced at the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This wa ...

* The alma mater of various schools including Cinco Ranch High School in

Katy, Texas Katy is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the Greater Katy area, itself forming the western part of the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Homes and businesses may have Katy postal addresses without being in the City of Katy. The city o ...

, Flower Mound High School in

Flower Mound, Texas Flower Mound is an incorporated town located in Denton and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas. Located northwest of Dallas and northeast of Fort Worth adjacent to Grapevine Lake, the town derives its name from a prominent mound loca ...

, Ronald Reagan High School in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, Westwood High School in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

and Wesley College in Melbourne, Victoria. * The noise rock band

Harvey Milk Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised in ...

used Thaxted as a section in their song "The Anvil Will Fall". *

English folk The folk music of England is a tradition-based music which has existed since the later medieval period. It is often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music. Folk music traditionally was preserved and passed on orally wit ...

trio

Kerr Kerr may refer to: People * Kerr (surname) * Kerr (given name) Places ;United States * Kerr Township, Champaign County, Illinois * Kerr, Montana, A US census-designated place * Kerr, Ohio, an unincorporated community *Kerr County, Texas Other ...

Fagan Harbron used Thaxted as an introduction to the song "Leaving Old England". * The Swedish

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tra ...

band Bathory used Thaxted as the basis for the song "Hammerheart" on the album ''Twilight of the Gods'' * Japanese singer Ayaka Hirahara released the song "Jupiter", based on the melody, in December 2003. It went to No. 2 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in N ...

charts and sold nearly a million copies, making it the third-best-selling single in the Japanese popular music market for 2004. It remained on the charts for over three years. Japanese girl group Little Glee Monster covered the song for the 2017 TV series ''Rikuoh'', and also included the cover on their 2018 album ''Juice''. *

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer, actress and dancer. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 19 ...

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 ''Mona Lisa Smile'' is a 2003 American drama film produced by Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures in association with Red Om Films Productions, directed by Mike Newell, written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, and starring Julia ...

. *

Maddy Prior Madelaine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the police dra ...

includes the tune in two pieces of her 2003 album ''Lionhearts''. Other uses of the melody include: *The credits theme for the 2001 Sega video game Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Force. *The ''

Civilization V ''Sid Meier's Civilization V'' is a 4X video game in the Civilization (series), ''Civilization'' series developed by Firaxis Games. The game was released on Microsoft Windows on September 21, 2010, on OS X on November 23, 2010, and on Linux on J ...

'' soundtrack as the theme of the English civilization. * The children's show Bluey used the tune in a second season episode named "Sleepytime". A literary reference appears in "The Adventure of the Lost World",originally published 2004 online in '' BBCi Cult Sherlock Holmes Magazine,'' and reprinted in ''The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,'' ed.

John Joseph Adams John Joseph Adams (born 1976) is an American science fiction and fantasy editor, critic, and publisher. Career Editor Adams worked as Assistant Editor at ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' from May 2001 to December 2009. In January 20 ...

. San Francisco:

Night Shade Books Night Shade Books is an American, San Francisco–based imprint, formerly an independent publishing company, that specializes in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Among its publications have been the U.S. edition of Iain M. Banks' novel ''T ...

(), 2009. 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

External links

''Thaxted'' sheet music
(PDF) * . {{Authority control Compositions by Gustav Holst Hymn tunes 1921 songs