Thaxted (tune)

Thaxted, the English village where the British composer Gustav Holst resided much of his life, is also the name of a hymn tune, with the unusual meter of 13 13 13 13 13 13, based on the stately main theme of the "Jupiter" movement of his orchestral suite "The Planets". He adapted the tune in 1921 to fit a patriotic poem "I Vow to Thee, My Country" which had been written by Cecil Spring-Rice. This setting was sung at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997.

Other hymns written to the tune include
* "O God Beyond All Praising" - Michael Perry [cite web
url=http://www.hymnsite.com/fws/hymn.cgi?2009
title=O God Beyond All Praising
accessdate=2008-07-01]
* "O Spirit All-Embracing" - Delores Dufner, OSB
* "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
* "Let Streams of Living Justice" - William Whitla (from the Canadian Anglican hymnal Common Praise)

Secular songs written to the tune include:
* "Hail to our Alma Mater" - sesquicentennial anthem for Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin [cite web
url=http://www.lawrence.edu/about/trads/lyrics.shtml
title=Lawrence University: College Songs of Past and Present
accessdate=2008-07-01]

Commercial uses

*Sarah Brightman has recorded a song "Running" in 2007. It was the theme song for the IAAF Championships; Sarah performed it at the opening ceremony in Osaka.
*An instrumental version appears in an episode of the satirical television show The Day Today to accompany a 'patriotic' video.
*A variation of the tune entitled "World in Union", with its own lyrics by Charlie Skarbek, is a theme for the Rugby World Cup.
*Maddy Prior includes the tune in two pieces of her 2003 album "Lionhearts".
*The music appears in the British mini-series To Play the King (1993)
*The song is frequently used in the BBC show "Top Gear" as a soundtrack to the appearance of some British cars.
*An instrumental version of the song is featured in the 1995 film adaptation of Jane Austen's "Persuasion".
*The music also featured in the 2003 movie "Mona Lisa Smile".
*The music was used in 2007 for a television advertisement by the Safaricom mobile network in Kenya
*The music was used in 2006 for a television advertisement by the Siam Commercial Bank in Thailand for their 100 years celebration.
*The music was used in 2008 at the European Cup final in Moscow when Manchester United collected the trophy for a 3rd time.

References