I Vow to Thee, My Country (Gustav Holst)

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Music files

• CPDL #10641: ENCORE

Editor: John Henry Fowler (added 2006-01-07).   Score information: Letter, 2 pages, 20 kbytes   Copyright: CPDL

Edition notes: Midi file size: 3 KByte, Encore file size: 21 Kbyte

General Information

Title: I Vow to Thee, My Country
Tune Name: Thaxted
Composer: Gustav Holst

Number of voices: 1v Voicing: Unison
Genre: Sacred, Hymns
Language: English
Instruments: Organ/Piano
Published: 1918

Description: The tune comes from the popular orchestral suite The Planets, specifically the movement Jupiter, the Bringer of Jolity. It is named after the town in Essex.

Comment: Diana, Prin­cess of Wales had re­quest­ed this hymn be sung at her wed­ding, say­ing it had "al­ways been a fa­vo­rite since school­days." To complete the great circle it was also sung at her fun­er­al in 1997.

External websites:

Original text and translations

English text

I vow to thee, my country — all earthly things above —

Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;

The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,

That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;

The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,

The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

And there's another country, I’ve heard of long ago —

Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;

We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;

Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;

And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,

And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.

Ce­cil A. Spring-Rice 1918