Submitted by: Russell Ambrose

Description:
In 1921 Gustav Holst adapted the music from a section of Jupiter from his suite The Planets to create a setting for the poem. The music was extended slightly to fit the final two lines of the first verse. At the request of the publisher Curwen Holst made a version as a unison song with orchestra (Curwen also published Sir Hubert Parry`s unison song with orchestra, Jerusalem). This was probably first performed in 1921 and became a common element at Armistice memorial ceremonies, especially after it was published as a hymn in 1926.[1]Holst harmonised the tune to make it useable as a hymn, which was included in Songs of Praise[2] in 1926 with the same words, but the tune was then called Thaxted (named after the village where Holst lived for many years). The editor of the new (1926) edition of Songs of Praise was Holst`s close friend Ralph Vaughan Williams, which may have provided the stimulus for producing the hymn.Imogen Holst recorded that "At the time when he was asked to set these words to music, Holst was so over-worked and over-weary that he felt relieved to discover they `fitted` the tune from Jupiter".[3]