Prelude on Thaxted

About the piece

"Prelude on Thaxted" is a brief, diatonic setting for organ of Gustav Holst's 1921 tune (the "Jupiter" theme from The Planets, also widely sung as "I Vow to Thee, My Country" and as Stephen Starke's Te Deum paraphrase "We Praise You and Acknowledge You, O God" - Lutheran Service Book #941). A motoric ostinato in the Swell introduces the texture, the melody appears full on the Great, and the ostinato is re-foregrounded at the close. The introductory section pre-develops the first three notes of Thaxted (D–F–G, the modal 5–♭7–1) iteratively before the tune proper enters... a way of acknowledging the Gregorian Te Deum laudamus chant, whose opening incipit traces the same motive and which Starke's paraphrase deliberately cites through Holst's setting. It is written to be playable and rewarding for organists across a wide range of skill levels, and serves naturally as pre-service, Offertory, or processional music in any service that includes Thaxted.

Performance notes

Registration suggestions (Gt/Sw/Pd) are printed in the score.

What this purchase includes

• Full score (PDF, 3 pages)
• License: Single institution, unlimited performances.