I Vow To Thee, My Country

When my editor at Lorenz asked me to write a Patriotic piece, I was stumped a bit.  I didn’t quite know how to approach the task, as I am not a big fan of Patriotic music in church.  I remembered hearing “I Vow To Thee, My Country” with the tune from Holst’s “The Planets”(THAXTED) and I knew it was perfect.  THAXTED can now be found in many hymnals accompanied by a variety of texts, making this versatile setting usable in various worship settings or for festivals and concerts. This setting uses many techniques such as suspended mallets, martellato lifts, tower swings, and shakes.