Thaxted is a hymn tune that Gustav Holst extracted from his well-known movement “Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity” from The Planets. This arrangement for cello choir takes inspiration from both the hymn harmonization and the orchestration in the original suite. It will also be partially included in a future complete arrangement of Jupiter.

The six parts are all advanced-intermediate difficulty, with the upper parts leaning more advanced and the lower parts leaning toward intermediate difficulty. Each part works best with at least two cellists per part, although fewer are possible with more advanced groups. The arrangement presents three verses, approximately doubling the length of the theme as presented in Jupiter.

Verse one is most similar to the full orchestral version, with cello 1 emulating the harp part in pizzicato chords while the melody is doubled in octaves over a three-part chord progression. The second verse features a softer take on the melody in lower octaves, paired with partially-broken arpeggios and a pizzicato bass line. Triplet arpeggios emerge in the second half as the pizzicato line becomes more syncopated in contract. The third verse gathers for a melodic statement that is similar to the hymn harmonization, ornamented by a syncopated line until the final line.