I Vow to Thee my Country

"I Vow To Thee My Country" is arguably the greatest English hymn/patriotic song of the 20^th Century. It began life in 1908 as a poem called Urbs Dei - ie The Two Fatherlands by career diplomat Cecil Spring-Rice while posted to Stockholm. He would later go on to become British Ambassador to the United States, where in January 1918 he revised it as I Vow To Thee My Country. He died in Canada the following month, 13 days short of his 59^th birthday, so he didn't live to see Gustav Holst set it to music three years later using part of "Jupiter" from his orchestral suite The Planets.

The song was a favorite of Diana Princess of Wales, and was sung both at her wedding to Prince Charles, and 16 years later at her funeral along with a rewritten "Candle In The Wind" which was performed by Elton John.