"O Valiant Hearts" is a hymn remembering the fallen of the First World War. It often features prominently in annual Remembrance Day services in the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth.
Words were taken from a poem by Sir John Stanhope Arkwright (1872âÂÂ1954), published in The Supreme Sacrifice, and other Poems in Time of War (1919).
It was set to music by Charles Harris (1865âÂÂ1936) who was vicar of Colwall, Herefordshire between 1909 and 1929. It is to his tune, referred to as Harris or sometimes The Supreme Sacrifice that the hymn is now almost always sung.
Existing tunes used for the hymn include "Birmingham", a Victorian tune by Francis Cunningham and Farley Castle by Henry Lawes (1596âÂÂ1662).
The poem was later included as a hymn in both editions of the hymn book Songs of Praise. For the first edition, published in 1925, the music was set to a traditional tune, 'Valour', arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams. In the second, larger edition of Songs of Praise, published in 1931, Gustav Holst composed the tune 'Valiant Hearts' especially for the hymn.
In Songs of Praise Discussed, Valiant Hearts is described as 'a good bold tune, in triple time, with a suggestion of bell-chimes in the repeated first phrase, an effect which is enhanced by the nature of the accompaniment to the alternative unison version'. The alternative unison version referred to is written for verses 3 and 7.