Henry was a Talented Musician- but He Did Not Write Greensleeves
As well as being a scholar and an athlete, posterity rates Henry VIII as an accomplished musician. The King could read music, sing and play a variety of instruments, including the virginals, harpsichord, the recorder and the viol, an early form of the violin. Such was his love for music that Henry built up a vast collection of musical instruments including 76 recorders, 78 flutes, ten trombones, 14 trumpets, and five bagpipes!
The King’s court actively encouraged the best musicians of the day. At its height, Henry’s court could boast nearly one hundred musicians from all over Europe, working shifts to keep the king constantly musically entertained. Some even played while he entertained ladies in his bedchamber! Later in life, Henry still retained musicians, no doubt to take his mind off the pain of his physical ailments. One of the last groups to serve the King was the Bassano family of Venice, a group of wind musicians who moved to England to join Henry’s household in the last years of his life.
However, Henry was not just content to be a member of the audience- or even play other peoples’ tunes. He also wrote his own. “Henry VIII songbook” was compiled around 1518. It preserves 20 songs and 13 instrumental pieces all ascribed to the King. One of the most famous is “Pastime in good company, which became a national hit, sung in the streets and taverns of England before proving an equal success in Europe.
“Pastyme with good companye,” began the lyrics, “I love and shall untyll I dye. Grudge who will, but none deny. So god be please, thus live will I.” The song summed up all the things that Henry loved in life: “shotyng, singing, dausyng, wrastelyng, casting of the barre, paliying at the recorders, flute, virginal and in setting of songes. ” This sentiment chimed with a good deal of Henry’s people- even if they did not have the same leisure as their King!
Henry wrote other songs too, including masses as well as ballads. Most of these are lost. However, one song he did not write was Greensleeves. Based on the structure and composition of the song, this is now believed to match an Italian style of composition that did not reach England until the Elizabethan period.