Wednesday, Jun. 24, 2009
The Renaissance Man
Henry VIII was a composer of music. In his musical collection, he owned 78 flutes, 78 recorders, five bagpipe sets and a harpsichord. The English folk song "Greensleeves" was at one point attributed to the monarch, who was said to have written it as a love ballad for his future Queen, Anne Boleyn — although his authorship has been generally discredited by recent scholarship. He did, however write "Helas Madame" and "Pastimes with Good Company," — the latter of which is probably the only composition by a British royal to have been covered by Jethro Tull.