Greensleeves: Difference between revisions

A [[Broadside (music)|broadside ballad]] by this name was registered at the [[Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers|London Stationer's Company]] in September 1580,<ref name="fkids"/> by Richard Jones, as "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves".<ref name="Ward181" /> Six more ballads followed in less than a year, one on the same day, 3 September 1580 ("Ye Ladie Greene Sleeves answere to Donkyn hir frende" by Edward White), then on 15 and 18 September (by Henry Carr and again by White), 14 December (Richard Jones again), 13 February 1581 (Wiliam Elderton), and August 1581 (White's third contribution, "Greene Sleeves is worne awaie, Yellow Sleeves Comme to decaie, Blacke Sleeves I holde in despite, But White Sleeves is my delighte").<ref name="Rollins">[[Hyder Edward Rollins]], ''[https://archive.org/details/analyticalindext0000stat/ An Analytical Index to the Ballad-Entries (1557–1709) in the Registers of the Company of Stationers of London]'' (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1924): nos, 1892, 1390, 1051, 1049, 1742, 2276, 1050. Cited in John M. Ward, "'And Who But Ladie Greensleeues?'", in ''The Well Enchanting Skill: Music, Poetry, and Drama in the Culture of the Renaissance: Essays in Honour of F. W. Sternfeld'', edited by John Caldwell, Edward Olleson, and Susan Wollenberg, 181–211 (Oxford:Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1990): 181–82. {{ISBN|0-19-316124-9}}.</ref> It then appears in the surviving ''[[A Handful of Pleasant Delights]]'' (1584) as ''A New Courtly Sonnet of the Lady Green Sleeves. To the new tune of Green Sleeves''.

It is a common myth that Greensleeves was written by [[Henry VIII of England|King Henry VIII]]. However, Henry did not composewrite Greensleeves.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Holman |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Holman |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/henryviiieuropea0000unse/page/104/mode/2up |title=Henry VIII: A European Court in England |publisher=Collins & Brown in association with the [[National Maritime Museum]], Greenwich |year=1991 |isbn=1-85585-008-7 |editor-last=Starkey |editor-first=David |editor-link=David Starkey |publication-place=London |page=104 |chapter=Music at the Court of Henry VIII|via=[[Internet Archive]] }} Exhibition catalogue.</ref><ref name="BBC_music">{{cite web |last1=Skinner |first1=David |title=The Musical Life of King Henry VIII |url=https://www.classical-music.com/features/articles/musical-life-king-henry-viii/ |website=BBC Music Magazine |access-date=28 September 2023}}</ref> It is a romantic myth that Henry wrote the song for his lover and future [[queen consort]] [[Anne Boleyn]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=3 July 2015|title=Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 1 of 3: Mythology|language=en-GB|work=Early Music Muse|url=https://earlymusicmuse.com/greensleeves1of3mythology/|access-date=23 November 2017}}</ref> Theas the piece is based on an Italian style of composition that did not reach England until after Henry'shis death, making it more likely to be [[Elizabethan]] in origin.<ref>[[Alison Weir (historian)|Alison Weir]], ''Henry VIII: The King and His Court'' (New York: [[Ballantine Books]], 2001): 131. {{ISBN|0-345-43708-X}}.</ref>

{{Wikisourcehas|lyrics and music for the song}}

"Greensleeves" can have a [[Ostinato#Ground bass|ground]] either of the form called a ''[[romanesca]]''; or its slight variant, the ''[[passamezzo antico]]''; or the ''passamezzo antico'' in its verses and the ''romanesca'' in its reprise; or of the [[Andalusian progression]] in its verses and the ''romanesca'' or ''passamezzo antico'' in its reprise. The romanesca originated in Spain<ref name="Guitar">Harvey Turnbull, ''The Guitar from the Renaissance to the Present'' (1992){{Full citation needed|date=October 2014}}, p.31. {{ISBN|0-933224-57-5}}. See: {{cite web|title=ArchivedDiferencias copysobre "Guárdame las vacas"|url=http://icking-music-archive.org/scores/narvaez/guardame.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archiveimslp.org/webwiki/20070612093645/http://icking-music-archive.org/scores/narvaez/guardame.pdfDiferencias_sobre_'Gu%C3%A1rdame_las_vacas'_(Narv%C3%A1ez%2C_Luys_de)|archive-datewebsite=12[[International JuneMusic Score Library 2007Project]]|access-date=1528 DecemberJune 20112024}}.</ref> and is composed of a sequence of four [[chord (music)|chords]] with a simple, repeating [[bass (sound)|bass]], which provide the groundwork for [[variation (music)|variations]] and [[improvisation]].

* The tune was used (as "My Lady Greensleeves") as the slow march of the London [[Trained Bands]] in the 16th and 17th centuries. Later the [[7th (City of London) Battalion London Regiment]], which claimed descent from the Yellow Regiment of London Trained Bands, adopted the tune as its quick march during [[World War I]], replacing "Austria" (to the same tune as ''the [[DeutschlandliedGott erhalte Franz den Kaiser|Imperial Austria Anthem]]''), which had been used until then.<ref>C. Digby Planck, ''The Shiny Seventh: History of the 7th (City of London) Battalion London Regiment'', London: Old Comrades' Association, 1946/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2002, {{ISBN|1-84342-366-9}}, pp. 219–20.</ref>

* The tune was the basis for "Home in the Meadow,", a recurring song throughout the 1962 epic film ''[[How the West Was Won (film)|How the West Was Won]]''.<ref>{{cite web|date=25 August 2015|title=GREENSLEEVES vs 'Home In The Meadow'|url=https://tezimagazine.com/2015/08/25/greensleeves-vs-home-in-the-meadow/}}</ref>

* In somethe parts of theUnited worldKingdom, the "Greensleeves" tune is popular as a standard chime for [[ice cream van]]s.<ref>{{cite news |last=Barton |first=Laura |date=12 July 2013 |title=Ice-cream van chimes: the sound of the British summer |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2013/jul/12/ice-cream-van-chimes-british-summer}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Dorman |first=Nick |date=3 August 2013 |title=Ice cream vans, Greensleeves chime and 99s make Brits happier according to poll |newspaper=Mirror |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ice-cream-vans-greensleeves-chime-2123019}}</ref>

* Instrumental versions of "Greensleeves" were used in the long-running original ''[[Lassie (1954 TV series)|Lassie]]'' television series, both in a seven-part 1966 story<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lassieweb.org |url=http://episodes.lassieweb.org/lassie13.htm}}</ref> and as the show's theme song for its last three seasons (1970-731970–73).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lassieweb.org |url=https://www.episodes.lassieweb.org/lasstitl.htm |website=}}</ref>