Music Set #278 - Williams - Greensleeves

Ralph Vaughan Williams  - top tracks
/ˌreɪf ˌvɔːn ˈwɪliəmz/  (1872 – 1958)

My Lady Greensleeves

An English composer and a collector of English folk music and song, 
Williams composed an orchestral piece in 1934 entitled 
* Fantasia on Greensleeves 

In it, the tune of Greensleeves alternates with that of Lovely Joan. 
Both are traditional English folk songs and tunes.
* Greensleeves with lyrics - background - on harp
* Lovely Joan - lyrics
 

Anne Boleyn & Henry VIII

There is a persistent belief that Greensleeves was composed by Henry VIII for his lover and future queen consort Anne Boleyn. Boleyn allegedly rejected King Henry's attempts to seduce her and this rejection may be referred to in the song when the writer's love "cast me off discourteously". 

Yet, Henry did not compose "Greensleeves", which is probably 

Elizabethan in origin and is based on an Italian style of

 composition that did not reach England until after his death.

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Partsongs  

* Loch Lomond / The Bonnie Banks o' Lake Lomond
   - traditional Scottish, arranged by Williams






* Three Shakespeare Songs - music by Williams, text by Shakespeare:  
   1. Full Fathom Five - The Tempest, Act 1 scene 2
   2. The Cloud-Capp'd Towers - The Tempest, Act IV scene 1
   3. Over Hill, Over Dale - A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act II scene 1