Greensleeves - Anonymous - Lute Work

Greensleeves, one of the most popular tunes in history, was already a favorite in Elizabethan times.It was twice mentioned in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor, and first appeared in the stationer's register of 1580 when Richard Jones had licensed to him "A new Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves." There is, however, evidence that the tune is of much earlier origin, perharps in Henry VIII's time, this registration and the many that followed it being evidence of a new wave of popularity in the late sixteenth-century. In the following century it was adopted during the revolution by the cavaliers, who wrote many political songs to this tune, and in 1728 appeared again as one of the melodies selected for the Beggar's Opera. I am playing the William Ballet's lute book's version.

Author: Technogrow55
Keywords: Lute Classical Guitar Antonio Lauro Andres Segovia Julian Bream
Added: February 24, 2009