Hidden Musicians of History: The Man Who Liked to Chop and Change: Henry VIII

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱: Henry VIII

He is a man better known for chopping and changing than practising scales.

Henry VIII.

 Six wives.

 Two beheadings.

 One brand-new church because Rome told him “no”.

And yet, inconveniently for the caricature, he could really write music.

Henry wasn’t pretending.

 He wasn’t dabbling.

 He wasn’t commissioning and slapping his name on it.

He composed.

 He performed.

 He understood music.

He played the lute, the virginals, and several other instruments that required actual skill rather than royal confidence. He kept musicians permanently at court and expected a high standard. If you were sloppy, you didn’t last long. (Which, to be fair, was true of many things in Henry’s orbit.)

His most famous piece, "Pastime with Good Company," is still performed today. It’s tuneful, balanced, and surprisingly joyful for a man who spent much of his life furious with someone.

Music, for Henry, wasn’t decoration.

 It was power, culture, image, and control.

 Court music said: this is a serious kingdom, led by a serious man with refined taste.

Which makes the contrast all the more striking.

A king capable of writing elegant melodies.

 A ruler capable of extreme cruelty.

 Proof that musical ability and moral restraint are not the same thing.

So today we remember Henry VIII not just as the king who reshaped England through violence and ego, but as a man who, between divorces and executions, sat down and actually wrote a decent tune.

Henry VIII

 King

 Composer

 And a reminder that being musical doesn’t automatically make you nice

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