Greensleeves music box
Greensleeves is one of the oldest melodies in our catalogue, and one of the most haunting. It has been sung for more than four hundred years.
- Tune
- Greensleeves
- Composer
- Traditional English
- Origin
- Registered in London in 1580
The story behind the tune
The tune was registered in London in 1580 as “A Newe Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleves”, and Shakespeare mentions it twice in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
A popular legend says Henry VIII wrote it for Anne Boleyn, but that is unlikely: the style it is written in arrived in England from Italy after his death. In 1865 William Chatterton Dix set his carol “What Child Is This?” to the melody, which is why Greensleeves also feels like Christmas.
How it sounds on a music box
Its lilting rhythm and minor-key melody suit the delicate, ringing tone of a music box comb. Final arrangements for the Musical Drawer are still being developed.
Lovely for
- Lovers of folk and old English music
- A Christmas tune with a difference
- Keepsakes and heirloom pieces