Greensleeves

Alas, my love - F minor

The famous song Greensleeves is a 16th century English Renaissance love song.

Its composer remains unknown, and it appears in these early sources :

• As a broadside ballad entitled : A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves. London Stationer's Company (1580)
• As A New Courtly Sonnet of the Lady Green Sleeves. To the new tune of Green sleeves, in A Handful of Pleasant Delights (1584)

The Greensleeves melody is found in several late 16th century and early 17th century sources, such as Ballet's MS Lute Book and Het Luitboek van Thysius, as well as various other manuscripts.

It was a favorite in England in the days of Queen Elizabeth I, and Shakespeare mentions it in his play The Merry Wives of Windsor (ca 1602).

Legend has it that Greensleeves may have been composed by King Henry VIII (1491-1547) for his lover and future queen consort Anne Boleyn.

Anne, the youngest daughter of Thomas Boleyn, rejected Henry's advances, as told by the song :

Alas, my love, you do me wrong to cast me off discourteously...

However, it is unlikely that King Henry VIII composed Greensleeves, as the song is written in a style which was not known in England until after Henry VIII died.

This score is an arrangement of Greensleeves for medium-high voice and piano

It is set in the key of F minor.

The vocal range is C4 to Eb5 for female singers and C3 to Eb4 for male voices.

For your greater enjoyment, this sheet music includes the lyrics in English (five verses and chorus).

Duration : 04:18 for all five verses

Source : Anonymous composer, English Renaissance Songs