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| Henry VIII was a true renaissance prince. He was educated in the classics, and spoke and wrote several languages fluently, including the prerequisite Latin. He studied philosophy, and religion and often had heated debates with the learned thinkers of the age. He was an athlete and he was skilled in the arts of war. He wrote prose and poetry. But his real passion was always music. | |
| Henry VIII composed masses (which are now lost) and ballads. He played several instruments. And he amassed a considerable collection of them over his lifetime. As a matter of fact, when he died he left a collection that included: | |
| 5 Bagpipes - It appears that bagpipes were popular in England before they caught on in Scotland. Ecclesiastical carvings of the era show them. There is a good example in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey. | |
| 78 Recorders and 78 Flutes - Recorders were enormously popular in the 16th century. There are frequent references to them in the literature of the period ( see Shakespeare and Milton). Henry VIII was a noted recorder player. | |
| A Mechanical Virginal - The virginal was an early simple harpsichord. It had only one string per note. It was usually an elongated box, of varying length, that could sit on a table. There were some made with floor stands, however. | |
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Chapel Royal |
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| The Chapel Royal is not a building, but a group of clergy and musicians that serve the religious needs of the monarch. | |
| Henry VIII loved luxury as well as music. His Chapel Royal consisted of 79 musicians alone. | |
| When he traveled he took some of the musicians along. Often that group included a choir of 6 boys and 6 men to sing daily mass. | |
| His full Chapel Royal, both clergy and musicians, attended him at the Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520). | |
| Henry VIII had 10 trombonists which he used in churches to support the Plain Song of the Choir. | |
| 14 of 42 performers attached to Henry VIII played the trumpet. | |
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Drums |
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| Henry VIII introduced the custom of providing a drummer with drums carried in front of him on either side of his horse. This was an eastern custom introduced into Europe after the Crusades. The custom didn't reach England until the 16th century, however. | |
| Henry sent to Vienna in 1542 for drums that could be played on horse back. | |
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| Henry VIII, a talented musician and composer himself, had access to a number of other talented musicians who played a variety of instruments. He often experimented with different combinations of those instruments. And by doing so could be said to have contributed to the development of the modern orchestra. | |
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Music courtesy of the Internet Renaissance Band |
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