Italian in form with an Elizabethan text, this is a piece which must be struck off the list of works of this most musical of monarchs. Although not a requirement for any potential heir to the throne, music, for a number of reasons, came naturally to Henry and he remained a fanatical musician throughout his reign. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayIndeed, the break with the Catholic Church and the closure of hundreds of monastic and collegiate houses plunged a large number of musicians in misery and the composers in confusion. . As the second son of Henry VII, he was brought up in the manner of any European prince and received a solid education, with, it seems, original hopes of achieving high places in the Church. Little is known of his early musical studies, but it is likely that he would have benefited from contact with musicians attached to his father's court, such as William Cornysh and William Newarke. During his early years the court was bustling with cultural activities and the number of full-time musicians employed in his household grew from around half a dozen to 58. He also maintained his own private chapel choir in addition to his royal chapel, containing the best musicians in the country, who were regular members of his retinue. A famous example is a royal choir book given to Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon around 1516, now held in the British Library (the core of which was formed from their own personal library). Earlier still, Robert Fayrfax set to music Lauda vivi alpha et oo (Praise, most exalted daughter of the living Alpha and Omega), a devotion to the Virgin Mary with an embedded prayer to the king, probably composed shortly after the accession to the throne of Henry in 1509. Typical of the great votive antiphon before the Reformation in its vast musical architecture, it will be the great forms of musical art like this, forged from a long tradition, which will be swept away by Henry's reforms. It is well known that he was a competent player of a variety of keyboard, string and wind instruments and there is even an image of him playing the harp in the so-called Psalter of Henry VIII. The main testimony to his talent as a composer, however, is the so-called Henry VIII Manuscript, which contains 109 songs and instrumental pieces written by composers attached to the court as well as some by foreign musicians. No less than 33 compositions, or almost a third of the entire collection, are attributed to the king. viii. We can imagine that he benefited from the advice of composers and musicians attached to his chapel and his court, but these early errors seem to show that much of what survives belongs to the king. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert authors.Get a custom essayTo celebrate 500 years since Henry's accession to the throne, perhaps it's time to give his musical side another chance, remembering that without the Henry's actions (good or bad), England's musical legacy would most likely be different from Henry's. what we enjoy today.