Description
Pastime with Good Company (also known as The King’s Ballad) is a song reputedly written by the Tudor King Henry VIII in the early 16th century when Henry was a young man. As a man of noble birth Henry was expected to master many skills and, alongside being highly skilled in sporting pursuits such as fencing, archery, hawking, jousting, hunting, riding, wrestling and real tennis he was also accomplished in dancing, writing poetry, singing, and playing and composing music.
The song is thought to have been written for Catherine of Aragon, his first wife. Its lyrics (which are certainly by Henry) convey the exuberance and extravagances enjoyed by those in the English Court in an era of political stability and healthy state finances. It praises the pursuit of sport and other entertaining diversions and provides a moral justification for all the merriment: company is preferable to idleness; for the latter breeds vice.
Pastime with Good Company became popular throughout England as well as other European countries during the Renaissance and was later purportedly a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry’s daughter by Anne Boleyn. Numerous arrangements of Henry’s piece have been made over the centuries. Here Henry’s undeniably catchy melody has been arranged for wind quintet.
