What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)
Oct 19th, 2007 by skanson.com
Song History “What Child is This?“ - The tune of “Greensleeves“, which is the underlying melody for What Child is This , is a product of the sixteenth century. Greensleeves is an example of folk music in the truest sense of the phrase. Webster defines folk music as the “traditional and typically anonymous music that is an expression of the life of the people in a
community.” It is an excellent “quick and dirty” definition. Folk songs are important both musically and historically as they define some part of a people’s experience and become a part of a people’s culture. This folk song Greensleeves / What Child is This does that for Old England.
There is a misconception that the words for What Child is This were written by King Henry VIII of England (1491-1547). Actually, the lyrics for “What Child is This?” were written around 1865 by Englishman William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898), who wrote What Child is This? as a poem entitled “The Manger Throne.” He also wrote other carols, including “As With Gladness Men of Old” (1859). It is unknown who merged Dix’s lyrics and the tune “Greensleeves“, but one of What Child is This‘ early appearances as a hymn tune was as the setting for “The old year now is fled” in New Christmas Carols of 1642.
Darren Curtis Skanson uses a classical guitar with drop “D” tuning and synthesized strings for this arrangement of What Child is This? The sound has both a warmth of the past as well as freshness of the present with the classical guitar and synthesizers.
“The legend goes that King Henry the 8th wrote the melody for Greensleeves. I find it hard to reconcile the dicatomy of such a wonderful melody with someone who would chop off his wife’s head!” - Darren Curtis Skanson
Darren’s compact disks are a wonderful blend of familiar and original music for classical guitar. Surrounded by violins and cellos, Darren’s music exemplifies the kindness to the ear and virtuosity of performance that light classical guitar is all
? about. Timeless favorites include “Canon in D” by Pachelbel, “Jesu, Joy of Mans Desiring” by Bach, “Greensleeves“, and incredible guitar arrangements of Beethoven’s “Fur Elise“, “Moonlight Sonata” and “Ode to Joy“. Others favorites include “The Cavatina (Theme form the Deer Hunter)“, “Recuerdos De La Alhambra” by Francisco Tarrega, Bach’s “Ave Maria” and “Sheep May Safely Graze“, “Scarborough Faire“, Brahms famous “Valse” and even a “classi-sized” version of the Mason Williams hit “Classical Gas“.
Darren’s Christmas CD’s Angels, Guitars, and Joy and A Light Classical Christmas include classic hymns like “What Child is This“, “Silent Night” and “Carol Of The Bells” and outstanding guitar arrangements of Nutcracker Ballet favorites like “Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy” and “Arabian Dance”. Also featured is a mesmerizing version of Schubert’s “Ave Maria”. A must have for Classical Guitar and Christmas lovers!