< < Greensleeves > > It is an English folk song, which has been widely circulated in the era of Queen Elizabeth. It is said that it was written by King Henry VIII (he is a flute player). According to the research data made by William Chappell, a British scholar in the 19th century, the melody of greensleeves was first recorded in William Ballet"s Lute Book ",a famous English lute collection at the end of the 16th century, and the lyrics appeared in the 11th century. However, this song really spread widely when John Gay, a British composer, incorporated it into The Beggar"s Opera,1728), which was created to fight against Italian opera.

The melody of this ballad is very classical and elegant, and it should be a song that describes the sadness about love. However, its popularity is not limited to the field of love. Some people changed the lyrics to sing it, others used it as a Christmas song, and there are countless versions of it adapted for instrumental performance, including sketches, chamber music and orchestral music. Among them, The Beggar's Opera mentioned above and Fantasia on Greensleeves written by British composer Vaughan illiams are the most representative.

Among the many musical instrument versions of greensleeves, it can best show the slightly sad situation of this song, except that the earliest lute version and guitar version have always been unique with their unique timbre. On the other hand, among many versions of classical guitars, the arrangement made by Francis Cutting, a British lute musician, is the most admired and loved by the public. In addition, the famous version is Variations on greensleeves written by Austrian guitarist Karl Riccardo Chailly for guitar duet.