The Six Wives of Henry VIII

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The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Studio album by Rick Wakeman

Publication
(s)

1973

Label (s) A&M Records

Format (s)

CD, LP

Genre (s)

Progressive rock

Title (number)

6th

running time

36 min 56 s

occupation

production

Rick Wakeman

chronology
Piano Vibrations (1971) The Six Wives of Henry VIII Journey to the Center of the Earth
(1974)

The Six Wives of Henry VIII iskeyboardist Rick Wakeman's second solo album . It came out in 1973 when Wakeman wasbest knownfor his work with the band Yes .

The album is Wakeman's most successful solo work and is an instrumental concept album about the six wives of the English King Henry VIII (reign from 1509 to 1547).

Emergence

The album was recorded from February to October 1972. Since Wakeman was very active with Yes at that time, the recordings took a long time and also required the participation of many different musicians, so that in addition to the keyboard player, a total of 18 other musicians were involved in the album. In addition, no song was created in the same line-up. The mixing process also took place in different locations, with "Catherine of Aragon" being mixed under the direction of Ken Scott in Trident Studios in London . "Anne Boleyn" was recorded under the direction of Ken Scott at Morgan Studios and mixed again by Dave Henshall at Trident Studios ; all other songs were recorded and mixed by Paul Tregurtha at Morgan Studios .

The church organ featured in the song “Jane Seymour” was recorded in the London church of St Giles-without-Cripplegate .

All songs were composed by Rick Wakeman; an exception is the final part of "Anne Boleyn" , in which Wakeman has adapted the chorale " The Day Thou Gavest Lord Hath Ended " by Clement Cotterill Scholefield .

Cover

The cover photograph by Bruce Rae was taken in the wax museum of Madame Tussauds and shows Wakeman together with the figures of all of the king's wives. The picture is framed with staves . The back of the cover lists the songs together with a biographical outline of the respective queen. A small faux pas is Richard Nixon's head , who can be seen in the photo in profile behind the queens.

The inner cover shows Wakeman in the midst of numerous keyboard instruments used in the recordings; Additional instruments that are not shown are listed in a small text below the picture. There is also a comment from Wakeman:

"This album is based around my interpretations of the musical characteristics of the wives of Henry VIII. Although the style may not always be in keeping with their individual history, it is my personal conception of their characters in relation to keyboard instruments."

"This album is based on my interpretations of the musical characteristics of the wives of Henry VIII. Although the style does not always exactly match their individual lives, it is my personal concept to relate their characters to keyboard instruments."

- Rick Wakeman

music

On this album, Wakeman dedicates a song to every wife of the English king. The album is instrumental, only a few places an accompanying choir appear. However, the songs are not arranged in historical order. The actual order was:

  1. Catherine of Aragon
  2. Anne Boleyn
  3. Jane Seymour
  4. Anna of Kleve
  5. Catherine Howard
  6. Catherine Parr

In general, the music can be assigned to progressive rock and clearly points in this direction in terms of melody, rhythm, instrumentation and structure.

"Catherine of Aragon" was originally planned as Wakeman's solo contribution to the Yes album " Fragile " and was therefore also recorded with the band, but had to be outsourced to the solo album due to conflicts with the record company. Instead, Wakeman played an adaptation of a movement from the 4th Symphony by Johannes Brahms on the band album . "Catherine of Aragon" was nevertheless used at concerts by the band; A version of it can be heard on the live album Yessongs , in which Wakeman also threw in quotations from other songs from the solo album and the Hallelujah choir from the Messiah by Georg Friedrich Handel .

Wakeman's piece is interpreted by Jörg Schumann, editor of the German-language progressive rock encyclopedia Babyblaue Seiten , to the effect that it addresses Katherine's numerous pregnancies and therefore has "something dramatic, sometimes rushed (she chases from pregnancy to pregnancy)" () on.

The second piece, dedicated to Anna von Kleve, is kept relatively fast and rhythmically complex. Schumann sees it “in view of these historical facts [...] a complete misinterpretation [...]. That sounds a lot more like life and passion to me than the brittle, boring Anna would suggest. "().

The third song addresses Catherine Howard and is characterized by the change between quieter anthemic and faster parts.

The church organ is very present in “Jane Seymour” , which Schumann interprets in terms of the Queen's religiosity. The piece also shows numerous polyphonic or fugal influences.

"Anne Boleyn" sees Schumann in relation to the political ambitions of his namesake and particularly emphasizes her résumé in its musical implementation:

“The lovely, lively, pearly piano at the beginning probably represents the happy love of the two. Then comes the sublime choir entry ... they have each other. Wild years of marriage, followed by a sharp-edged croaking keyboard that sounds like intrigue and resentment. Then the threatening climax as a symbol of the ascent to the scaffold, the blow and the delicate piano playing. Poor Anna Boleyn. "

- Jörg Schumann

The last song is dedicated to Catherine Parr, here Schumann already sees a musical and biographical repetition: “Somehow the story of women repeats itself over and over again. Religion, stillbirth and finally decapitation or childbed fever. "()

Track list

  1. Catherine of Aragon - 3:44
  2. Anne of Cleves - 7:53
  3. Catherine Howard - 6:35
  4. Jane Seymour - 4:46
  5. Anne Boleyn - 6:32
  6. Catherine Parr - 7:06

Total playing time: 36 min 46 s

Guest musician

"Catherine of Aragon"
"Anne of Cleves"
"Catherine Howard"
"Jane Seymour"
  • Alan White - drums
"Anne Boleyn"
  • Les Hurdle - bass
  • Mike Egan - guitar
  • Ray Cooper - percussion
  • Bill Bruford - drums
  • Laura Lee , Sylvia McNeill , Liza Strike - choral singing
"Catherine Parr"
  • Dave Winter - bass
  • Mike Egan - guitar
  • Frank Riccotti - percussion
  • Alan White - drums

Keyboard instruments used

Public performance

After the work has never been performed publicly in its entirety, two open air concerts took place at Hampton Court Palace on May 1 and 2, 2009 on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne . In addition to all the original titles, new compositions were also presented with "Henry's Fanfare", "Tudorture '1485", "Defender Of The Faith" and "Tudorock". In addition to Rick and his son Oliver Wakeman, The English Rock Ensemble, The English Chamber Choir, Orchestra Europa and actor Brian Blessed appeared as narrators. The concerts were released on DVD and BD by Eagle Vision.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d essay on the album by Jörg Schumann