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The intention of this thesis is to describe the process of putting together a performance of a lecture recital on the song cycle Try Me, Good King: Last words of the wives of Henry VIII by modern composer Libby Larsen, and to conduct an in depth exploration of the characters of the first five wives of King Henry VIII of England. Each wife’s character will be investigated in relation to their roles in this song cycle which draws its’ text from the final words of these five women. Each wife’s character will be investigated from three perspectives, that of history, that of Libby Larsen, my own perspective (Morgan Tingle). The ultimate result will be a solid developed character for each wife that is the culmination of my studies portrayed by myself, soprano Morgan Tingle, in the final lecture recital.

Before the reformation and the schism of the Catholic Church, it had always been the duty of the Church and not of the state, to undertake the seven corporal works of mercy; feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick, visit the prisoner, and bury the dead.¹ By dissolving these institutions, Henry had unwittingly created what would become a social disaster of biblical proportions. In essence, this act was rendering thousands of the poor and elderly without a home or shelter, it denied the country of much of the medical aid that has been offered by the church, it denied future generations of thousands of volumes of books and scriptures from the monastic libraries, as well as denied many an education who would have otherwise never received one without the help of the Church. The ultimate goal of my thesis is to prove my hypothesis that the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII was not merely a contributory factor in the need for the creation of poor laws, but the deciding factor (in a myriad of societal issues) for their creation. Footnote 1: Matthew 25 vv. 32-46.