Crossword Genius

King Henry is missing from composer's characters (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lear

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'king' is the definition.
(King Lear)

'henry is missing from composer's characters' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'from' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'lar' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lear that I've seen before include "troubled king" , "Role at Stratford" , "Humorist, Edward --" , "writer of comic verse" , "Playful king and writer of nonsense verse" .)

I've seen this clue in the Independent.
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