There was a man of Newington

A short bit of nonsense that is sure to raise an eyebrow amongst your singers. In just 13 bars, Britten covers the top, middle and bottom of the vocal range and at the same time gets across a very silly story from John Drinkwater’s The Way of Poetry.

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Buy the full score

This song is available for purchase from Boosey & Hawkes as part of a collection of 13 songs for unison treble voices and piano, written between 1933 and 1934.

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Resources

  1. Breathing and Airflow

  2. Performance Skills

  3. Dynamics

  4. Tempo, Pulse, Counting

  5. Sensational Singing Assemblies playlist

  6. black and white image of young man with short hair playing the piano and looking intensely at the camera

    Britten's Early Works

  7. Britten's Impact

  8. Britten's Childhood

  9. Britten's Music for Children

  10. Composing and Exploring - There Was A Man of Newington

Credits

Music by:
Benjamin Britten
Text by:
Anon - 'The Jou of Poetry' - John Drinkwater

Performance track

Singers:
New London Children’s Choir
Conductor:
Ronald Corp
Accompanist:
Alexander Wells
Licensed by:
kind permission of Naxos

Song Details

Genre:
Classical
Tempo:
Brisk
Time Signature:
4/4
Key Signature:
E Major
Tonality:
Major
Range:
C#4 - E5
Piano Supporting Melody:
Occasionally