Begone, dull care! | Britten Pears Arts

In 1934 Benjamin Britten wrote a series of 12 songs for the school in Wales where his brother was headteacher. These songs, called Friday Afternoons (named after the time when pupils had their singing practice), started a long process of writing music for schools and Britten's lifelong interest in music for young people and in music education. Begone, dull care! is one of the Friday Afternoons songs. The text was written by an anonymous artist in the 17th century, and was published in a book called 'English Lyrical Verse'. The Health and Wellbeing of children and young people is at the forefront of everyone’s minds nowadays. Benjamin Britten had a similar focus in the 1930s with Begone Dull Care. This single part, 2 verse song is full of joy and encourages a number of possible discussion points in rehearsal and performance.

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