News

Singing songs for Friday afternoons

Art, Drama & Music
Composer Benjamin Britten wrote his famous Friday Afternoons songs in the 1930s – for pupils at the Prestatyn school where his brother was a teacher to sing during their Friday afternoon music lessons. Last month, 80 years later, 100,000 children around t

Composer Benjamin Britten wrote his famous Friday Afternoons songs in the 1930s – for pupils at the Prestatyn school where his brother was a teacher to sing during their Friday afternoon music lessons. 

Last month, 80 years later, 100,000 children around the world helped to mark the centenary of Britten’s birth by performing those 12 songs.

The day-long celebration was launched with the aim of getting young people in Suffolk to sing Britten’s songs, but the idea spread to the rest of the UK and beyond.

The first performance took place in Melbourne, Australia, at 3am GMT and the last was at a beach party in Santa Monica, California, at 10pm GMT. A total of 700 schools took part, including schools in Singapore, Thailand, Sweden, German, Italy and Canada.

Register now, read forever

Thank you for visiting SecEd and reading some of our content for professionals in secondary education. Register now for free to get unlimited access to all content.

What's included:

  • Unlimited access to news, best practice articles and podcast

  • New content and e-bulletins delivered straight to your inbox every Monday and Thursday

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here