Spike Milligan Poems – Sheet Music
By: Craig McLeish
Spike Milligan was, and still is regarded as one of the finest comic minds of all time. He is the comedian’s comedian and so many comedy stars of the last 5 decades cite him as their prime influence. Without the Goon show which basically originated from his own imagination, we wouldn’t have had Monty Python, The Goodies, Blackadder, The Young Ones etc etc. His poems are also well known and much loved.
“On The Ning Nang Nong” was voted the UK’s favourite comic poem of all time in a nationwide poll. It is perhaps surprising that these poems have not been set much to music. Spike himself was an accomplished musician and a brilliant trumpet player and did set a few tunes but they are not widely known.
We are thrilled that Spike’s family have allowed us to feature these settings exclusively on Choir Community. They are written with community choirs in mind but are above intermediate in level. Choirs and audiences will hopefully enjoy the silliness and we hope to bring you more in the future!
I NEVER FELT FINER (update 2021) - SECUREI Never Felt Finer – a 5 part song to be sung in the style of a madrigal. The main thing here is to get out counting right in between phrases. The central slow section should be quite dramatic and tragic, with a gradual diminuendo and hushed tones, so that the contrast is marked returning to the opening phrases again.
ON THE NING NANG NONG - Full Score - SECUREOn The Ning Nang Nong – A jaunty SATB tune which doesn’t quite go how you expect it to. There are some quite specific harmonies to master and a surprise gappy ending which often catches people unawares!
THERE ARE HOLES - Full Score - SECUREThere Are Holes – a more simple hymn like arrangement which is repeated, but on the repeat some of the rain gets in. Take care to get these “plinks” in the right place so the effect can be heightened.
Reviews
There are Holes (Spike Milligan Poems Collection)
We have only done ‘There are Holes’ from this collection. IMHO it is a spectacular piece of music.
Really original, harmonically modern & fascinating, but yet my lot managed to more or less learn all the notes in 15-20 mins, all parts together! Very fine & well considered writing.
It’s beautifully pretty yet poignant & almost sad, like a gentle smile with a tear in the corner of the eye. Utterly Spike. He would have absolutely loved it. (I was raised on Milligan poems). We love singing this
Challenging but clever and fun!
These are really clever arrangements, especially I Never Felt Finer. There were times when I thought my community choir (many of whom don’t read music) were not going to be able to master it, the challenge being that none of the 5 parts sing the same thing in the same rhythm at the same time until the middle section! Coming accurately and with confidence was really difficult. We persevered however, and just got through it without incident at our concert last Sunday. This is one of my own personal favourites. We also performed In the Ning Nang Nong which is great fun and hope to also master ‘There are Holes’ in time for next year’s concert so we have the full set.
Spike Milligan Poems – Sheet Music
Thank you for this great/impressive and amusing arrangement. Much easier to learn with the sound files!
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Copyright Craig McLeish 2023