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Sir Michael Kemp Tippett, OM (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was one of the foremost English composers of the 20th century. The Order of Merit is a British and Commonwealth Order bestowed by the Monarch. Events 366 - The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers invading the Roman Empire. Year 1905 ( MCMV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 871 - Battle of Ashdown - Ethelred of Wessex defeats a Danish invasion army Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance

Contents

Early years

Tippett was born in London of English and Cornish stock. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Cornwall ( Kernow ˈkɛɹnɔʊ is the most southwesterly county of England, on the Peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar His mother was a charity worker and a suffragette,[1] and he was a cousin of suffragette leader Charlotte Despard. Suffragette is a term originally coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for the more radical and Militant members of the Charlotte Despard (née French) (1844 &ndash 1939 was a British-born later Irish-based Suffragist, Novelist and Sinn Féin activist [2]

Although he enjoyed his childhood, after losing their hotel business in southern France, his parents decided to travel through and live on the Continent, and Michael and his brother attended boarding schools in England. A boarding school is a School where some or all pupils not only study but also live during term time with their fellow students and possibly teachers At that time, Tippett won a scholarship and studied in Fettes College, Edinburgh, but he soon moved to Stamford School after some extremely unhappy personal experience. Fettes College is an independent boarding and Day school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. Stamford School is an English public school situated in the market town of Stamford, Lincolnshire. This, combined with his discovering his homosexuality, contributed to making Tippett's teenage years lonely and rather stressful. Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. Although he was open about his sexual orientation,[3] it seems that he started to feel emotional strain from a rather early age, and this later became a major motivation to his composition. Closeted Coming out (that is " coming out of the closet " describes the voluntary public announcement of one's Sexual orientation and/or Gender identity Before his time at Stamford, Tippett hardly had any contact with music at all, let alone formal musical training. He recalled that it was in Stamford, where he had piano lessons and saw Malcolm Sargent conducting, that he decided to become a composer, although he did not know what it meant nor how to start. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes -->Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 &ndash 3 October 1967

Musical studies

He registered as a student in the Royal College of Music, where he studied composition with Charles Wood and C. The Royal College of Music is a well known conservatoire located in the South Kensington district of London, England, and one Charles Wood may refer to Charles Wood 2nd Earl of Halifax (1912–1980 British politician and peer Charles Wood 3rd Earl of Halifax H. Kitson, and the former's teaching on counterpoint had profound influence on Tippett's future compositional style; many of his works, despite the complicated sonority, are essentially contrapuntal. At the RCM, Tippett also studied conducting with Adrian Boult and Malcolm Sargent. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH ( 8 April 1889 WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes -->Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 &ndash 3 October 1967 In the 1920s, living simply in Surrey, he plunged himself into musical life, conducting amateur choirs and local operas. The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. Later, he taught at Morley College. Morley College is an Adult education college in London, England. [3]

Unlike his contemporaries William Walton and Benjamin Britten, Tippett was a late developer as a composer and was severely critical of his early compositions. Sir William Turner Walton, OM ( March 29, 1902 &ndash March 8, 1983) was a British Composer and Edward Benjamin Britten Baron Britten, OM CH (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976 was an English Composer, conductor, At the age of 30, he studied counterpoint and fugue with Reginald Owen Morris. In Music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and Rhythm, and interdependent in Harmony In Music, a fugue (ˈfjuːg is a type of contrapuntal composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts, normally referred Reginald Owen Morris ( 3 March 1886 &ndash 14 December 1948) almost universally cited in sources and referred to even by his friends by his His first mature compositions show a fascination with these aspects.

Formerly a member of the Communist Party, in 1935 Tippett broke with them to join the Trotskyist Bolshevik-Leninist Group. A Political party described as a communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of Communism through a communist form of The Communist League was the first Trotskyist group in Britain. [2] He soon moved on to pacifism and joined the Peace Pledge Union. The Peace Pledge Union is a British Non-governmental organization which emerged from an initiative by Dick Sheppard, canon of St Paul's Cathedral, in 1934 In the Second World War he registered as a conscientious objector, but refused to accept a condition involving giving up his musical work at Morley College; this led to a sentence of three months imprisonment in Wormwood Scrubs, which he meticulously listed in his Who's Who entry. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including A conscientious objector (CO is an individual who on religious moral or ethical grounds refuses to participate as a combatant in war or in some cases to take any role that would support Morley College is an Adult education college in London, England. He later served as Chair and then President of the Peace Pledge Union, and one of his last public acts was to unveil the Commemorative Stone to Conscientious Objectors in Tavistock Square, Bloomsbury, London, on 15 May 1994, International Conscientious Objectors' Day. Events 1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the Papal bull Ad exstirpanda, which authorizes but also limits the Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar)

Maturity

From the mid-1960s until the early 1970s, Tippett had a close relationship with the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO), conducting them regularly in the UK and on tour in Europe and generally supporting the state-funded musical education programme that had produced an orchestra of such high standards. The Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO is a youth Orchestra based in Leicester, England. He conducted the LSSO almost exclusively in twentieth-century music, including Gustav Holst's The Planets, Charles Ives's Three Places in New England (see external link to Putnam's Camp video below), Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphoses and many new works by English composers. Gustav Theodore Holst (21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934was an English Composer and was a music teacher for nearly 20 years The Planets Op 32 is a seven- movement Orchestral suite by the British composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 Charles Edward Ives (October 20 1874 – May 19 1954 was an American Composer of modernist Classical music. The Three Places in New England (Orchestral Set No 1 is a composition for orchestra by Charles Ives. George Gershwin (September 26 1898 &ndash July 11 1937 was an American Composer. Rhapsody in Blue is a musical composition by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band written in 1924 which combines elements of classical music with Paul Hindemith (16 November 1895 &ndash 28 December 1963 was a German Composer, Violist, violinist teacher music theorist and conductor. The orchestral work Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Weber was composed by Paul Hindemith in 1943. Under Tippett, the LSSO, an orchestra of ordinary secondary school children aged 14 to 18, regularly performed on BBC radio and TV, made commercial gramophone records and established new standards for music-making in an educational context. Many leading British performers had their first experience of orchestral music in the LSSO under Tippett.

Tippett was knighted in 1966, and awarded the Order of Merit in 1983. The Order of Merit is a British and Commonwealth Order bestowed by the Monarch. He remained very active composing and conducting. His opera, New Year, received its premiere in 1989. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Then came Byzantium, a piece for soprano and orchestra premiered in 1991. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. His autobiography, Those Twentieth Century Blues also appeared in 1991. A string quartet followed in 1992. A string quartet is a Musical ensemble of four String instruments &mdash usually two Violins a Viola and Cello &mdash or a piece In 1995 his ninetieth birthday was celebrated with special events in Britain, Canada and the US, including the premiere of his final work, The Rose Lake. In that year a collection of his essays, Tippett on Music, also appeared.

In 1996, Tippett moved from Wiltshire to London. Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) Etymology The county formerly 'Wiltonshire' or 'Wiltunscir' (9th century is named after the former county town of Wilton (itself named after the River Wylye In 1997, in Stockholm for a retrospective of his concert music, he developed pneumonia. ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the Lung. Frequently it is described as lung Parenchyma / alveolar inflammation and abnormal He was brought home to England, where he died early in 1998. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland

Sir Michael was distantly related to his namesake Michael Tippett, founder of NowPublic. NowPublic is a user-generated social news website The company is based in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada and was founded by Michael Tippett, Leonard Brody

Music

Tippett was regarded by many as an outsider in British music, a view that may have been related to his conscientious objector status during World War II and his homosexuality. A conscientious objector (CO is an individual who on religious moral or ethical grounds refuses to participate as a combatant in war or in some cases to take any role that would support World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including [4] His pacifist beliefs led to a prison sentence during the Second World War: in 1943, at the height of the war, he was summoned to appear before a British government tribunal to justify his conscientious objector status. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including A conscientious objector (CO is an individual who on religious moral or ethical grounds refuses to participate as a combatant in war or in some cases to take any role that would support Instead of receiving an absolute exemption, he was ordered to do full-time farm work. However, Tippett refused to comply with this ruling and was subsequently imprisoned for three months at HMP Wormwood Scrubs. Wormwood Scrubs (informally "The scrubs" is a Category B British local Prison that receives prisoners on remand or after sentencing

For many years his music was considered ungratefully written for voices and instruments, and therefore difficult to perform. An intense intellectual, he maintained a much wider knowledge and interest in the literature and philosophy of other countries (Africa, Europe) than was common among British musicians. His (sometimes quirky) libretti for his operas and other works reflect his passionate interest in the dilemmas of human society and the enduring strength of the human spirit. A libretto is the text used in an extended Musical work such as an Opera, Operetta, Masque, sacred or secular Oratorio and

Tippett was never a prolific composer, and his works, completed slowly, comprised five string quartets, four concerti, four symphonies, five operas and a number of vocal and choral works. A string quartet is a Musical ensemble of four String instruments &mdash usually two Violins a Viola and Cello &mdash or a piece The term Concerto (plural concertos or concerti) usually refers to a three part musical work in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an Orchestra A symphony is a Musical composition, often extended and usually for Orchestra. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto For the musical composition see Chorale. A choir, chorale, or chorus is a Musical ensemble of Singers His music is typically seen as falling into four distinct periods. The first period (1935–1947) includes the first three quartets, the Concerto for Double String Orchestra, the oratorio A Child of Our Time (written to his own libretto at the encouragement of T. S. Eliot and first performed by Morley College Choir) and the First Symphony. An oratorio is a large Musical composition including an Orchestra, a Choir, and soloists The oratorio was somewhat modeled after the Opera A Child of Our Time is an Oratorio written by Michael Tippett between 1939 and 1941 Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26 1888 – January 4 1965 was a poet Dramatist, and Literary critic. Morley College Choir was founded by Gustav Holst, during the period he was teaching music at Morley College. This period is characterised by strenuous contrapuntal energy and deeply lyrical slow movements. The second period, from then until the late 1950s, includes the opera The Midsummer Marriage, the Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli, the Piano Concerto, and the Second Symphony; this period features rich textures and effervescent melody. The Midsummer Marriage is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Michael Tippett. The third period, the 1960s and '70s, is in stark contrast, and is characterised by abrupt statements and simplicity of texture, as in the opera King Priam, the Concerto for Orchestra and the Second Piano Sonata. King Priam is an opera by Michael Tippett, to his own libretto The fourth period is a rich mixture of all these styles, using many devices, such as quotation (from Ludwig van Beethoven and Modest Mussorgsky, among others). Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (Моде́ст Петро́вич Му́соргский Modest Petrovič Musorgskij) ( March 21 March 9 1839 &ndash March The main works of this period were the Third Symphony, the operas The Ice Break and New Year, and the large-scale choral work The Mask of Time. The Ice Break is an opera in three acts by Michael Tippett, to an original English libretto by the composer

Works

Stage

Orchestral

Concertante

Choral/Vocal

Chamber/Instrumental

Band

Notes

  1. ^ Jessica Duchen, "A man of our time". New Statesman, 1 January 2005.
  2. ^ a b | Obituary of Michael Tippett by J. J. Plant in Revolutionary History, Vol. 7, No. 1 (1998)
  3. ^ a b Michael Berkeley, 'One must have a chaos inside'. The Guardian, 18 December 2004.
  4. ^ Michael Berkeley, "Joyful oblivion". The Guardian, 26 August 2005.

References

External links

Videos

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