Michael Tippett was born in London and studied music at the Royal College before embarking on an early career as a composer, supported by work with the orchestra and choir of Morley College in South London, tasks that he found socially relevant. His idiosyncratic style developed relatively slowly, flowering in a series of remarkable operas for which he provided his own libretti. Public recognition came with a knighthood in 1966 and appointment as a Companion of Honour in 1979.

Operas
Tippett’s first important opera, The Midsummer Marriage, was staged at Covent Garden in 1955. It was followed six years later by King Priam, then The Knot Garden in 1970 and The Ice Break in 1977, all of them, in one way or another, exploring a world illuminated by Jungian theories of psychology.

Orchestral Music
Well-known orchestral music includes a Concerto for Double String Orchestra, a Triple Concerto, Little Music for Strings and a Fantasia concertante on a Theme of Corelli, as well as four symphonies. Tippett’s debt to English tradition is heard in his Divertimento on Sellinger’s Round, using an Elizabethan melody.

Choral and Vocal Music
Tippett’s A Child of Our Time seemed highly relevant to the state of the world at the time of its completion in 1941. Other remarkable and moving choral works include The Vision of St Augustine, completed in 1965. Among solo songs and song cycles, The Heart’s Assurance, setting poems by Sidney Keyes and Alun Lewis, is of central importance.

Chamber and Keyboard Music
Tippett’s chamber music includes four string quartets that reflect developments in his style, with four piano sonatas spanning a period from 1938 to 1984.