Tippett, Sir Michael

Tippett, Sir Michael

▪ British composer
in full  Michael Kemp Tippett 
born Jan. 2, 1905, London, Eng.
died Jan. 8, 1998, London
 one of the leading English composers of the 20th century.

      Tippett studied composition (1923–28) at the Royal College of Music and privately (1930–32) with R.O. Morris. After serving as music director (1940–51) at Morley College, London, he became a radio and television speaker for the BBC and active as an orchestral conductor. He was knighted in 1966, and he served as director of the Bath (music) Festival from 1969 to 1974.

      Tippett developed slowly as a composer. His early music was conservative, but in the late 1930s he developed a personal, modernistic idiom that was marked by rhapsodic lyricism, intricate counterpoint, and polyphonic rhythms that have a lilting, bounding quality. His first significant composition, an oratorio on his own libretto, A Child of Our Time (composed 1939–41), made him famous upon its performance by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1944. Tippett's most successful works were on a large scale, in particular the operas The Midsummer Marriage (performed 1955), King Priam (1962), The Knot Garden (1970), and The Ice Break (1977), for which he wrote his own librettos. His instrumental works include four symphonies, concertos, string quartets, and piano sonatas.

      Beginning with King Priam, his surging rhythms and lush harmonies give way to a starker, more taut style featuring abrupt juxtapositions of sharply contrasting musical subsections. Tippett's works were not frequently performed in Great Britain until the 1960s. Similarly, it was not until the following decade that his works were regularly scheduled in the United States.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tippett, Sir Michael Kemp — ▪ 1999       British composer (b. Jan. 2, 1905, London, Eng. d. Jan. 8, 1998, London), created a unique musical idiom with works over a long career that fused many different styles. Born to an educated but nonmusical family, Tippett decided to… …   Universalium

  • Tippett, Sir Michael (Kemp) — born Jan. 2, 1905, London, Eng. died Jan. 8, 1998, London British composer. Tippett studied composition (1923–28) at the Royal College of Music. His early music was conservative, but in the late 1930s he developed a personal, modernistic idiom… …   Universalium

  • Tippett, (Sir) Michael — (2 January 1905, London – 8 January 1998, London)    Composer for the stage and concert hall who also wrote two oratorios: A Child of Our Time (1939–1941), a response to world conflict employing black spirituals; and The Vision of St. Augustine… …   Historical dictionary of sacred music

  • Tippett, Sir Michael (Kemp) — (2 ene. 1905, Londres, Inglaterra–8 ene. 1998, Londres). Compositor británico. Estudió composición (1923–28) en el Royal College of Music. Su música temprana era de carácter conservador, pero a fines de la década de 1930 desarrolló un idioma… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Sir Michael — Costa (composer conductor); Sir Michael Tippett (composerconductor educator) …   Eponyms, nicknames, and geographical games

  • Michael Kemp Tippett — Michael Tippett Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (Londres le 2 janvier 1905 – 9 janvier 1998), est un compositeur britannique Biographie Il étudie à Marlborough College et au Royal College of Music de Londres, où il apprend la… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • sir — /serr/, n. 1. a respectful or formal term of address used to a man: No, sir. 2. (cap.) the distinctive title of a knight or baronet: Sir Walter Scott. 3. (cap.) a title of respect for some notable personage of ancient times: Sir Pandarus of Troy …   Universalium

  • Michael — /muy keuhl/, n. 1. a militant archangel. Dan. 10:13. 2. Rumanian, Mihai /mee huy /. born 1921, king of Rumania 1927 30, 1940 47 (son of Carol II). 3. (italics) a narrative poem (1800) by Wordsworth. 4. a male given name. * * * I In the Bible and… …   Universalium

  • Michael — (as used in expressions) Bennett, Michael Michael Bennett Difiglia Bishop, J(ohn) Michael Coetzee, J(ohn) M(ichael) Cohan, George M(ichael) Collins, Michael Curley, James Michael Curtiz, Michael DeBakey, Michael (Ellis) Douglas, Michael Dummett,… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Michael Tippett — Sir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer. Michael Tippett In his long career he produced a large body of work, including five operas, three large scale choral works, four symphonies, five string …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”