Tippett : the composer and his music / Ian Kemp.
| Author/creator | Kemp, Ian |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | London : Eulenburg Books ; New York : Da Capo Press, 1984. |
| Description | xiii, 516 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Introduction: a short biography. Family background ; Childhood and schooling ; Student years ; Oxted ; Music and politics in the 1930s ; The war years and Morley College ; Writings and performances ; Recent years -- The composer and his music -- 1923-34. Formative attitudes -- Student works -- 1934-52. The composer in context -- Compositional techniques. Form and tonality ; Harmony ; Rhythm -- The sonata principle: four early works. String quartet no. 1 ; A song of liberty ; Piano sonata no. 1 ; Concerto for double string orchestra -- A child of our time. Historical background ; The text in general ; The text in detail ; The music -- Completion of a strategy. Minor works ; Fantasia on a theme of Handel ; Boyhood's end ; String quartet no. 2 ; String quartet no. 3 ; Symphony no. 1 -- The midsummer marriage. Compositional background ; The libretto ; The music -- 1952-58. Operatic aftermath -- Occasional works -- Five major works. The heart's assurance ; Fantasia concertante on a theme of Corelli ; Concerto for piano and orchestra ; Sonata for four horns ; Symphony no. 2 -- 1958-76. Tippett's change of style -- Technical features -- 'King Priam' and its vocal and instrumental successors. Compositional background ; The opera and its music ; Minor works ; Piano sonata no. 2 and Concerto for orchestra -- The vision of Saint Augustine -- Tippett's expressionism. General considerations ; The knot garden ; Songs for Dov ; Symphony no. 3 ; Piano sonata no. 3 ; The ice break -- Postscript: 1976- -- Appendix I. Herschel Grynspan ; Appendix 2. Tippett's choice of poetry. |
| Abstract | Surveys the music of Britain's greatest living composer, examines its metrical, musical, and poetic structure, and discusses Tippett's education, influences, and development. |
| Abstract | In celebration of Tippett's sixtieth birthday in 1965 Sir Isaiah Berlin wrote by way of tribute: 'This most poetical, most serious, and very passionate composer is among the very few who have created worlds of their own, worlds any part of which is easily recognizable as uniquely theirs, from any distance.' That unique world of Tippett's musical and dramatic creation is critically surveyed in this authoritative study of Britain's major living composer. The technical background to Tippett's art is subjected to particular scrutiny and includes a sophisticated investigation, by means of metrical analysis, into the musical and poetical origins of his idiosyncratic rhythmic language. Tippett's study and assimilation of d'Indy's theories of tonality and their recurring influence on the formal structure of his own works is considered at length. The oratorio A Child of Our Time, the four operas and The Vision of Saint Augustine are regarded as superior achievements in Tippett's creative life, and the stylistic and generative significance of these works is demonstrated in relation to his compositions in other genres. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 508-509) and index. |
| LCCN | 85165161 |
| ISBN | 0903873230 |
| ISBN | 9780903873239 |