Tippett, Michael Kemp (1905 - 98)

[Barbirollians]

Why is this ? Is it just the typical forgotten for 20 years after the death of a composer and then a revival occurs. One never seems to hear his music at all nowadays .

[Parry1912]

I imagine so. No reason why his music shouldn't be 'rediscovered' in the future.

[Chris Newman]

I sincerely hope it is the 20 year doldrum thing as I remember being so excited each time a new work was premiered and eagerly hunting for concerts of his music especially when conducted by the good man himself, Sir Colin or Sir Georg. Mind you when I was young the only people who seemed concerned with Elgar were Sir Adrian and Sir Colin. RVW was almost unheard of until Sir Adrian recorded some of the big vocal pieces and Sibelius went the same way until Sir John and Sir Alex managed to arouse some interest. I find Tippett's early successes and last orchestral works superb. I love the operas: Midsummer Marriage, King Priam and The Knot Garden which should be as much performed as Janacek. The chamber music and songs are magnificent. I admire the Vision of Saint Augustine: like a lot of modern music it was hard work to get into but worth it. I am not so sure about his last operas (we had a lot of discussion about them on the board recently). The symphonies and concerti should be core repertoire.

Mind you, I strongly believe that the disgraceful OLD FOGEY MANAGEMENT STYLE of Radio 3 does absolutely no favours to contemporary or near contemporary music. Last year Harry Birtwistle produced the most beautiful Violin Concerto of the twenty-first century. Where is it, Auntie? Why not play it at breakfast? Or for that matter, where are many of the beautiful concerti of the last 100 years? Where is the Tippett Piano Concerto? Radio 3 was once a trend setter; now it is a lick-spittle poodle.

[visualnickmos]

... I find Tippett's early successes and last orchestral works superb...
The chamber music and songs are magnificent...
The symphonies and concerti should be core repertoire.

Mind you, I strongly believe that the disgraceful OLD FOGEY MANAGEMENT STYLE of Radio 3 does absolutely no favours to contemporary or near contemporary music. Last year Harry Birtwistle produced the most beautiful Violin Concerto of the twenty-first century. Where is it, Auntie? Why not play it at breakfast? Or for that matter, where are many of the beautiful concerti of the last 100 years? Where is the Tippett Piano Concerto? Radio 3 was once a trend setter; now it is a lick-spittle poodle.

I'm totally unfamiliar with MT's operatic work - a journey yet to make. It's a shame that I find myself agreeing with the points you make - not because I don't want to agree with you personally, but with the position you describe. Let's hope his work gets the exposure it deserves.

[ahinton]

I sincerely hope it is the 20 year doldrum thing as I remember being so excited each time a new work was premiered and eagerly hunting for concerts of his music especially when conducted by the good man himself, Sir Colin or Sir Georg. Mind you when I was young the only people who seemed concerned with Elgar were Sir Adrian and Sir Colin. RVW was almost unheard of until Sir Adrian recorded some of the big vocal pieces and Sibelius went the same way until Sir John and Sir Alex managed to arouse some interest. I find Tippett's early successes and last orchestral works superb. I love the operas: Midsummer Marriage, King Priam and The Knot Garden which should be as much performed as Janacek. The chamber music and songs are magnificent. I admire the Vision of Saint Augustine: like a lot of modern music it was hard work to get into but worth it. I am not so sure about his last operas (we had a lot of discussion about them on the board recently). The symphonies and concerti should be core repertoire.

Mind you, I strongly believe that the disgraceful OLD FOGEY MANAGEMENT STYLE of Radio 3 does absolutely no favours to contemporary or near contemporary music. Last year Harry Birtwistle produced the most beautiful Violin Concerto of the twenty-first century. Where is it, Auntie? Why not play it at breakfast? Or for that matter, where are many of the beautiful concerti of the last 100 years? Where is the Tippett Piano Concerto? Radio 3 was once a trend setter; now it is a lick-spittle poodle.

But why should there ever even BE a "20 year doldrum thing"? Whatever kind of possible connection can such a thing have with the music itself or the ways in which listeners perceive it? I think that this actaully goes farther than this anyway and certainly not only in Tippett's case; the music of Vaughan Williams, Sibelius and Mahler, for example, has all encountered similar problems - in at this generation, out at the next or, as in Mahler's case, pretty much out altogether at one time and then in permanently for at least half a century.

I'm more than happy to listen to most Tippett works from the First Piano Sonata up to The Vision of St. Augustine except perhaps A Child of our Time and the Second Piano Sonata; the Tippettian landscape gets a lot more barren for me after that, with the Fourth Symphony, Triple Concerto and last two quartets and piano sonatas more or less then only notable exceptions, but that's still a large repertoire that is indeed rarely performed today anywhere. I wouldn't go as far as you in blaming Radio 3, although I certainly wouldn't exonerate them here either. There is so very much music now available which is worthy of broadcast that Radio 3 alone could not have a hope of doing a whole lot more than scratching the surface, although less idle chatter, emails, twitters and the rest would certainly not come amiss (I imagine that if all of that stuff were cut out for a whole week, there'd be enough space saved to air all four Tippett symphonies, though why anyone would want to broadcast the Third is, as I've confessed previously, beyond me, but that's just a personal matter!). When did we last hear the 11 each symphonies of Rubbra and Simpson, the 9 symphonies of Sessions, the quartets of Holmboe and Maconchy (I could go on but won't)...

[gurnemanz]

Why is this ? Is it just the typical forgotten for 20 years after the death of a composer and then a revival occurs. One never seems to hear his music at all nowadays .

.... and despite having a fairly broad taste in music and a very large CD collection, I do not own a single recording of Tippett's music. I have good memories of The Ice Break at Covent Garden in the 70s, but apart from that, as far as I can remember, I have attended no live performances of his work.

I did a post-graduate teacher-training year at York 71-72 (modern languages not music) and remember hearing a story that Tippett was invited to be the first Professor of Music at the newly founded campus university - so I suppose he must have been in favour at that point. Allegedly, he replied by telegram:
"Not on your Nellie.
Michael"

[Chris Newman]

Hi, Alistair.

I still stand by my feelings that Radio 3 lets down contemporary composers. Of course, you need to be polite about biting the hand that feeds you whereas (within the laws of libel) I can say what I believe. I would truly love to hear Carter, Hinton, Holmboe, Howells, John Ireland, Colin Matthews, Maxwell Davies, Rubbra, Sessions, Simpson, Hugh Wood and many others given the time that a PUBLIC BROADCAST SERVICE (yes...I'm shouting) should provide as a public service. Then putting Sessions and Holboe aside, where is Radio 3's support for British Music? Bolero, Vltava, The Four Seasons...mm.

I do not know what the reasons can be for this usual disappearance of composers after their death. Britten's operas have held their place. The other exception to the rule with "popular" composers seems to have been Shostakovich, but politics, revelations and the Iron Curtain collapse have kept his flag flying. Elgar, RVW, Janacek, Mahler and Sibelius have found new champions and risen anew. Even composers from hundreds of years back (Purcell, Lully and Monteverdi... even Bruckner) have emerged from the darkness to become "household names". Maybe championship is part of the thing. Tippett came to peak with the rise of Colin Davis. Colin, bless him, supported the music of MT beyond the call of duty. MT became the subject of university fan clubs and tee shirts. Colin is now an older mellower man with a few new enthusiasms: Nielsen for example. Perhaps, if he could be persuaded to have another bash at The Midsummer Marriage. After all, Sir Adrian revived RVW in the seventies.

BWS
Chris

[LHC]

Coincidentally, the ritual dances from A Midsummer Marriage were played on Afternoon on 3 as recently as 3 January, so well done R3 for playing at least a bit of Tippett.

A Midsummer Marriage was last put on by Covent Garden in 2005. Richard Hickox conducted and the cast included John Tomlinson, Will Hartmann, Amanda Roocroft, Cora Burggraaf and Gordon Gietz. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was generally well-reviewed, but I think it was not a success at the Box Office.

Colin Davis and the LSO occasionally include Tippett in their concerts. Indeed, Lang Lang learned the piano concerto so that he could play it with them in 2005 (a major plus point in his favour I think) and then came back to play it again with them in 2007.

But these are sparse pickings indeed for one of this country's major composers and I too would like to see him feature in our concert halls and on R3 far more

[Serial_Apologist]

Coincidentally, the ritual dances from A Midsummer Marriage were played on Afternoon on 3 as recently as 3 January, so well done R3 for playing at least a bit of Tippett.

A Midsummer Marriage was last put on by Covent Garden in 2005. Richard Hickox conducted and the cast included John Tomlinson, Will Hartmann, Amanda Roocroft, Cora Burggraaf and Gordon Gietz. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was generally well-reviewed, but I think it was not a success at the Box Office.

Colin Davis and the LSO occasionally include Tippett in their concerts. Indeed, Lang Lang learned the piano concerto so that he could play it with them in 2005 (a major plus point in his favour I think) and then came back to play it again with them in 2007.

But these are sparse pickings indeed for one of this country's major composers and I too would like to see him feature in our concert halls and on R3 far more

I've always felt Tippett was never sufficiently part of the mainstream of modernism to have the kind of influence his friend Britten did. Not being part of the mainstream could also be said of Britten, but one feels, I think, in Britten's music, that he was able to absorb those aspects of modernism into his own music in such a way as to be of influence on succeeding composers of sometimes more radical bent than himself, whereas, apart from the early works in which influences from madrigalism to Stravinsky and Hindemith were absorbed without strain into his musical makeup, sometimes one feels that the later Tippett tried just too hard to stay "current".

[Stanfordian]

Tippett has a great champion in Sir Mark Elder. He talks about the Tippett works that he admires like the Piano Concerto and The Mask of Time in Part II of the Sir Mark Elder interview at seenandheard-international.com. I am playing beautiful The Rose Lake; the impressive Ritual Dances and the set of String Quartets on Naxos at the moment.

[BBMmk2]

Sir Colin Davis was also a great champion of Tippett, but he (am not sure of this) has not conducted his music for a while? Sir Andrew Davis as well.

[Thomas Roth]

One of the best British conductors ever is the so underrated David Atherton, and I think he would do more Tippett if asked.

[BBMmk2]

How can wepromote his muisc more? I am afraid thyat his less challenging works will be performed more, rather than the more 'meatier' ones. I still think that his massive 'The Mask of Time' is opne of his best, despite what other people think?

[John Wright]

I strongly believe that the disgraceful OLD FOGEY MANAGEMENT STYLE of Radio 3 does absolutely no favours to contemporary or near contemporary music. Last year Harry Birtwistle produced the most beautiful Violin Concerto of the twenty-first century. Where is it, Auntie? Why not play it at breakfast? Or for that matter, where are many of the beautiful concerti of the last 100 years? Where is the Tippett Piano Concerto? Radio 3 was once a trend setter; now it is a lick-spittle poodle.

Good grief Chris, listen to the Harrison concerto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wClyutStEo0

and think, really think Chris - it will not appeal to many listening to the R3 Breakfast Show.

Yes let's hear new performances of the Birtwhistle concerto on R3 but there is a time and place for everything. Breakfast is meant to be broad appeal, to compliment the ClassicFM programme, providing popular classics but without the commercial breaks and frivolous presenter comment.

The time and place for Harrison's concerto I suppose has to be 11.00pm but of course a new performance could be broadcast live at 7.30pm, if R3 could find someone who wants to perform it If no-one wants to perform it then.....

The same might be said about Tippetts' symphonies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGpgjLwAgxM&feature=related

[amateur51]

Good grief Chris, listen to the Harrison concerto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wClyutStEo0

Many thanks for this John Wright - I had no idea that this was available on youtube