Tippett, Sir Michael Kemp 1905-98
English composer

Born in London, he studied at the Royal College of Music and from 1940 to 1951 was director of Music at Morley College. He first attracted attention with his chamber music and Concerto for Double String Orchestra (1939), but his oratorio, A Child of our Time (1941), reflecting the political and spiritual problems of the 1930s and 1940s, won him wide recognition. A convinced pacifist, he went to prison for three months as a conscientious objector during World War II. He had considerable success with the operas The Midsummer Marriage (1952) and King Priam (1958). His other works include symphonies, a piano concerto (1957), the operas The Knot Garden (1966-70) and The Ice Break (1976), piano sonatas and an oratorio The Vision of St Augustine (1963-65). Later compositions include String Quartet No 5 (1991), The Rose Lake (1993) and Caliban's Song (1995). He was created CBE in 1959, was knighted in 1966 and was awarded the Order of Merit in 1983. He wrote Moving into Aquarius (collected writings, rev edn 1974), his memoirs, Those Twentieth Century Blues (1991), and Tippett on Music (1995).

Bibliography: Meirion Bowen, Michael Tippett (1981)