January 2, 2019

1,000,001 CDs 13: Sir Michael Kemp Tippett ~ Praeludium

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photos by Styrous®






Sir Michael Kemp Tippett ~ Praeludium   
CD cover photo by Jason Shenai 






Today is the birthday of Michael Tippett who was born in 1905 and is known as a composer of modern vocal music. But he wrote some fine works for orchestra (link below) such as his Praeludium for brass.   




The Praeludium for brass, bells and percussion, written in 1962, is atonal, dissonant and clamorous, a true child of the 60's, but it is celebratory. It is a wonderful exposition for trumpet, trombone, French horn, saxophone and tuba accompanied by percussion and bells. This is a recording of a performance conducted by Tippett himself.    
      



Tippett was born in Eastcote, a part of the London Borough of Hillingdon, but raised in Wetherden in Suffolk.                 

He attended Brookfield Preparatory School in Swanage, Dorset where he earned notoriety by writing an essay that challenged the existence of God; a precursor of things to come.   

In 1918 he won a scholarship to Fettes College, a boarding school in Edinburgh, where he studied the piano, sang in the choir, and began to learn to play the pipe organ. The school was not a happy place; sadistic bullying of the younger pupils was commonplace. When he revealed to his parents in March 1920 that he had formed a homosexual relationship with another boy, they removed him. He transferred to Stamford School in Lincolnshire, where a decade previously Malcolm Sargent had been a pupil.     

In mid-1932 his friendships with David Ayerst and Francesca Allinson had opened up new cultural and political vistas. Through Ayerst he met W. H. Auden, who in due course introduced him to T. S. Eliot. Although no deep friendship developed with either poet, Tippett came to consider Eliot as his "spiritual father".

Ayerst also introduced him to a young artist, Wilfred Franks. By this time Tippett was coming to terms with his homosexuality, while not always at ease with it. Franks provided him with what he described as "the deepest, most shattering experience of falling in love".   


 


In November 1940 Tippett had formalised his pacifism by joining the Peace Pledge Union and applying for registration as a conscientious objector. His case was heard by a tribunal in February 1942, when he was assigned to non-combatant duties. Tippett rejected such work as an unacceptable compromise with his principles and in June 1943, after several further hearings and statements on his behalf from distinguished musical figures, he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment in HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs. He served two months, and although thereafter he was technically liable to further charges for failing to comply with the terms set by his tribunal, the authorities left him alone.               




Tippett formed a fruitful musical friendship with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, for whom he wrote the cantata Boyhood's End for tenor and piano. Encouraged by Britten, Tippett made arrangements for the first performance of A Child of Our Time, at London's Adelphi Theatre on 19 March 1944.      

In 1946 Tippett organised the first British performance of Monteverdi's Vespers, adding his own organ Preludio for the occasion. His compositions in the immediate postwar years included his First Symphony, performed under Sargent in November 1945, and the String Quartet No. 3, premiered in October 1946 by the Zorian Quartet.[59] His main creative energies were increasingly devoted to his first major opera, The Midsummer Marriage.[60] During the six years from 1946 he composed almost no other music, apart from the Birthday Suite for Prince Charles (1948).      






In November of 1997 he made his last overseas trip, to Stockholm for a festival of his music. After suffering a stroke he was taken home, where he died on 8 January 1998, six days after his 93rd birthday. He was cremated on 15 January, at Hanworth crematorium in London.     
  
      
        

Tracklist:

    Ritual Dances — From The Midsummer Marriage

    Bass Vocals – Matthew Best (2)Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Margaret McDonaldSoprano Vocals – Rita CullisTenor Vocals – Mark Curtis (2)

    (24:27)
1 - Prelude —     2:49
2 - Transformation And Preparation For — 1:42
3 - The First Dance: The Earth In Autumn — 2:14
4 - Transformation And Preparation For — 1:51
5 - The Second Dance: The Waters In Winter —     2:59
6 - Transformation And Preparation For — 2:22
7 - The Third Dance: The Air In Spring — 3:37
8 - Preparation And The Fourth Dance: Fire In Summer - 6:53

9 - Sosostris's Aria — From The Midsummer Marriage, Contralto Vocals – Alfreda Hodgson - 10:31

10 - Praeludium For Brass, Bells And Percussion - 7:29

    Suite For The Birthday Of Prince Charles (Suite In D) - (18:09)

11 - I Intrada    - 3:41
12 - II Berceuse - 3:06
13 - III Procession And Dance    - 3:03
14 - IV Carol - 4:07
15 - V Finale - 4:12

Companies, etc.

    Recorded By – Nimbus Records Limited
    Mastered At – Nimbus Records Limited
    Manufactured By – Nimbus Records Limited
    Phonographic Copyright (p) – Nimbus Records Limited
    Copyright (c) – Nimbus Records Limited
    Distributed By – A&M Records, Inc.

Credits:

    Chorus – Chorus Of Opera North*
    Composed By – Tippett*
    Conductor – Sir Michael Tippett
    Orchestra – English Northern Philharmonia

Notes:

Recorded, Mastered and Manufactured in England by Nimbus Records Limited.
Distributed by A&M Records Inc.
℗ 1990 Nimbus Records Limited
© 1990 Nimbus Records Limited

Made in England
Distributed by
A&M Records Inc
Stereo Ambisonic
UHJ encoded
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Barcode: 0 8360-35217-2 1

Tippett* - Alfreda Hodgson, Chorus Of Opera North*, English Northern Philharmonia, Sir Michael Tippett ‎– Ritual Dances
Label: Nimbus Records ‎– NI 5217
Format: CD, Stereo, Ambisonic
Country: US
Released: 1990
Genre: Classical
Style: Contemporary

     
       
        
Viewfinder link:     
     
Michael Tippett    
    
Net links:     
      
List of Tippett compositions     
Music Web ~ Tippett CD review    
       
YouTube links:     
       
Michael Tippett ~ Praeludium  
    
    
 
     
 
 
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, January 2, 2019     
    
     
















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