Sir Michael Tippett - Composer

16 x 11.3 in (40.6 x 28.7 cm) paper (Edition of 25)

20 x 13.9 in (50.8 x 35.3 cm) paper (Edition of 16)

24 x 16.6 in (61 x 42.2 cm) paper (Edition of 8)

The Story.

Sir Michael Tippett started composing in his teens and the first public performance of his work was in 1930. In his lifetime he produced an impressive body of work, including five operas, three large-scale choral works, four symphonies, five string quartets, four piano sonatas, concertos and concert works, song cycles and incidental music. All have been recorded, many under his baton. His deeply held humanitarian and pacifist beliefs shaped both his life and his music: he served a three-month prison sentence as a conscientious objector in the Second World War. An interest in many aspects of contemporary culture is reflected in his music and writings. Tippett was one of the first openly gay composers to explore issues of sexuality in his work.

“My long fingers come from my mother. My father once told me that my left hand was identical with his right one, its strongly defined lifeline indicating that I would either be a murderer or a genius.”

— Sir Michael Tippett