The Cambridge Companion to Michael Tippett

Description

Sir Michael Tippett is widely considered to be one of the most individual composers of the twentieth century, whose music continues to be performed to critical acclaim throughout the world. Written by a team of international scholars, this Companion provides a wide ranging and accessible study of Tippett and his works. It discusses the contexts and concepts of modernism, tradition, politics, sexuality and creativity that shaped Tippett's music and ideas, engaging with archive materials, relevant literature and models of interpretation. Chapters explore the genres in which Tippett composed, including opera, symphony, string quartet, concerto and piano sonata, to shed new light on his major works and draw attention to those that have not yet received the attention they deserve. Directing knowledge and expertise towards a wide readership, this book will enrich the listening experience and broaden understanding of the music of this endlessly fascinating and challenging composer.

Kenneth Gloag is Reader in Musicology at Cardiff University. He has published books on Tippett's A Child of our Time (1999) and Nicholas Maw's Odyssey (2008). He is co-editor of Peter Maxwell Davies Studies (2009) and is co-author of Musicology: The Key Concepts (2005). He is currently reviews editor of twentieth-century music. Nicholas Jones is Co-ordinating Lecturer for Humanities at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, Cardiff University. From 2005 to 2007 he was a Lecturer in Music and Deputy Chair of the MA in Music programme at the Open University. He has a specialist interest in twentieth-century and contemporary British music and is co-editor of and contributor to Peter Maxwell Davies Studies (2009). He has published a number of articles on the music of Davies, William Mathias and Anthony Powers for Music and Letters, The Musical Times and Tempo. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Tempo and is currently working on a book concerning the writings of Peter Maxwell Davies.

'A valuable, detail-packed, vade mecum to a body of work we are forgetting to our loss.' Gramophone '... a very good introduction to those who want to get simply acquainted or even better acquainted with Tippett as a man and composer.' Cercles 'If The Cambridge Companion to Michael Tippett communicates the state of research on the composer, that is not its only valuable feature. One of the greatest strengths of the volume is in its copious, extended music examples, which are sufficiently intriguing on the page that they do some of the work of advocacy by sending readers to the piano or to recordings of less-familiar works ... the volume contains a wealth of illustrations, most of them analytical in nature and focused on the large-scale structure of works.' Kevin Salfen, Notes