Michael Tippett’s Works
The following is a complete list of the published works of Michael Tippett by date of completion, using the numbering system MT1-65. There follows a list of unpublished works, using the numbering system MTi-xxxiii. Each entry includes, where known or applicable: dates of composition; date of completion in square brackets, texts used; details of first performance. Only stand-alone arrangements by Tippett himself are included, as addenda to the original work (eg MT4a).
Michael Tippett’s musical works are published by Schott.
Published Works
-
MT1: String Quartet No. 1
Date: 1934-5 [23 September 1935] revised autumn 1934
1st Performance: Brosa Quartet; Mercury Theatre, London, 9 December 1935
-
MT2: Piano Sonata No. 1
Date: 1936-8 [1 July 1938] revised 1942, 1954
1st Performance: Phyllis Sellick; Queen Mary Hall, London, 11 November 1938
-
MT 3: Concerto for Double String Orchestra
Date: 1938-9 [6 June 1939]
1st Performance: South London Orchestra and Marie Dare string quartet, conducted by Michael Tippett, Morley College, London, 21 April 1940
-
MT4: A Child of Our Time
Oratorio for soloists, chorus, and orchestra; text by the composer
Date: 1939-41 [c. April 1941]
1st Performance: Joan Cross, Margaret McArthur, Peter Pears, Roderick Lloyd, Morley College Choir, London Region Civil Defence Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Walter Goehr; Adelphi Theatre, London, 19 March 1944
-
MT4a: Five Negro Spirituals
Date: arranged 1957
-
MT5: Fantasia on a Theme of Handel
For piano and orchestra.
Date: 1939/41 [11 November 1941]
First performance: Phyllis Sellick, London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Walter Goehr; Wigmore Hall, London, 7 March 1942
-
MT6: Two Madrigals: "The Source" and "The Windhover"
For unaccompanied choir, setting “The Source” by Edward Thomas; “The Windhover” by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Date: 1941-2 [March 1942]
1st Performance: Morley College Choir, cond. Walter Bergmann; Morley College, London, 17 July 1943
-
MT7: String Quartet No. 2 in F sharp
Date: 1942 [5 December 1942]
1st Performance: Zorian Quartet; Wigmore Hall, London, 27 March 1943
-
MT8: Boyhood's End
Cantata for tenor and piano, setting text from Far Away and Long Ago by W.H. Hudson
Date: 1943 [May 1943]
1st Performance: Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten; Morley College, London, 5 June 1943
-
MT9: Fanfare No. 1 for brass
Date: 1943 [September 1943]
1st Performance: Band of the Northamptonshire Regiment; St Matthew’s church, Northampton, 21 September 1943
-
MT10: Plebs Angelica
Motet for double choir, setting a mediaeval Latin lyric
Date: 1943-4 [January 1944]
1st Performance: Fleet Street Choir, cond. T.B. Lawrence; Canterbury Cathedral, 16 September 1944
-
MT11: The Weeping Babe
Motet for soprano solo and mixed choir, setting a poem by Edith Sitwell
Date: 1944 [December 1944]
1st Performance: BBC Singers, cond. Leslie Woodgate; BBC studios, London, 24 December 1944
-
MT12: Symphony No. 1
Date: 1944-5 [25 August 1945]
1st Performance: Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Malcolm Sargent; Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, 10 November 1945
-
MT13: Preludio al Vespro di Monteverdi for organ
Date: 1946 [5 July 1946]
1st Performance: Geraint Jones; Central Hall, Westminster, 5 July 1946
-
MT14: String Quartet No. 3
Date: 1945-6 [September 1946]
1st Performance: Zorian Quartet; Wigmore Hall, London, 19 October 1946
-
MT15: Little Music for String Orchestra
Date: 1946 [c. October 1946]
1st Performance: Jacques Orchestra, cond. Reginald Jacques; Wigmore Hall, London, 9 November 1946
-
MT16: Suite in D, for the Birthday of Prince Charles
Date: 1948 [c. November 1948]
1st Performance: BBC Symphony Orchestra, cond. Adrian Boult; BBC Third Programme, tx. 15 November 1948 (pre-recorded)
-
MT17: The Heart's Assurance
Song cycle for high voice and piano, setting poems by Sidney Keyes and Alun Lewis
Date: 1950-51 [April 1951]
1st Performance: Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten; Wigmore Hall, London, 7 May 1951
-
MT18: The Midsummer Marriage
Opera in three acts; text by the composer
Date: 1946-52 [11 October 1952]
1st Performance: Covent Garden Opera, cond. John Pritchard; soloists including Joan Sutherland (Jenifer) and Richard Lewis (Mark); scenery and costumes by Barbara Hepworth; choreography by John Cranko; directed by Christopher West; Royal Opera House, London, 27 January 1955
-
MT18a: Ritual Dances
Arrangement from Acts Two and Three of The Midsummer Marriage, for orchestra and optional chorus
Date: 1949-50
1st Performance: Basel Kammerorchester, cond. Paul Sacher; Musiksaal, Basel, Switzerland, 13 February 1953
-
MT19: Variations on an Elizabeth Theme: A Lament
For string orchestra, part of the multi-composer Variations on an Elizabethan Theme
Date: 1952-53
1st Performance: Aldeburgh Festival Orchestra, cond. Benjamin Britten; BBC Third Programme, tx. 16 June 1953
-
MT20: Dance, Clarion Air
Madrigal for five voices, setting words by Christopher Fry; part of the multi-composer A Garland for the Queen
Date: 1953
1st Performance: Golden Age Singers and Cambridge University Madrigal Society, cond. Boris Ord; Royal Festival Hall, London, 1 June 1953
-
MT21: Fanfare No. 2
Date: 1953 [c. May 1953]
1st Performance: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; Bournemouth, 15 October 1953
-
MT22: Fanfare No. 3
Date: 1953 [June 1953]
1st Performance: RAF St Mawgan; St Ives church tower, Cornwall, 6 June 1953
-
MT23: Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli
Date: 1952-3 [c. July 1953]
1st Performance: BBC Symphony Orchestra, cond. Michael Tippett; Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 29 August 1953
-
MT24: Divertimento on "Sellinger's Round"
For chamber orchestra
Date: 1953-4 [July 1954]
1st Performance: Collegium Musicum Zurich, cond. Paul Sacher; Tonhalle, Zurich, Switzerland, 5 November 1954
-
MT25: Four Inventions for descant and treble recorders
Date: 1954
1st Performance: Freda Dinn, Walter Bergmann; Froebel Institute, London, 1 August 1954
-
MT26: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
Date: 1953-5 [20 August 1955]
1st Performance: Louis Kentner, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, cond. Rudolf Schwarz; Town Hall, Birmingham, 30 October 1956
-
MT27: Sonata for Four Horns
Date: 1955 [12 December 1955]
1st Performance: Dennis Brain Wind Ensemble; Wigmore Hall, London, 20 December 1955
-
MT28: Bonny at Morn
Northumbrian folk-song set for unison voices and recorders
Date: 1956
1st Performance: Singers from international Pestalozzi Children’s Village; Trogen, Switzerland, April 1956
-
MT29: Four Songs from the British Isles
For unaccompanied choir
Date: 1957 [c. July 1957]
1st Performance: London Bach Group, cond. John Minchinton; Abbaye de Royaumont, Seine-et-Oise, France, 6 July 1958
-
MT30: Over the Sea to Skye
For unaccompanied choir, discarded from MT29 for copyright reasons
Date: 1957
1st Performance: National Chamber Choir, cond. Celso Antunes; National Gallery of Ireland, 31 July 2003
-
MT31: Symphony No. 2
Date: 1955-7 [13 November 1957]
1st Performance: BBC Symphony Orchestra, cond. Adrian Boult; Royal Festival Hall, London, 5 February 1958
-
MT32: Crown of the Year
Cantata for chorus and instrumental ensemble, setting words by Christopher Fry
Date: 1958 [June 1958]
1st Performance: Badminton School Choir and ensemble, cond. MT; Badminton School, Bristol, 25 July 1958
-
MT33: Wadhurst
Hymn tune setting John Campbell’s “Unto the Hills”, a paraphrase of Psalm 121; written for the Salvation Army
Date: 1958
-
MT34: Lullaby
For six voices, setting a poem by W.B. Yeats
Date: 1959
1st Performance: Deller Consort; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 31 January 1960
-
MT35: Music
Unison song for voice(s) and piano; setting verses of a poem by John Keats
Date: 1960
1st Performance: Combined choirs of the East Sussex and West Kent Choral Festival, cond. Trevor Harvey; Assembly Halls, Tunbridge Wells, 26 April 1960
-
MT36: Words for Music Perhaps
Instrumental interludes, to be interleaved with recitations of poetry by W.B. Yeats
Date: 1960
1st Performance: Bee Duffell, Sheila Manahan, Allan McCelland, instrumental ensemble, cond. MT; BBC Third Programme, tx. 8 June 1960
-
MT37: Songs for Achilles
Three songs for tenor and guitar; text by the composer
Date: 1961
1st Performance: Peter Pears, Julian Bream; Great Glemham House, Suffolk, 7 July 1961
-
MT38: Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis
For chorus and organ
Date: 1961
1st Performance: St John’s College Chapel Choir, cond. George Guest; St John’s College Chapel, Cambridge, 13 March 1962
-
MT39: King Priam
Opera in three acts; text by the composer
Date: 1958-61 [14 October 1961]
1st Performance: Covent Garden Opera, cond. John Pritchard; soloists including Forbes Robinson (King Priam); scenery and costumes by Sean Kenny; directed by Sam Wanamaker; Coventry Theatre, 29 May 1962
-
MT39a: Prelude, Recitative, and Aria
Arrangement from Act Three of King Priam, for flute, oboe, and keyboard
Date: 1964
1st Performance: Oriana Trio; BBC Third Programme, tx. 1 February 1964
-
MT40: Piano Sonata No. 2
Date: 1962
1st Performance: Margaret Kitchin; Freemasons’ Hall, Edinburgh, 3 September 1962
-
MT41: Incidental music for Shakespeare's The Tempest
Date: 1962
1st Performance: Kerry Gardner (Ariel); ensemble dir. John Lambert; Old Vic Theatre, London, 29 May 1962
-
MT41a: Songs for Ariel
Three songs for voice and keyboard or ensemble
Date: 1962
1st Performance: Grayston Burgess, Virginia Pleasants; Fenton House, Hampstead, 21 September 1962
-
MT42: Praeludium for brass, bells, and percussion
Date: 1962 [August 1962]
1st Performance: BBC Symphony Orchestra, cond. Antal Doráti; Royal Festival Hall, London, 14 November 1962
-
MT43: Concerto for Orchestra
Date: 1962-3 [June 1963]
1st Performance: London Symphony Orchestra, cond. Colin Davis; Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 28 August 1963
-
MT43a: Mosaic
Arrangement of fi rst movement, for wind band
Date: 1980
1st Performance: National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, cond. Hugh Wolff; Wolf Trap Festival, Virginia, 29 June 1980
-
MT44: The Vision of Saint Augustine
For baritone solo, chorus, and orchestra
Date: 1963-5 [10 April 1965]
1st Performance: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, BBC Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, cond. MT; Royal Festival Hall, London, 19 January 1966
-
MT45: Severn Bridge Variations: Variation 6
For orchestra, part of the multi-composer Severn Bridge Variations on the traditional Welsh melody “Braint”
Date: 1966
1st Performance: BBC Training Orchestra, cond. Adrian Boult; Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, 11 January 1967
-
MT46: The Knot Garden
Opera in three acts; text by the composer
Date: 1965-9 [20 February 1969]
1st Performance: Covent Garden Opera, cond. Colin Davis; soloists including Josephine Barstow (Denise) and Jill Gomez (Flora); set design by Timothy O’Brien; directed by Peter Hall; Royal Opera House, London, 2 December 1970
-
MT47: Songs for Dov
Three songs for tenor and orchestra, text by the composer
Date: 1969-70 [9 February 1970]
1st Performance: Gerald English, London Sinfonietta, cond. MT; University College, Cardiff, 12 October 1970
-
MT48: The Shires Suite
For orchestra and chorus
Date: 1965/69/70
1st Performance: Schola Cantorum of Oxford, Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra, cond. Michael Tippett; Cheltenham Town Hall, 8 July 1970
-
MT49: In Memoriam Magistri
For flute, clarinet, and string quartet
Date: 1971
1st Performance: London Sinfonietta, cond. Elgar Howarth; St John’s, Smith Square, London, 17 June 1972
-
MT50: Symphony No. 3
Date: 1970-72 [30 March 1972]
1st Performance: Heather Harper, London Symphony Orchestra, cond. Colin Davis; Royal Festival Hall, London, 22 June 1972
-
MT51: Piano Sonata No. 3
Date: 1972–3 [1 March 1973]
1st Performance: Paul Crossley; Assembly Rooms, Bath, 26 May 1973
-
MT52: The Ice Break
Opera in three acts, text by the composer
Date: 1973–6 [27 January 1976]
1st Performance: Covent Garden Opera, cond. Colin Davis; soloists including Heather Harper (Nadia) and John Shirley-Quirk (Lev); set design by Ralph Koltai; directed by Sam Wanamaker; Royal Opera House, London, 7 July 1977
-
MT53: Symphony No. 4
Date: 1976–7 [18 April 1977]
1st Performance: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, cond. Georg Solti; Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 6 October 1977
-
MT54: String Quartet No. 4
Date: 1977–8 [26 September 1978]
1st Performance: Lindsay Quartet; Assembly Rooms, Bath, 20 May 1979
-
MT55: Triple Concerto for violin, viola, and cello
Date: 1978–9 [30 November 1979]
1st Performance: György Pauk, Nobuko Imai, Ralph Kirshbaum, London Symphony Orchestra, cond. Colin Davis; Royal Albert Hall, London, 22 August 1980
-
MT56: Wolf Trap Fanfare
Date: 1980 [4 February 1980]
1st Performance: National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, cond. Hugh Wolff; Wolf Trap Festival, Virginia, 29 June 1980
-
MT57: The Mask of Time
For soloists, chorus, and orchestra; text written and compiled by the composer
Date: 1980–2 [16 December 1982]
1st Performance: Faye Robinson, Yvonne Minton, Robert Tear, John Cheek, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra, cond. Colin Davis; Symphony Hall, Boston, 5 April 1984
-
MT57a: Triumph
A paraphrase on music from The Mask of Time, for concert band
Date: 1992
1st Performance: Ohio State Band and University of Michigan State Band, cond. Craig Kirchhoff; Ohio State University, 24 February 1993
-
MT58: The Blue Guitar
For solo guitar
Date: 1982-3
1st Performance: Julian Bream; Ambassador Auditorium, Pasadena, California, 9 November 1983
-
MT59: Festal Brass with Blues
Date: 1983 [16 September 1983]
1st Performance: Fairey Engineering Band, cond. Howard Williams; Hong Kong Arts Festival, 6 February 1984
-
MT60: Piano Sonata No. 4
Date: 1983–4 [December 1984]
1st Performance: Paul Crossley; Japan America Theatre, Los Angeles, 14 January 1985
-
MT61: New Year
Opera in three acts, text by the composer
Date: 1985–88 [19 December 1988]
1st Performance: Houston Grand Opera, cond. John de Main; soloists including Helen Field (JoAnn); set design by Alison Chitty; directed by Peter Hall; Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center, Houston, Texas, 27 October 1989
-
MT62: Byzantium
For soprano and orchestra, setting the poem by W.B. Yeats
Date: 1989 [6 December 1989]
1st Performance: Faye Robinson, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, cond. Georg Solti; Carnegie Hall, New York, 11 April 1991
-
MT63: String Quartet No. 5
Date: 1990–91 [15 July 1991]
1st Performance: Lindsay Quartet; Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 9 May 1992
-
MT64: The Rose Lake
A song without words for orchestra
Date: 1991–3 [22 April 1993]
1st Performance: London Symphony Orchestra, cond. Colin Davis; Barbican Concert Hall, London, 19 February 1995
-
MT65: Caliban's Song
For baritone and piano, setting words from Shakespeare’s The Tempest
Date: 1995
1st Performance: David Barrell, Iain Burnside, BBC Radio 3 broadcast; 26 November 1995
Juvenilia and Unpublished Works (* = no manuscript known to survive)
-
MTi: Hymn to Brahma
High voice and piano, setting text by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Date: c. 1923-4
-
MTii: Blow, Bugle, Blow
High voice and piano, setting text by Alfred Tennyson
Date: c. 1923-4
-
MTiii: Cradle Song
Piano solo
Date: c.1923–4
-
MTiv: Piano Sonata in D minor
Date: c. 1923-4
-
MTv: Woods in Winter
High voice and piano, setting text by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Date: c. 1923-4
-
MTvi: David Mourning Over Jonathan; How are the MIghty Fallen; Songs of Bow* [Song of the Bow?]
Date: c. 1923-4
-
MTvii: Suite for Strings in C major*
Date: 1924
1st Performance: Royal College of Music, October 1924
-
MTviii: The Undying Fire
Unfinished cantata for baritone, chorus, and orchestra, setting text from H.G. Wells
Date: c. 1927
-
MTix: The Village Opera
Arrangement and realisation of Charles Johnson’s three-act ballad opera The Village Opera (1729), for soloists and ensemble
Date: 1927-8
1st Performance: Oxted and Limpsfi eld Players, cond. Michael Tippett; Barn Theatre, Oxted, 22 April 1928
-
MTx: Piano Sonata in C minor
Date: c. 1928-9
1st Performance: Cyril Smith; Barn Theatre, Oxted, 15 December 1928 (first three of four movements)
-
MTxi: Five Settings for violin, cello, and piano
Incidental music for Bolsters, a mime play by Margaret Carter
Date: 1929
1st Performance: Children’s Theatre, Endell Street, London, 31 August 1929
-
MTxii: Variations for Dudley
“Ten variations on a Swiss folk-song as harmonized by Beethoven”; written for or to be performed by Dudley Parvin
Date: 1929
-
MTxiii: Psalm in C
For chorus, string quartet, and string orchestra, setting “The Gateway” by Christopher Fry
Date: 1929, rev. 1931
1st Performance: Oxted and Limpsfield Players; Barn Theatre, Oxted, 1929
-
MTxiv: Two Chorale Preludes
For flute and clarinet
Date: c. 1929-30
1st Performance: Evan and Pamela Maude; Oxted, c.1930
-
MTxv: Overture and incidental music for Don Juan*
For a production of the play by James Elroy Flecker
Date: c. 1929-30
1st Performance: Oxted and Limpsfield Players; Barn Theatre, Oxted, 28 February 1930
-
MTxvi: Sonata for Violin and Piano*
Date: c. 1929-30
-
MTxvii: Concerto in D*
For flutes, oboe, horns, and string quartet, and string orchestra [?]
Date: c. 1929-30
1st Performance: Oxted and Limpsfield Orchestral Society; Barn Theatre, Oxted, 5 April 1930
-
MTxviii: Three Songs
Setting for high voice and piano of “Afternoon Tea”, “Sea Love”,* and “Arracombe Wood”,* by Charlotte Mew
Date: c. 1929-30
1st Performance: Eric Shaxson, Dora Milner; Barn Theatre, Oxted, 5 April 1930
-
MTxix: Jockey to the Fair
Variations for piano solo
Date: c. 1929-30
1st Performance: Leslie Orrie; Barn Theatre, Oxted, 5 April 1930
-
MTxx: String Quartet in F minor
Date: c. 1929-30
1st Performance: John Morley, Helen Stewart, Maurice Hardy, Mary Gladden; Barn Theatre, Oxted, 5 April 1930
-
MTxxi: Piano Sonata in G-flat major*
Date: 1930
-
MTxxii: Quartet No. 2 for Strings in F major
Date: c. 1929–30, revised October 1930
-
MTxxiii: Symphonic Movement
Date: 1930-31, unfinished
-
MTxxiv: String Trio in B flat
Date: 1932
1st Performance: Royal College of Music; 13 January 1965
-
MTxxv: Symphony in B flat
Orchestration of MTxxiv
Date: 1932
-
MTxxvi: Symphony in B flat
(Retaining central movement of MTxxv)
Date: 1932–3 [16 November 1933], revised 1934, 1938
-
MTxxvii: Robin Hood
A folk-song opera, with dialogue by David Ayerst and lyrics by Ruth Pennyman
Date: 1933-4
1st Performance: Miners’ Hall, Boosbeck, North Yorkshire, 8 August 1934
-
MTxxvii-a: Song for Stella
Arrangement for high voice and piano of song from Robin Hood
Date: c. 1934
-
MTxxviii: Miners
Music for dance-drama The Miners (dir. Margaret Barr), setting text by Judith Wogan
Date: 1936
1st Performance: London, 1936
-
MTxxix: Dance of Two with Chorus*
Music for dance-drama Dance of Two with Chorus (dir. Margaret Barr)
Date: 1937
1st Performance: London, 1937
-
MTxxx: A Song of Liberty
Setting, for mixed choir and orchestra, of “A Song of Liberty” from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake
Date: 1935–7 [1 May 1937]
1st Performance: South London Orchestra and “special choir”, cond. Michael Tippett; Morley College, London, 7 November 1937
-
MTxxxi: The King's Hunt*
Orchestration of a virginal piece by John Bull
Date: 1937
1st Performance: South London Orchestra, cond. Michael Tippett; Morley College, 7 November 1937
-
MTxxxii: Robert of Sicily
Children’s opera for soloists, chorus, and ensemble, with script and lyrics by Christopher Fry
Date: 1938
1st Performance: Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society mixed junior choirs; Co-operative Hall, Peckham, May 1938
-
MTxxxiii: Seven at One Stroke
Children’s opera for soloists, chorus, and ensemble, with script and lyrics by Christopher Fry
1st Performance: Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society mixed junior choirs; Co-operative Hall, Peckham, 15 April 1939