Method of working

1. Did Tippett compose at the piano? Was he a good pianist?

Tippett studied the piano at the Royal College of Music, but never became an accomplished performer. He quickly found, however, that the instrument was useful to him as a composer. The notion of composing away from any contact with actual physical sound he had always found impossible. Gradually, he developed his own idiosyncratic method of conjuring from the piano the sounds and tone-colours that belonged to other instruments - those of a string quartet, or an orchestra or whatever. At the same time, he sang constantly as he played. Composing at the piano was a means of connecting imaginatively with a whole sonic realm.

2. Did Tippett always start at the beginning of a composition and work through to the end or, alternatively, did he work at individual sections of a piece then assemble them in some kind of order?

Every piece that he wrote was preceded by a long period of gestation - several years, in the case of his largest-scale works. Gradually, its structure took shape in his mind. Only when he was sure of the overall shape, proportions, timings etc did he sit down at the piano and begin to compose. Then he worked steadily from the beginning to the end. He never veered from this method. T. S. Eliot once told him that as a poet, he found that "the words came last". Likewise, for Tippett, the notes came last.

3. Was he ever inclined to work on more than composition at the same time?

Only very rarely. A couple of examples might be the song-cycle, The Heart's Assurance or the Suite in D (Suite for the Birthday of Prince Charles): he interrupted the composition of his first opera, The Midsummer Marriage, in order to write these. Generally, however, he only ever worked at the notes of one piece at a time. On the other hand, while was doing so, another piece might be in gestation: so that by the time he had finished one composition, he had already planned the next and could start almost immediately on the new score.

4. Did Tippett ever revise or radically re-think any of his works, or regard any of them as 'work in progress'?

In his early years, he sometimes made revisions to pieces. He became dissatisfied with the first two movements of his String Quartet No. 1, for instance, and in 1943, nearly a decade after completing it, he substituted a single new movement: thus the work was eventually published in its three-movement form. He also made some cuts and revisions to the first movement of his Piano Sonata No. 1. But thereafter, the only changes he made affected small matters - details of instrumentation, dynamics or performing instructions etc. In his maturity, he knew that having spent a lot of time thinking about the form and character of each piece, planning it with extreme care, once he had written it, there would be no need for fundamental revisions. He never wrote anything that could be called 'work-in-progress', to be extended or shortened, or re-formulated after it had received its first performance.

Attitudes to performers and interpretation

1. In Tippett' view, was there one way of performing each of his pieces? How much freedom did he allow his interpreters? Did he intentionally make his music difficult to execute?

Tippett took the view that once he had composed a piece, it was 'outside of' himself. It belonged to the performers, to make of it what they could. He regarded his scores essentially as sets of instructions for the performers. If, while he was still alive, they needed help in interpreting those instructions, he was always happy to oblige and candid if he felt they were misconstruing his intentions. Most of the guidance he gave concerned matters of style. He was always delighted to find performers discovering new ways of projecting his music.

Like many leading composers of the twentieth-century and earlier, Tippett often stretched the techniques of his performers. In his early years, a number of musicians regarded this as a deterrent, declaring that his works were awkwardly written. More recent generations of performers have found it a stimulus and have relished the technical challenges of his works. Once they have surmounted those challenges, they feel the musical rewards are considerable - more so, sometimes, than might be the case with works that were superficially kinder to their executants.

2. Are the performances that Tippett himself conducted to be regarded as models?

Tippett never considered himself a technically accomplished conductor. It was often a problem for him to detach himself from the music, to forget he was the composer and instead listen and direct as an interpreter. Most of his recorded performances were also undertaken very late in his career, when it was not so easy for him to sustain his energy on the rostrum. However, he was a great inspirer of musicians and a number of the performances he gave have an incandescence power that have not been equalled. He had a natural sense of line and phrasing, he knew how to let performers breathe. All his performances communicated a strong identity; often he was able at rehearsal to correct stylistic errors made by other conductors. As a means of understanding what his works are about, his interpretations have proved invaluable.

Operas

1. Why did Tippett always write his own librettos for his operas and choral works?

In the mid-1930s, Tippett came to know the poet T. S. Eliot. When he began to plan his oratorio, A Child of Our Time, he asked Eliot if he would write the text. Eliot asked him to prepare a kind of structural outline of the piece, indicating the number of sections or movements, their timings, whether they were solos or choruses, or whatever, and indicating also the kind of text he thought might be appropriate - giving as many clues, as possible, in fact. Tippett soon prepared for him what he called a 'Sketch for a Modern Oratorio', in effect, a detailed 'scenario' for the work. (It is published, with an introduction by the composer, in his volume of essays entitled Tippett on Music [Oxford University Press, 1995; 2nd edition, 2000]. Click here for more information.

For a couple of weeks, Eliot considered the project. But he then told Tippett that most of what he himself had written as sample texts for each movement would work perfectly well and he should complete the libretto himself. Eliot felt that any words he, as a mature poet, might provide would compete with Tippett's musical concepts. He advised the composer that it was better to produce texts of his own that would fit in with the music that was gestating in his mind.

Tippett followed his advice and wrote both the text and music for his oratorio. When he came to write operas, he went back to Eliot again and received a similar counsel. Eliot's advice was that if Tippett approached a playwright, he was likely be supplied with a dramatic text that had a life of his own and would conflict with Tippett's own theatrical intentions. Poets and novelists would most likely also provide texts that were untheatrical or too long. While once more suggesting that Tippett should write his own libretti, Eliot told him he would always find it worthwhile talking to stage-directors: they could provide guidance as to whether or not the concepts underlying his operas were suitable for stage-realisation.

As Tippett became more experienced in the writing of texts, he realised that he was doing was supplying words for music, not literature as such: the texts were, so to speak, to be fleshed out by the music.

2. Tippett's texts are full of quotations and references to other writers of all periods and cultures. How important is it to be aware of his sources? Is this not a major obstacle for those coming to his work for the first time?

As a widely read, intellectually alert artist, Tippett could hardly avoid giving his texts great breadth and detailed nuances of meaning. But he was also inspired by the model of Eliot's The Waste Land, where quotations and references are deliberately juxtaposed to make a specific expressive impact. Tippett observed the same pluralism in Shakespeare. Obviously, one can derive ever greater satisfaction from a play, an opera or choral work, if one is clued up on its sources: but it is not absolutely essential. For those encountering a Tippett opera for the first time, the music and the general trajectory of the action tend to make themselves abundantly clear, even if at first, some elements seem obscure.

It's certainly true that in his texts, he sometimes crammed too many references and arcane quotations (e.g. in The Midsummer Marriage). But as he became more experienced at writing texts, he made certain that their contents were directly relevant to his dramatic purposes. Aware that in the musical theatre, individual words are often inaudible, Tippett made sure that the most important words in his texts were highlighted musically; he also tried to delineate as clearly as possible the situations in which characters found themselves, so that it didn't matter too much if particular words are lost.

From the 1960s onwards, Tippett also made extensive use of cinematic/televisual techniques - cross-cutting, flasbacks, abrupt scenic and temporal juxtapositions etc - and in this context, his texts find their true purpose. His pithy, fast-moving libretto for The Knot Garden, for instance, helps sustain its pace and stream-of-consciousness style of presentation.

3. The Knot Garden is available in a version with reduced orchestration? Are reduced versions of The Midsummer Marriage, King Priam, The Ice Break and New Year also available?

Although The Knot Garden was written originally for a large orchestra, its writing was largely soloistic. A reduced version was thus perfectly conceivable. (For further information, go to Transcriptions and Arrangements). With the other Tippett orchestras, there are different requirements.

The Midsummer Marriage utilises basically a standard classical orchestra and could not easily be scaled down. However, the size of the string section can be varied, according to the space available in individual theatre-pits: the work has, in fact, been toured around many small theatres and opera houses in the UK.

King Priam initiated a new kind of orchestral sonority, essentially a mosaic of heterogenerous groups of instruments, rarely playing altogether. The key factor here is the string section, which does not involve the standard divisions into first and second violins etc. A reduced version of the orchestration is neither essential nor feasible. The lack of tutti scoring and the possibility of limiting the number of string-players makes it possible to tour the work in small theatres. Taking into account episodes that involve divided or soloistic string-writing, the minimum number of players overall needed to perform the work is 41.

The Ice Break has a similar potential for reduction of its scoring to The Knot Garden, though it probably needs more players - about 40, maybe.

New Year entails an orchestra similar to that used in a Broadway or West End musical - including saxophones, electric guitars and a lot of percussion, but not a full symphonic string section. Thus the total number of players required is about 53. For the Houston Opera House world premiere of the work, a reduced version was made - since the pit in Houston's smaller theatre could not accommodate the full contingent. This version requried 43 players. However, the larger number of strings involved in the original scoring has proved essential.

4. How much freedom did Tippett allow the producers/directors and designers involved in a production of one of his operas? Did he attend rehearsals and intervene in the staging?

Tippett regarded opera as a collaborative art-form. He took the view that the designers and directors could add a variety of new dimensions to what he, as the composer and librettist, had offered them. He rarely attended rehearsals until late on, usually doing so only then when invited. Invariably, he consulted with producers and designers long in advance of the production - which meant at least a year or more ahead of rehearsals. After that, he remained available for consultation, but would never turn up at the theatre and intervene unless there were specific problems on which his advice had been sought. He trusted the producer and designer to bring the same degree of professionalism to their work as he had to his own.

Attitudes to other music

1. How much time did Tippett spend listening and studying to music by other composers?

In his youth, Tippett listened to a wide range of music of every kind, both in the concert-hall and when he eventually had access to recordings and radio broadcasts. As he grew older, he listened more selectively, preferring to go to the theatre or (in his late years) watching television: he wanted to be able to switch off from the daily task of composition and refresh himself with other experiences. He still enjoyed going to new opera productions and in his eighties attended the premieres of three operas by Harrison Birtwistle (whom he greatly admired), the Glyndebourne production of Porgy and Bess and pre-classical operas. He also enjoyed rock music on television and had a passion for the Broadway and film musicals.

2. Which composers can be regarded as the main influences on his music?

Initially, Beethoven was the strongest influence: in his youth Tippett steeped himself in the Beethoven sonatas, quartets and symphonies, feeling that they represented a peak in terms of musical architecture along with breadth and intensity of expression. Beethovenian models underlie his own sonatas, quartets and symphonies right throughout his career.

Other influences gradually influences made their mark, notably Stravinsky (notably in terms of harmony and orchestration), the Elizabethan madrigalists and Purcell, from whom he derived a lot regarding the dramatic setting of words to music. (For further information go to Tippett and Purcell).

The musical vernacular also meant a lot to him and from early on he was attracted to folk-music of all kinds and to jazz: hence the idiosyncratic, bar-line-defying rhythmic traits in his compositions.

Further FAQ's will be added to this section.