A Child of Our Time
Encyclopedia
A Child of Our Time is an oratorio
written by Michael Tippett
between 1939 and 1941.
"After more than ten years of thoughtful planning, Michael Tippett (1905-1998) summed up his musical, political, spiritual and philosophical beliefs in his first oratorio, A Child of Our Time. Representing the emergence of a new stage of assurance and musical maturity for Tippett, the oratorio has become the composer’s most widely known and performed work. Indeed, the popular success of this first large-scale work opened the door for his exploration of new musical genres such as the opera and the symphony. A Child of Our Time is most widely known for its adoption of the African-American spiritual, and the unique philosophical content of its libretto inspired by the ideas of Carl Jung
."
The oratorio was inspired by events in 1938: Herschel Grynszpan
, a Jewish refugee teenager in Paris
, murdered the German diplomat
Ernst vom Rath
. This was a catalyst for the Nazis' attacks against Jews in Germany on Kristallnacht
.
After producing a rough draft, Tippett asked T. S. Eliot
to complete the libretto
, but Eliot encouraged Tippett to write it. Tippett completed it himself. The text reflects Tippett's pacifism and belief that people contain both "shadow and light". The title comes from Ödön von Horváth
's novel, Ein Kind unserer Zeit (A Child of Our Time), written in 1938 (and published in English in 1939.) Tippett began composition on 5 September 1939, two days after the British declaration of war
against Germany.
He draws on multiple sources for his musical inspiration. The oratorio is decidedly twentieth-century, but Tippett also uses traditional African-American spirituals
in a structure similar to the Passion chorales of Bach
. The structure in three parts is based on Handel
's Messiah
. The work runs a little over an hour.
on 19 March 1944. Performers included:
The piece was a success with performers, public, and critics. Some people objected to the subject matter, orchestration, and the inclusion of the spirituals and jazz
elements.
The oratorio received its Israeli premiere in Haifa in 1952, a performance for which Grynszpan's father was present.
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
written by Michael Tippett
Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE was an English composer.In his long career he produced a large body of work, including five operas, three large-scale choral works, four symphonies, five string quartets, four piano sonatas, concertos and concertante works, song cycles and incidental music...
between 1939 and 1941.
"After more than ten years of thoughtful planning, Michael Tippett (1905-1998) summed up his musical, political, spiritual and philosophical beliefs in his first oratorio, A Child of Our Time. Representing the emergence of a new stage of assurance and musical maturity for Tippett, the oratorio has become the composer’s most widely known and performed work. Indeed, the popular success of this first large-scale work opened the door for his exploration of new musical genres such as the opera and the symphony. A Child of Our Time is most widely known for its adoption of the African-American spiritual, and the unique philosophical content of its libretto inspired by the ideas of Carl Jung
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
."
The oratorio was inspired by events in 1938: Herschel Grynszpan
Herschel Grynszpan
Herschel Feibel Grynszpan was a Polish Jew and political assassin. Grynszpan's assassination of the German diplomat Ernst vom Rath on November 7, 1938, after the deportation of his family, provided the excuse for the Nazi Kristallnacht, the antisemitic pogrom of November 9–10, 1938...
, a Jewish refugee teenager in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, murdered the German diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
Ernst vom Rath
Ernst vom Rath
Ernst Eduard vom Rath was a German diplomat, remembered for his assassination in Paris in 1938 by a Jewish youth, Herschel Grynszpan. The assassination triggered Kristallnacht, the "Night of Broken Glass"....
. This was a catalyst for the Nazis' attacks against Jews in Germany on Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
.
After producing a rough draft, Tippett asked T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
to complete the libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
, but Eliot encouraged Tippett to write it. Tippett completed it himself. The text reflects Tippett's pacifism and belief that people contain both "shadow and light". The title comes from Ödön von Horváth
Ödön von Horváth
Edmund Josef von Horváth was a German-writing Austro-Hungarian-born playwright and novelist...
's novel, Ein Kind unserer Zeit (A Child of Our Time), written in 1938 (and published in English in 1939.) Tippett began composition on 5 September 1939, two days after the British declaration of war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
against Germany.
He draws on multiple sources for his musical inspiration. The oratorio is decidedly twentieth-century, but Tippett also uses traditional African-American spirituals
Spiritual (music)
Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...
in a structure similar to the Passion chorales of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
. The structure in three parts is based on Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
. The work runs a little over an hour.
Structure
Tippett described the basic structure of his work as follows:"Part I of the work deals with the general state of oppression in our time. Part II presents the particular story of a young man's attempt to seek justice by violence and the catastrophic consequences; and Part III considers the moral to be drawn, if any."
- First part:
- Chorus: The world turns on its dark side
- The Argument & Interludium: Man has measured the heavens
- Scena: Is evil then good?
- The Narrator: Now in each nation there were some cast out
- Chorus of the Oppressed: When shall the usurer's city cease?
- Tenor Solo: I have no money for my bread
- Soprano Solo: How can I cherish my man?
- A Spiritual: "Steal away to JesusSteal Away"Steal Away" is an American Negro spiritual. The song is well known by variations of the chorus:Many say that songs like "Steal Away to Jesus", and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", "Wade in the Water" and the "Gospel Train" are secret codes not only to have faith in God, but were hidden messages for...
"
- Second part:
- Chorus: A star rises in midwinter
- The Narrator: And a time came
- Double Chorus of Persecutors and Persecuted: Away with them!
- The Narrator: Where they could, they fled
- Chorus of the Self-righteous: We cannot have them in our Empire
- The Narrator: And the boy's mother wrote
- Scena: The Mother, the Uncle and Aunt, and the Boy: O my son!
- A Spiritual: "Nobody knows the trouble I seeNobody Knows the Trouble I've SeenNobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen is a spiritual. The song is well known and many cover versions of it have been produced, although the rendition by Louis Armstrong is the best known. Marian Anderson had her first successful recording with a version of this song on the Victor label in 1925. Lena...
" - Scena: Duet: The boy becomes desperate
- The Narrator: They took a terrible vengeance
- Chorus: The Terror: Burn down their houses!
- The Narrator: Men were ashamed
- Spiritual of Anger: "Go down, MosesGo Down Moses"Go Down Moses" is an American Negro spiritual. It describes events in the Old Testament of the Bible, specifically Exodus 7:16: "And the Lord spoke unto Moses, go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me", in which God commands Moses to demand...
" - The Boy Sings in his Prison: My dreams are all shattered
- The Mother: What have I done to you, my son?
- Alto Solo: The dark forces rise
- A Spiritual: "By and by"
- Third part:
- Chorus: The cold deepens
- Alto Solo: The soul of man
- Scena: The words of wisdom
- General Ensemble: I would know my shadow and my light
- A Spiritual: "Deep riverDeep River (song)"Deep River" is an anonymous spiritual of African American origin. It has been sung in several films, including the 1929 film version of Show Boat, although it was not used in the original show...
"
Performances
The première took place at London's Adelphi TheatreAdelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
on 19 March 1944. Performers included:
- London Philharmonic OrchestraLondon Philharmonic OrchestraThe London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
- Walter GoehrWalter GoehrWalter Goehr was a German composer and conductor.Goehr was born in Berlin where studied with Arnold Schoenberg and embarked on a conducting career, before being forced as a Jew to seek employment outside Germany, while working for Berlin Radio in 1932. He was invited to become music director for...
(conductor) - Joan CrossJoan CrossJoan Cross was an English soprano, closely associated with the operas of Benjamin Britten. She also sang in the Italian and German operatic repertoires. She later became a musical administrator, taking on the direction of the Sadler's Wells Opera Company.-Career:Cross was born in London...
, Margaret McArthur, Peter PearsPeter PearsSir Peter Neville Luard Pears CBE was an English tenor who was knighted in 1978. His career was closely associated with the composer Edward Benjamin Britten....
, Roderick Lloyd (soloists) - Morley College ChoirMorley College ChoirMorley College Choir was founded by Gustav Holst, during the period he was teaching music at Morley College. The choir was led for many years by Michael Tippett, who conducted the ensemble for the first-ever recording of Thomas Tallis' Spem in Alium, and premiered a number of his works, including A...
The piece was a success with performers, public, and critics. Some people objected to the subject matter, orchestration, and the inclusion of the spirituals and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
elements.
The oratorio received its Israeli premiere in Haifa in 1952, a performance for which Grynszpan's father was present.