Michael Tippett: Music and Literature: Music and Literature

by Suzanne Robinson

This title was first published in 2002. One of the great composers of the 20th century, Michael Tippett found inspiration for his music amongst literary works that spanned all ages and many nations. His numerous settings of poetry, his several large works for voice and orchestra and the five operas that he wrote testify to his impressive command of literary history. The texts of these works are densely allusive, self-consciously interweaving quotations and half-quotations. The essays that make up this volume are specially commissioned interpretations of the relationships between music and literature that permeate and characterize Tippett's music and his writings. Indeed the first chapter in the volume is Tippett's own essay "The Relation of Autobiographical Experience to the Created Work of Art" which guides the reader through his literary loves. This is followed by essays from an international group of contributors who examine such topics as Tippett's main literary writings and the insights these offer into his other creative work; the development of Tippett's musical borrowings.

Hardcover

Published December 31, 2023

About the author

Lynda Suzanne Robinson (b. July 6, 1951 in Amarillo, Texas) is an American writer, author of romance (under the name Suzanne Robinson) and mystery novels (under the name Lynda S. Robinson). She is best known for her series of historical whodunnits set in Ancient Egypt during the reign of Tutankhamun and featuring Lord Meren, "the Eyes and Ears of Pharaoh". She lives in Texas with her husband and has a doctorate in anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin.