The World of Michael Tippett

Launching their new album, The Carice Singers and soloist Hugh Cutting reveal Sir Michael Tippett as a visionary of twentieth-century choral music.

Michael Tippett (1905-1998) created some of the most beautiful, daring, and transcendental soundscapes of the twentieth century. With an extraordinary imagination which worked slowly and on a large scale, it is no surprise that the handful of unaccompanied choral works he composed are themselves remarkable in their originality and virtuosity.

The concert’s first half pays homage to Tippett’s innovations not just as a composer but also as a choral conductor, offering the kind of invigorating programmes he brought to life with the choir at Morley College during the darkest days of the Second World War. Countertenor Hugh Cutting joins the group for a hauntingly beautiful lullaby originally composed for Alfred Deller, which captures Tippett in the middle of a major stylistic shift during the late 1950s.

The second half consolidates Tippett’s continued status as a beacon for today’s composers, with the first performance of a new piece by Alex Groves, inspired by Tippett’s friendships with Barbara Hepworth and the composer Priaulx Rainier.

The Carice Singers’ new recording of Tippett’s unaccompanied choral music will be released on the same day and will be available to buy at the concert.