Episodes

EpisodeFirst
Broadcast
Comments
0120190415The music of the British composer Michael Tippett - including the oratorio A Child of Our Time, five operas, and four symphonies - is among the most visionary of the 20th Century, but little has been written about his extraordinary life. In this new, first complete biography, arts writer and broadcaster Oliver Soden weaves a century-spanning narrative of epic scope and insight.

Soden has been given unprecedented access to unpublished letters and manuscripts, and has recorded interviews with Tippett's friends and colleagues. He paints a portrait of a powerful intellect and infectious personality - charming, with a consuming interest in other people, stubborn and great fun.

But he also uncovers the sorrows and secrets that Tippett stowed away beneath his cheerfulness, not least the darker reaches of some tempestuous and often tragic love affairs that sometimes blurred the lines between the professional and the personal.

Tippett's was a long, exciting life - and woven through it all is his amazing, varied music, as beautiful as it is challenging, and the eclectic supporting cast of his friends, colleagues and lovers. His was truly a life of the 20th Century - but one that can also shine a light on the 21st.

The first episode begins with Tippett's childhood. The composer was born into the decade before the First World War, his early years spent in the peace and tranquillity of a Suffolk village. But the British Empire was fading, and the culture and philosophy of Victorian Britain were fast being abandoned in a rush of change and social unrest.

Abridged by Elizabeth Burke

Produced by Pippa Vaughan

Read by Oliver Soden featuring Derek Jacobi and Ivor Minchin Berry

A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4

The composer's Suffolk childhood changes forever when his mother battles the authorities.

0220190416The music of the British composer Michael Tippett - including the oratorio A Child of Our Time, five operas, and four symphonies - is among the most visionary of the 20th Century, but little has been written about his extraordinary life. In this new, first complete biography, arts writer and broadcaster Oliver Soden weaves a century-spanning narrative of epic scope and insight.

Soden has been given unprecedented access to unpublished letters and manuscripts, and has recorded interviews with Tippett's friends and colleagues. He paints a portrait of a powerful intellect and infectious personality - charming, with a consuming interest in other people, stubborn and great fun.

But he also uncovers the sorrows and secrets that Tippett stowed away beneath his cheerfulness, not least the darker reaches of some tempestuous and often tragic love affairs that sometimes blurred the lines between the professional and the personal.

Tippett's was a long, exciting life - and woven through it all is his amazing, varied music, as beautiful as it is challenging, and the eclectic supporting cast of his friends, colleagues and lovers. His was truly a life of the 20th Century - but one that can also shine a light on the 21st.

In Episode Two, Tippett plunges enthusiastically into the heady life of the Royal College of Music. He falls in and out of love, is overcome by the power of music - and decides to become a composer.

Abridged by Elizabeth Burke

Produced by Pippa Vaughan

Read by Oliver Soden featuring Derek Jacobi and Nicholas Boulton

A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4

Oliver Soden's biography about an extraordinary life spanning the 20th century.

0320190417The music of the British composer Michael Tippett - including the oratorio A Child of Our Time, five operas, and four symphonies - is among the most visionary of the 20th Century, but little has been written about his extraordinary life. In this new, first complete biography, arts writer and broadcaster Oliver Soden weaves a century-spanning narrative of epic scope and insight.

Soden has been given unprecedented access to unpublished letters and manuscripts, and has recorded interviews with Tippett's friends and colleagues. He paints a portrait of a powerful intellect and infectious personality - charming, with a consuming interest in other people, stubborn and great fun.

But he also uncovers the sorrows and secrets that Tippett stowed away beneath his cheerfulness, not least the darker reaches of some tempestuous and often tragic love affairs that sometimes blurred the lines between the professional and the personal.

Tippett's was a long, exciting life - and woven through it all is his amazing, varied music, as beautiful as it is challenging, and the eclectic supporting cast of his friends, colleagues and lovers. His was truly a life of the 20th Century - but one that can also shine a light on the 21st.

In episode three, war in Europe approaches and the world turns dark. Tippett composes A Child of Our Time at the height of the Blitz and faces the consequences of his pacifism.

Abridged by Elizabeth Burke

Produced by Pippa Vaughan

Read by Oliver Soden featuring Derek Jacobi and Nicholas Boulton

A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4

War in Europe approaches and Michael Tippett pays the price for his pacifist beliefs.

0420190418The music of the British composer Michael Tippett - including the oratorio A Child of Our Time, five operas, and four symphonies - is among the most visionary of the 20th Century, but little has been written about his extraordinary life. In this new, first complete biography, arts writer and broadcaster Oliver Soden weaves a century-spanning narrative of epic scope and insight.

Soden has been given unprecedented access to unpublished letters and manuscripts, and has recorded interviews with Tippett's friends and colleagues. He paints a portrait of a powerful intellect and infectious personality - charming, with a consuming interest in other people, stubborn and great fun.

But he also uncovers the sorrows and secrets that Tippett stowed away beneath his cheerfulness, not least the darker reaches of some tempestuous and often tragic love affairs that sometimes blurred the lines between the professional and the personal.

Tippett's was a long, exciting life - and woven through it all is his amazing, varied music, as beautiful as it is challenging, and the eclectic supporting cast of his friends, colleagues and lovers. His was truly a life of the 20th Century - but one that can also shine a light on the 21st.

In episode four, Britain is at war and Tippett's pacifist beliefs land him in prison. In the solitude of his cell, he reflects on life and music.

Abridged by Elizabeth Burke

Produced by Pippa Vaughan

Read by Oliver Soden featuring Derek Jacobi and Nicholas Boulton

A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4

Britain is at war and Tippett's pacifist beliefs land him in Wormwood Scrubs.

05 LAST20190419The music of the British composer Michael Tippett - including the oratorio A Child of Our Time, five operas, and four symphonies - is among the most visionary of the 20th Century, but little has been written about his extraordinary life. In this new, first complete biography, arts writer and broadcaster Oliver Soden weaves a century-spanning narrative of epic scope and insight.

Soden has been given unprecedented access to unpublished letters and manuscripts, and has recorded interviews with Tippett's friends and colleagues. He paints a portrait of a powerful intellect and infectious personality - charming, with a consuming interest in other people, stubborn and great fun.

But he also uncovers the sorrows and secrets that Tippett stowed away beneath his cheerfulness, not least the darker reaches of some tempestuous and often tragic love affairs that sometimes blurred the lines between the professional and the personal.

Tippett's was a long, exciting life - and woven through it all is his amazing, varied music, as beautiful as it is challenging, and the eclectic supporting cast of his friends, colleagues and lovers. His was truly a life of the 20th Century - but one that can also shine a light on the 21st.

The final episode, the 'Grand Old Man of Music'. A critical analysis of Michael Tippett's late years of life and music, a period of renewed lyricism.

Abridged by Elizabeth Burke

Produced by Pippa Vaughan

Read by Oliver Soden featuring Derek Jacobi and Nicholas Boulton

A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4

As I get older, in many ways I get younger!' The twists and turns of later years.