A Child of Our Time

“The world turns on its dark side”, so begins Michael Tippett’s choral masterpiece ‘A Child of our Time’, composed during the early years of the Second World War and giving expression to Tippett’s hopes for a better world. The performance of the secular oratorio this evening, with a starry cast, opens the CBSO’s new concert season under its Musical Director Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, and is presented alongside a piece in a similar vein, from the same period, by Tippett’s contemporary, Benjamin Britten. The concert is introduced by Tom McKinney.

PART ONE
Benjamin Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem

INTERVAL
Michael Tippett: Piano Sonata No 1 - First Mvt: Allegro
(Peter Donohoe - Piano CD)
Tom McKinney talks with Tippett biographer Oliver Soden about the background to ‘A Child of our Time’.

PART TWO
Michael Tippett: A Child of our Time

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla – conductor
Talise Trevigne – soprano
Felicity Palmer – mezzo
Joshua Stewart – tenor
Brindley Sherratt – bass
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master: Simon Halsey)