Tippett, Sir Michael: A Child of our Time

Michael Tippett (1905-1998)

A Child of Our Time 73:17
Part I 24:00
1 Chorus: 'The world turns on its dark side' 5:00

2 The Argument. Alto: 'Man has measured the heavens with a telescope' - 3:04
Interludium
3 Scena. Chorus, Alto: 'Is evil then good?' 3:07
4 Bass (The Narrator): 'Now in each nation there were some cast out…' - 1:11
5 Chorus of the Oppressed: 'When shall the userers' city cease…?' 2:11
6 Tenor: 'I have no money for my bread' 3:26
7 Soprano: 'How can I cherish my man in such days…?' - 3:34
8 A Spiritual. Chorus, Soprano, Tenor: 'Steal away' 2:29

Part II 24:00
 9 Chorus: 'A star rises in mid-winter' - 3:40
10 Bass (The Narrator): 'And a time came…' 0:17
11 Double Chorus of Persecutors and Persecuted: 'Away with them!' - 0:57
12 Bass (The Narrator): 'Where they could, they fled from the terror' - 0:22
13 Chorus of the Self-righteous: 'We cannot have them in our Empire' - 0:49
14 Bass (The Narrator): 'And the boy's mother wrote a letter…' 0:14
15 Scena. Solo Quartet (Mother, Aunt, Boy, Uncle): 'O my son!' - 1:29
16 A Spiritual. Chorus, Soprano, Tenor: 'Nobody 1:17
knows the trouble I see, Lord'
17 Scena. Bass (The Narrator), Alto: 'The boy becomes 1:32
desperate in his agony'
18 Bass (The Narrator): 'They took a terrible vengeance' - 0:33
19 The Terror. Chorus: 'Burn down their houses!' - 1:02
20 Bass (The Narrator): 'Men were ashamed of what was done' - 0:37
21 A Spiritual of Anger. Chorus, Bass: 'Go down, Moses' 3:28
22 The boy sings in his prison. Tenor: 'My dreams are 3:44
all shattered in ghastly reality' -
23 Soprano (The Mother): 'What have I done to you, my son?' 1:39
24 Alto: 'The dark forces rise like a flood' - 1:04
25 A Spiritual. Chorus, Soprano: 'O, by and by' 1:22

Part III 25:03
26 Chorus: 'The cold deepens' 5:34
27 Alto: 'The soul of man is impassioned…' 2:19
28 Scena. Bass, Chorus: 'The world of wisdom are these' - 6:52
Preludium
29 General Ensemble. Chorus, Soloists: I would 6:16
know my shadow and my light' -
30 A Spiritual. Chorus, Soloists: 'Deep river' 4:07

Cynthia Haymon soprano
Cynthia Clarey alto
Damon Evans tenor
Willard White bass
London Symphony Chorus
London Symphony Orchestra
Richard Hickox
Recorded in:
Blackheath Halls, London
6-8 July 1992
Producer(s)
Brian Couzens
Sound Engineer(s)
Ralph Couzens
Ben Connellan (Assistant)