Michael Tippett's oratorio A Child of our Time was written at the beginning of the second world war as an expression of 'man's inhumanity to man'. It has become one of his most widely known works and one which is seen to symbolise the composer's extra-musical concerns, both political and psychological. This study places these concerns within a wider historical and cultural context while also focusing on specific aspects of Tippett's musical language. Central to this enquiry is Tippett's relationship to the work of T. S. Eliot, a relationship which is seen to condition both the text and its musical representation through Tippett's allusions to specific poetic images within the text and references to historical genres, forms and gestures within the musical dimension. Also of importance is the initial critical reception of the work, a reception which determined responses that still surround the work.

‘ … a very thorough attempt to elucidate an acknowledged masterwork.’

Source: The Musical Times

‘Like other volumes in the CUP series it is commendably brief, but not lacking in substance.’

Source: The Singer

‘ … a useful showcase of current Tippett scholarship … a significant gesture to the future.’

Source: Tempo