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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 December 2016
On 10 May 1989 pianist Philip Mead was engaged to play Tippett's Fourth Piano Sonata at Birmingham University on the occasion of the composer receiving his honorary doctorate there. This was preceded by an afternoon workshop on the piece with lively discussion between composer and pianist. Two days previously, on 8 May 1989, in preparation for the concert, Mead played the work privately to the composer. The information in this article, which is almost entirely drawn from those two meetings, begins with a brief description of working with Tippett. Then, after an overview of all four sonatas it makes general points about the structure and style of the Fourth Sonata. Finally, each movement is discussed in turn using ideas, many of which were initiated by the composer, developed by the pianist.
1 Richard Steinitz describes a public discussion at the Huddersfield Festival in 1991 chaired by Harrison Birtwistle: ‘Tippett was curiously on edge; alternatively defensive, pugnacious and flippant. Despite Birtwistle's best efforts, there was no real engagement and I wished I had chaired the discussion’. Steinitz, Richard, Explosions in November – The first 33 Years of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (Huddersfield: University of Huddersfield Press, 2011), pp. 42CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
2 Tippett, Michael, Those Twentieth Century Blues (London: Hutchinson, 1991), pp. 13–14 Google Scholar.
3 Email to the author 10 March 2016.
4 Michael Tippett, CD liner notes to Sir Michael Tippett: The Four Piano Sonatas, CRD Records Ltd (CRD 3430 and 3431) (1985), performed by Paul Crossley.
5 Tippett, CD liner notes.
6 Tippett, Those Twentieth Century Blues, pp. 274–5.
7 Email to the author, 10 March 2016.
8 Johnson, Julian, Who Needs Classical Music? Cultural Choice and Musical Value (Oxford: Oxford University press, 2002), p. 129CrossRefGoogle Scholar.