- Theil, Gordon. Michael Tippett: A Bio-Bibliography.Music Reference Collec-
tion, 21. New York: Greenwood, 1989. xii, 344p. ISBN 0-313-24270-4.
ML134 .T5 T5.
A useful guide to reviews and notices on the operas. - Kemp, Ian. Tippett: The Composer and His Music. New York: Oxford U.P.,
- xi, 516p. ISBN 0-9038-7323-0. ML410 .T59 K32.
A life and works, with good technical analysis of The Midsummer Marriage,
King Priam,and The Knot Garden.Bibliography, index. - White, Eric Walter. Tippett and His Operas.London: Barrie & Jenkins, 1979.
142p. ISBN 0-214-20573-8. ML410 .T595 W58.
Synopses, premiere data, and program notes for four operas (New Yearwas
not yet written). Letters from Tippett to White, regarding The Midsummer
Marriage,are quoted extensively. Without notes, musical examples, or bibliog-
raphy. Index of names, titles, and topics. - Scheppach, Margaret A. Dramatic Parallels in Michael Tippett’s Operas: Ana-
lytical Essays on the Musico-Dramatic Techniques.Studies in the History and
Interpretation of Music, 22. Lewiston, N.Y.: Mellen, 1990. viii, 184p. ISBN
0-88946-447-2. ML410 .T59 S325.
Technical studies of the five operas, in search of meaning and messages. The
musical analyses are basic but clear. Bibliography, no index. - Jones, Richard Elfyn. The Early Operas of Michael Tippett: A Study of “The
Midsummer Marriage,” “King Priam,” and “The Knot Garden.”Lewiston,
N.Y.: Mellen, 1996. ISBN 0-7734-8816-2. ML410 .T59 J79.
Detailed technical analyses, with backnotes, 152 musical examples, and name
index. - Dickinson, A. E. F. “Round about The Midsummer Marriage.” M&L 37
(1956): 50–60.
Program note, with a search for unifying features. Finds “notable gaps in con-
tinuity and distracting infelicities of language” and that “proportions appear
debatable,” but the “composer has found the right musical means for his
ends.”
1788.Tippett Studies. Ed. David Clarke. New York: Cambridge U.P., 1999. xv,
232p. ISBN 0-521-59205-4. ML410 .T59 T59.
A collection of essays by various authors. Includes Arnold Whittall, “‘Is There
a Choice at All?’ King Priamand Motives for Analysis”—a highly technical
study of harmonic elements—and Rowena Pollard and David Clarke, “Tip-
pett’s King Priamand the ‘Tragic Vision’”—genesis, Tippett’s philosophy of
death and his interpretation of Aristotle’s catharsis, technical analysis.
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