Sir Michael Tippett (1905–1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during the Second World War. He was considered to rank with his contemporary Benjamin Britten as one of the leading British composers of the 20th century. Among his best-known works are the oratorio A Child of Our Time, the orchestral Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli, and the opera The Midsummer Marriage. Tippett withdrew or destroyed his earliest compositions, and was 30 before any of his works were published. Initial difficulties in accepting his homosexuality led him in 1939 to Jungian psychoanalysis. Until the mid- 1950s his music was broadly lyrical in character, before changing to a more astringent and experimental style, open to new influences including jazz and blues. He was much honoured in his lifetime, but uneven critical judgement reserved praise generally for his earlier works. Having briefly embraced communism in the 1930s, Tippett avoided identifying with any political party. A pacifist after 1940, he was imprisoned in 1943 for refusing to carry out war-related duties. He was a strong advocate of music education, a radio broadcaster and a writer on music.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Tippett
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1920:
Under the leadership of U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer (pictured), Department of Justice agents launched a series of raids against radical leftists and anarchists across 30 cities in 23 states. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_Raids
1944:
World War II: The United States and Australia successfully landed 13,000 troops on Papua New Guinea in an attempt to cut off a Japanese retreat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_at_Saidor
1971:
At Ibrox Park in Glasgow, Scotland, 66 people were killed in a stampede during an Old Firm football match. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Ibrox_disaster
1981:
English serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper", was arrested in Sheffield, ending one of the largest police investigations in British history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sutcliffe
2004:
The Stardust space probe flew by the comet Wild 2 and collected particle samples from its coma, which were later returned to Earth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/81P/Wild
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
Silent Sam: (informal) A person who seldom or never speaks; a taciturn or unresponsive individual. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Silent_Sam
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
If I were not an atheist, I would believe in a God who would choose to save people on the basis of the totality of their lives and not the pattern of their words. I think he would prefer an honest and righteous atheist to a TV preacher whose every word is God, God, God, and whose every deed is foul, foul, foul. --Isaac Asimov https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov
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