Music and Vinyl: Tippett - The Vision of St. Augustine

Commissioned by the BBC and first performed in 1966, Tippett's The Vision of St. Augustine is an oratorio for baritone soloist, choir and orchestra. Michael Tippett conducted the premiere with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and also conducts this 1972 RCA recording with the London Symphony Orchestra.

By 1965, Tippett's musical style had become more complex and much less tonal than the more popular works from earlier in his career such as the Concerto for Double String Orchestra and the Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli. The Vision is largely polytonal and features orchestration that is sometimes very dense, with multiple layers of percussion overlaying and framing the choral and vocal lines. If the chorus and orchestra have a demanding roles, that for the baritone soloist must one of the most difficult in repertory - here sung by John Shirley-Quirk.

Presented below are scans/photographs of the brief note by the composer on this recording, two contemporary record reviews, and the score's preface by Tippett - along with the score's final, and enigmatic, page. Click on these to enlarge them.

I bought this record when it was first released as a limited edition, boxed with a copy of the score. The music doesn't give its secrets up easily or quickly, and even some 40 years later I'm still finding new things to admire.