Beethoven suppressed everything, his personal life disappeared until he was locked inside. That is a figure quite extreme. – Michael Tippett
I am quite certain in my heart of hearts that modern music and modern art is not a conspiracy, but is a form of truth and integrity for those who practise it honestly, decently and with all their being. – Michael Tippett
Music is a performing art, as any Native American will tell you. It isn’t there in the score. – Michael Tippett
Shakespeare fascinated me. He hardly ever left the country. His imagination was worldwide though reading. – Michael Tippett
Music remains the most strange of the materials because we don’t understand what happens when music moves you. – Michael Tippett
The blues are like the fugue in 18th century. It’s probably the music that belongs most to our time. – Michael Tippett
My true function within a society which embraces all of us is to continue an age-old tradition. This tradition is to create images from the depths of the imagination and to give them form, whether visual, intellectual or musical. – Michael Tippett
Poetry is fascinating. As soon as it begins the poetry has changed the thing into something extra, and somehow prose can go over into poetry. – Michael Tippett
