Michael Tippett Quotes & Sayings

Shakespeare fascinated me. He hardly ever left the country. His imagination was worldwide though reading. — Michael Tippett

Conductors don't suffer, they are part of the performance. — Michael Tippett

The nearest figure to myself would be Shakespeare. — Michael Tippett

Shiva danced the world into existence ... that's a very nice thought. — Michael Tippett

The blues are like the fugue in 18th century. It's probably the music that belongs most to our time. — Michael Tippett

This is something special. You can attempt to have a kind of non-living music. — Michael Tippett

Music remains the most strange of the materials because we don't understand what happens when music moves you. — Michael Tippett

I think we're all pretty odd. — Michael Tippett

I've seldom become nostalgic or settled. — Michael Tippett

The Greek sculptor - I don't think he was very different from any of us. — 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

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

I'm outside the music I've made. I have no interest in it. — Michael Tippett

I remain a humanist. We are a very curious race. — Michael Tippett

When we use terms we get confused, yet we have no other way. — Michael Tippett

Characters are an extreme form in Shakespeare's theater. — Michael Tippett

Nature has different times. — 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

Public notice does not necessarily accord with internal fulfilment. — Michael Tippett

Music is a performance and needs the audience. — Michael Tippett

Beethoven suppressed everything, his personal life disappeared until he was locked inside. That is a figure quite extreme. — Michael Tippett