Although the compositions of Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (1905-1998) are not frequently performed, he is considered one of England's most important composers.

Michael Tippett was born in London on Jan. 2, 1905, and was attracted to music at an early age. His formal training was at the Royal College of Music, after which he taught school for a few years. He resigned to devote all of his time to composition and moved to a small village, where he worked steadily for several years. Later he destroyed all these early attempts and went back to the Royal College for further study.

Tippett then became musical director of Morley College in London, a college for working men and women, a position he held during the war years when London was under repeated attacks. He became known to the musical world as a skilled choral conductor with a contagious enthusiasm for music. A...