MS Mus. 1942/1

ff. i-ii. List of research materials deposited, compiled by Oliver Soden.

(1). Programme book for the St Ives Festival of music and the arts, 6-14 June 1953, for which Tippett acted as co-director, together with Priaulx Rainier.

(2). ff. 1-4. Copy of part of a typed autobiography by Frida Knight (1910-1996), untitled and unpublished. Chapter seven only, titled: ‘Music & Miners’. This chapter documents Knight’s involvement in Tippett’s folk-song opera, Robin Hood. The whereabouts of the complete work are unknown.

(3). f. 5. Copy of a letter to Ruth Pennyman, dated 14 August 1934, describing Robin Hood and including an illustration of the production.

(4). f. 6. Photograph by Mark Whyman of the Miners’ Hall, Boosbeck, c. 1989. The photograph shows the location of premiere of Robin Hood prior to renovation. Donated with the permission of the photographer.

(5). ff. 7-18. Copy of a draft libretto for Robin Hood in the hand of David Ayerst, c 1933: titled ‘Robin Hood: Libretto to Michael Tippett’s Music’. Incomplete.

(6). ff. 19-23. Three black and white photographs of the cast of the first production of Robin Hood outside the Miners’ Hall, Boosbeck, in 1934. Together with two annotated photocopies of the same. Donated to the British Library with the permission of Professor Malcolm Chase, who was given them by Frida Knight.

(7). f. 24. A slide of Michael Tippett, Wilfred Franks, and others in the grounds of Ormesby Hall during one of their visits to North Yorkshire in the early 1930s. Donated to the British Library with the permission of Professor Malcolm Chase, who was given it by Frida Knight.

(8). ff. 25-30. Copy of a letter from David Ayerst to Professor Malcolm Chase, 17 July 1989 documenting Ayerst’s involvement with Robin Hood. The whereabouts of the original are unknown.

(9). ff. 31-59. Two chapters of an uncompleted and unpublished memoir, c. 1989. Titled I Remember, I Remember and co-written by Michael Tippett and his brother, Peter Kemp. The memoir was intended to recall their childhood in Edwardian Suffolk. Chapter one, ‘Rosemary Cottage’; chapter two, ‘The Family’. The second chapter includes details of Isabel Kemp’s (Tippett’s mother) involvement with the suffrage movement. Donated to the British Library with permission of Charmian Whitemell, daughter of Peter Kemp.

(10). ff. 60-69. Copies of seven letters from Michael Tippett to pianist and composer Antony Hopkins, all undated but written during the Second World War, while Tippett was director of music at Morley College, London. Hopkins was a frequent performer, and the letters mainly chronicle the bureaucracy of concert organisation. The copies were obtained from Hopkins’s widow Beatrix Taylor.

(11). f. 70. Letter from Michael Tippett to Cyril Allinson, c April 1945, following the suicide of Francesca Allinson. Donated with the permission of Kit Martin.

(12). ff. 71-74. Copy of a handwritten account of working with Tippett on the Piano Sonata No. 3, made by Paul Crossley, who gave the first performance of the piece. Titled 'Memorandum of Tippett Sonata No. 3'.