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Songs of the ghettos, concentration camps, and World War II partisan outposts

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Music of Protest

A Child of Our Time

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London, 1941

Libretto by: Sir Michael Tippett

Music by: Sir Michael Tippett

Language: English


Performed by City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Michael Tippett, Birmingham, England, October 1991.

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    The synagogue in Oberramstadt, Germany, burns during <i>Kristallnacht</i>. November 9–10, 1938.

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    A Child of Our Time

    English composer Michael Tippett (1905–1997), a committed pacifist, conceived the oratorio A Child of Our Time after he learned of the November 1938 Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) pogrom in…

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    The US Holocaust Memorial Museum may use your comments for educational, research, and Museum purposes, including publication. A selection of comments may be posted on our website, at our discretion.

  • The synagogue in Oberramstadt, Germany, burns during Kristallnacht. November 9–10, 1938.

    The synagogue in Oberramstadt, Germany, burns during Kristallnacht. November 9–10, 1938. —United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

  • A crowd watches as a synagogue burns during Kristallnacht. Graz, Austria, November 9–10, 1938.

    A crowd watches as a synagogue burns during Kristallnacht. Graz, Austria, November 9–10, 1938. —United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

  • The synagogue in Oberramstadt, Germany, burns during Kristallnacht. November 9–10, 1938.
  • A crowd watches as a synagogue burns during Kristallnacht. Graz, Austria, November 9–10, 1938.

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The synagogue in Oberramstadt, Germany, burns during Kristallnacht. November 9–10, 1938.

The synagogue in Oberramstadt, Germany, burns during Kristallnacht. November 9–10, 1938.
—United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

 Close

A crowd watches as a synagogue burns during Kristallnacht. Graz, Austria, November 9–10, 1938.

A crowd watches as a synagogue burns during Kristallnacht. Graz, Austria, November 9–10, 1938.
—United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

English composer Michael Tippett (1905–1997), a committed pacifist, conceived the oratorio A Child of Our Time after he learned of the November 1938 Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) pogrom in Germany and Austria. Wishing to communicate a universal message of tolerance, Tippett omitted any reference to current events in his libretto. He drew musical inspiration from baroque-era composers Bach and Handel and from African American spirituals. A Child of Our Time, named after a novel by anti-Nazi writer Odon von Horwath, was completed in 1941 and first performed in London in March 1944. The excerpted passage below occurs at the beginning of Part II:

A star rises in mid-winter.
Behold the man! Behold the man!
The scape-goat! The scape-goat!
The child of our time.

Recording Source

Michael Tippett, A Child of Our Time. Collins Classics CD 13392. Schott Music.

Related Links

  • Holocaust Encyclopedia article—Kristallnacht

Verdict (Spruch) Our Town Is Burning (Undzer shtetl brent)

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