A Child of Our Time facts for kids

A Child of Our Time is a special kind of musical story called an oratorio. It was created by a composer named Michael Tippett between 1939 and 1941.

Why This Musical Story Was Written

Michael Tippett wrote this oratorio when World War II was just beginning. He had already seen the horrors of World War I and felt very sad about the bad things happening in the world. He wanted to make a musical piece about these feelings. He used the start of World War II as the main idea for the story, but he also wanted the music to speak about all the difficult times people face.

In 1938, a 17-year-old Jewish boy named Hershel Grynspan lived in Paris. He was very upset because of how his parents were treated by the Nazis in Germany. Because of this, he attacked and killed a Nazi diplomat in France. The Nazis in Germany were so angry that they attacked and killed many Jewish people across Germany. This terrible event is known as Kristallnacht, or "Night of Broken Glass." These events are a big part of the story in Tippett's oratorio. Tippett wrote all the words for the music himself.

The title of the oratorio comes from a novel called Ein Kind unserer Zeit (which means A Child of Our Time). It was written by Ödön von Horváth in 1938. Tippett started composing his oratorio on 5 September 1939, just two days after Britain declared war on Germany.

In 1958, Tippett changed five of the negro spiritual songs so they could be sung by a choir without any instruments. These songs are often performed on their own, separate from the oratorio.

Tippett used a similar structure to the Passions written by Bach. This means he used a narrator, like a storyteller, who tells the main events. Instead of Bach's Lutheran chorales (hymns), Tippett added five negro spirituals. These spirituals are like emotional comments on the story. The music of these spirituals fits very well with Tippett's own musical style. The whole oratorio lasts a little over an hour and has three parts. This idea is similar to Handel's Messiah, which also has three parts. Tippett named his three parts:

• Prophecy
• Narrative
• Meditation

The Story in the Oratorio

Part One: Prophecy

Part one begins by showing a world that feels dark and troubled. A solo singer (the alto) expresses how a person's soul might feel during hard times. The bass singer, who is the narrator, talks about difficult events like purges in Russia, lynchings in the USA, and great poverty in Britain. The choir then sings about their feelings of sadness and hopelessness.

Part Two: Narrative

The choir describes a feeling of quiet tension. They sing about "The Scape-Goat, The Child of Our Time." A "scapegoat" is someone who gets blamed for something they didn't do. There's a part where the choir splits into two groups, like a crowd scene, representing the "Persecutors" (those who cause harm) and the "Persecuted" (those who suffer). In the "Chorus of the Self-Righteous," we hear about countries, including Britain, that were unwilling to accept many Jewish refugees. The story then tells how the boy tries to save his mother. We learn about the murder of the Nazi diplomat. There is a chorus that expresses terror. Finally, we see the boy in prison and hear about his mother's grief.

Part Three: Meditation

This part is about moving through difficult times and finding new hope and freedom. The bass singer suggests that if we are patient, we can heal from our pain. The choir finishes by singing about how these problems are not just for one group of people, but are shared by everyone.

• Richard Smith, An introduction to Michael Tippett's 'A Child of Our Time', documentary, Part 1 · Part 2 · Part 3

Images for kids

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  Passers-by observe a wrecked Jewish business in Magdeburg, Germany, after the Kristallnacht attacks of 9 November 1938. These events inspired Tippett to write A Child of Our Time.

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  Stamford School (photographed in 2006), where Tippett's musical talents first became clear.

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  Herschel Grynszpan, whose actions formed the basis of A Child of Our Time.

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  "Deep River, my home is over Jordan" The final spiritual in the oratorio, sheet music version 1917.