A Child of Our Time| London Philharmonic Orchestra

‘The world turns on its dark side. It is winter.’ Trumpets cry out in pain, then sink wearily downwards, and the chorus murmurs the heartbroken opening words of Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time. Composed at the start of the Second World War but provoked by decades of intolerance, Tippett’s landmark ‘modern oratorio’ is built around the soul-shaking melodies of African-American spirituals – and for this performance we’re thrilled to welcome the London Adventist Chorale, plus an exceptional team of soloists. Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music – written just a year earlier, by another musical visionary – offers radiant calm before Tippett’s emotional storm.