The oratorio 'A Child of Our Time' was Tippett's artistic and emotional response to the events that led to the 'Kristallnacht' pogrom of November 1938. For his oratorio Tippett used as his formal and historical models the Bach Passions and Handel's Messiah which share with this contemporary morality the subject of the death of an individual set against the universal background of human suffering. Tippett's use of the spiritual as a contemporary equivalent for the Lutheran chorale of the Bach settings draws his audience more closely into the drama through the spirituals' 'unique verbal and musical metaphor'.Part I1. Chorus2. The Argument. Alto solo3. Scena: Chorus and Alto Solo4. The Narrator. Bass Solo5. Chorus of the Oppressed6. Tenor Solo7. Soprano Solo8. A Spiritual: Chorus and SoliPart II9. Chorus10. The Narrator. Bass Solo11. Double Chorus of Persecutors and Persecuted12. The Narrator. Bass Solo13. Chorus of the Self-righteous14. The Narrator. Bass Solo15. Scena: The Mother, the Uncle and Aunt, and the Boy. Solo Quartet16. A Spiritual. Chorus and Soli17. Scena: Duet, Bass and Alto18. The Narrator. Bass Solo19. The Terror. Chorus20. The Narrator. Bass Solo21. A Spiritual of Anger. Chorus and Bass Solo22. The boy sings in his Prison. Tenor Solo23. The Mother. Soprano Solo24. Alto Solo25. A Spiritual. Chorus and Soprano SoloPart III: 26. Chorus27. Alto Solo28. Scena: Bass Solo and Chorus29. General Ensemble. Chorus and Soli30. A Spiritual. Chorus and Soli
