Editing Michael Tippett (section)

====Withdrawn compositions====
{{Quote box|width=350px|bgcolor=#E0E6F8|align=left|quote= "I had never heard the work when I came across the Chrysander Edition [of ''Messiah'']. It was a revelation. I was astounded by the power of the work's direct utterance. We gave a reasonably authentic performance and it taught me a tremendous amount. After that, Handel rather than Bach, became my bible. Those single lines—violin, soprano and figured bass—impressed me most."|salign = left |source= Tippett's reaction to Handel's ''Messiah'', after supervising a performance in 1930.<ref name= Gram/> }}
Tippett's earliest compositions cover several genres. Kemp writes that the works indicate Tippett's deep commitment to learning his craft, his early ability to manipulate traditional forms, and a general willingness to experiment.<ref name="Kemp73"/> Clarke observes that in these youthful efforts, characteristics of his mature work are already discernible.<ref name= grove/> Some of the early work is of high quality—the Symphony in B flat of 1933 was, in Kemp's view, comparable to [[William Walton]]'s contemporaneous [[Symphony No. 1 (Walton)|First Symphony]]. Tippett pondered for years whether to include this work in his formal canon before deciding that its debt to Sibelius was too great. Nevertheless, it foreshadows techniques that feature in the String Quartet No. 1 and in the ''Corelli Fantasia''.<ref name="Kemp73"/>

Other accomplished early works include the two string quartets, composed between 1928 and 1930, in which Tippett sought to combine the styles of Beethoven and [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]] respectively with folk-song, as Beethoven had in his [[String Quartets, Op. 59 (Beethoven)|Rasoumovsky quartets]] of 1806.<ref name="Kemp73"/> Tippett explains the withdrawal of these and the other early works: "I realised very clearly that they were not totally consonant with myself. I didn't think they had the stamp of artistic durability. So I took the whole lot along to R.O. Morris who agreed that they didn't show enough technical mastery."<ref name= Gram>{{cite magazine|title= Alan Blyth talks to Sir Michael Tippett|url= http://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/focus/interview-michael-tippett|magazine=[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]|date= April 1971|access-date= 16 June 2016}} Republished by ''Gramophone'' online, 29 October 2012</ref>