Description:

Orchestral Score, Michael Tippett, Symphony 4, with handwritten title page and instructions for "Wind Machine" Synthesizer used for "breathing effect," given to Maestro Leppard in 1977.
From the personal collection of Maestro Raymond Leppard (1927-2019).

Includes Tippet's typed notes for using the Synthi-VCS#3, Mark II synthesizer to create the desired effect of "human breathing (inhalation and exhalation) in varying degrees of intensity." Detailed notes describe how and when the synthesizer is used and includes technical notes.

From Wikipdia: Sir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten as one of the leading British composers of the 20th century. Among his best-known works are the oratorio A Child of Our Time, the orchestral Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli, and the opera The Midsummer Marriage.

From Wikipedia: Michael Tippett's Symphony No. 4 was written in 1977 and first performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and conducted by Sir Georg Solti. It was dedicated to Tippett's biographer and friend, Ian Kemp. Tippett called the work "a birth to death piece".[1] This is emphasized by a "breathing effect", either from tape or sampler, particularly prominent at the beginning and the end of the symphony, with a single, unaccompanied intake of breath as its conclusion. Stylistically, the Fourth Symphony unites all previous stylistic tendencies in Tippett's work: the counterpoint and gentle lyricism of his first creative period and the angular, spiky modernism of his second period, thus creating a third and final period. Tippett quotes the opening of this Symphony in his Piano Sonata No. 4.

From Wickipedia: The VCS3 was popular among progressive rock bands, and was used on recordings by The Alan Parsons Project, Jean-Michel Jarre, Todd Rundgren, Hawkwind, Brian Eno (with Roxy Music and as a solo artist or collaborator), King Crimson, The Who, Gong, and Pink Floyd, and many others. The VCS3-generated bass sound at the beginning of Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine" forms the foundation of the song, with its other parts heard in response. The Who famously used a VCS3 on "Won't Get Fooled Again" from Who's Next, where Pete Townshend used it as an external sound processor by running the signal of a Lowrey organ through the VCS3's filter and low frequency oscillators. It was also notably used by John Paul Jones in the song "Four Sticks" on the untitled fourth album by Led Zeppelin.
3/4"H x 12"W x 18 1/2"D

    Dimensions:
  • 3/4"H x 12"W x 18 1/2"D

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January 16, 2021 11:00 AM EST
Indianapolis, IN, US

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