Written for the reconsecration of the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral in 1962, it's a magnificent evocation of the last days of Troy inspired by Homer’s Iliad. The music is sparse, haunting and occasionally lyrical in a surprising way.
I was really sorry to miss The Midsummer Marriage in 2013 -- still my favourite Tippett opera, for largely nostalgic reasons (and because the Ritual Dances would have to be on any Desert Island Discs list I composed), but King Priam comes a close second...
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