In the mid-to-late 1930s several of Tippett 's early works were published , including his String Quartet No. 1 , Sonata No. 1 for piano , and Concerto for Double String Orchestra . Among his unpublished output in these years were two works for voice : the ballad opera '' Robin Hood '' , written for performance at the Yorkshire work camps , and '' A Song of Liberty '' based on William Blake 's " The Marriage of Heaven and Hell " . As his self-confidence increased , Tippett felt increasingly driven to write a work of overt political protest . In his search for a subject he first considered the Dublin Easter Rising of 1916 : he may have been aware that Benjamin Britten had written incidental music to Montagu Slater 's play '' Easter 1916 '' . However , events towards the end of 1938 turned his attention away from Irish matters . Tippett had made several visits to Germany , and had acquired a love for its literature and culture . He became increasingly distressed by reports of events in that country and , in particular the persecution of its Jewish population . In November 1938 the assassination in Paris of a German diplomat , Ernst vom Rath , by Herschel Grynszpan , a 17-year-old Jewish refugee , precipitated the " Kristallnacht " pogrom across Germany . Over several days of violence synagogues were burned , Jewish homes and businesses attacked and destroyed , thousands of Jews were arrested , and some Jews were stoned or beaten to death . Reports from Germany of these events affected Tippett profoundly , and became the inspiration for his first large-scale dramatic work
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
A Child of Our Time