‘I WOULD KNOW MY SHADOW AND MY LIGHT’ - An exploration of Michael Tippett’s ‘The Midsummer Marriage’ and its relevance to a study of Druidism

Aug 27, 2026

Bardic Grade teaching within the Order of Bards Ovates & Druids employs the Welsh Tale of Taliesin to initiate learners into druid mysteries and to develop creative potential. Drawing on Michael Tippett’s opera The Midsummer Marriage, the paper explains how the same tale can generate an initiatory experience. It first identifies the shared inspirations of Tippett and Ross Nichols, then analyses the opera’s genesis and structure, highlighting its relevance to contemporary Druidism.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages48

Reading Time2 h 1 min

AccessFree to download

‘I WOULD KNOW MY SHADOW AND MY LIGHT’

Abstract

Preamble

Children of Their Time

| | SHADOW AND MY LIGHT’
An exploration ofMichael Tippett’sThe Midsummer Marriageand its relevancetoa study of Druidism
Philip Carr-Gomm | | --- | --- | | THE ORDER OF BARDS OVATES & DRUIDS | | MOUNT HAEMUS LECTURE FOR THE YEAR 2002 THE MOUNT HAEMUS AWARD Mount Haemus isa real mountain in the Balkans, and either this or another of thesame name was the classical prison of the winds. … The Aeolian isles off Sicily arealso, however, given for this windy prison. It was, whatever the location, theallegorical name for powerful inspiration which lurked beneath the surface. Ross Nichols, The Book of Druidry In 2005 the first five Mount Haemus Award lectures were published, and itwas only at this point that I realised that somehow a year had gone by since thefounding of the award without a research paper being requested. The series hadbegun with Professor Hutton’s contribution, followed in what seemed like rapidsuccession by Gordon Cooper, John Michael Greer, John & Caitlin Matthews and DrAdam Stout. But in reality the year 2002 had‘slipped through the net’ leaving aconspicuous gap in the series. I was determined to correct this oversight by travellingback intimetothe year 2002 to submit a paper ona topic of particular relevance tocontemporary Druidism. Philip Carr-GommLewesSamhuinn 2006 # ‘I WOULD KNOW MY SHADOW AND MY LIGHT’ An exploration of Michael Tippett’s ‘The Midsummer Marriage’and its relevance toa study of Druidism by Philip Carr-Gomm ## Abstract The Bardic Grade teaching of the Order of Bards Ovates & Druids uses an old Welshstory - the Tale of Taliesin - to initiate us into the Druid mysteries and to help usaccess and develop our creative potential. Michael Tippett’s opera The MidsummerMarriage uses the same story to help create an experience of initiation. This paperfirst examines the common ground that inspired both Michael Tippett and thefounder of the Order, Ross Nichols, and then explores the genesis and structure ofThe Midsummer Marriage, with particular relevance to contemporary Druidism. Preamble I discovered the work of Michael Tippett in 1997, while working on therevision of the Bardic Grade teachings. In one of his operas Tippett had introducedfour dances based on the chase sequence in the tale of Ceridwen and Taliesin. Imentioned this in the revised Gwersu, and gave talks with samples from the opera(and a brief enactment) at a Dutch members’weekend and at the Order’s Beltanecamp in England, but it took a further eight years for the opportunity to arise tostudy Tippett’s work in greater depth. In 2005 two events conspired to create thisopportunity: I was invited to give a talk for the Canonbury Masonic ResearchCentre’s annual conference on a theme that related to Initiation, and the year 2005was the centennial of Tippett’s birth. I knew that Tippett’s Midsummer Marriage wasfelt by enthusiasts to be an initiatory experience, and with its resonances withMozart’s Masonic Magic Flute, I felt a study of the initiatic theme in Tippett’s workwould bean ideal subject fora Masonic conference. Although Tippett can be seen as one of the most inspired composers of the20th century, his work is demanding and for this reason hardly popular and not oftenperformed. But the sudden rash of Tippett performances to celebrate his centennialmeant that Stephanie and I could have our own Tippett-fest - giving us the opportunity to experience his music at first hand. We saw his most well-known work,the oratorio A Child of Our Time, performed by the English National Opera in astunning performance that culminated in a tree bursting into flames on stage asthefinal words were sung. We would have seen it again on the first night of the Proms ifit hadn’t been for the London tube bombings a few days before which put us offtravelling into town. We saw The Knot Garden, his ‘most challengingly opaque anddensely surreal’opera (as The Times put it) atthe Linbury Studio Theatre in May, andwe were back in Coven

FAQs

What role does the Tale of Taliesin play in the Order of Bards Ovates & Druids?

It underpins the Bardic Grade teaching, initiating learners into druid mysteries while helping them access and develop creative potential.

How does Michael Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage relate to initiation?

It uses the same story framework as the Tale of Taliesin to create an experience of initiation.

What does the paper focus on regarding The Midsummer Marriage?

It examines the shared ground inspiring Tippett and Ross Nichols, then explores the opera’s genesis and structure with relevance to contemporary Druidism.

Aug 27, 2026

Upload by Olivia Brown