Composer Sir Michael Tippett dies

One of the leading figures of British twentieth-century music, Sir Michael Tippett has died after suffering from pneumonia.

He was ninety-three.

He first made his mark in the nineteen-thirties with his string quartets.

About this time he also developed strong pacifist views and was briefly imprisoned during the Second World War as a conscientous objector.

He went on to win international acclaim for his protest against Hitler's Germany -- the oratorio "A Child of Our Time," which included choruses based on negro spirituals.

But some critics felt that Tippett's individualism and modernity made his work inaccessible to a wider audience.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service