Although there are many instances of classical music that engages with politics, this is one of two oratorios on the list (see also ‘What Passing Bells’). While its general theme is a pacifist one, it was inspired by the rise of Nazism, particularly the Kristallnacht attacks on the Jewish population. Michael Tippett, who had strong left-wing sympathies, drew on African-American spirituals. Originally, he asked T.S. Eliot to write the libretto, but the final version was Tippett’s alone.