ABSTRACT
Sir Michael Tippett showed a rare insight into the personality of the Avebury people in The Midsummer Marriage, where they appear as volatile and instinctual, profoundly attuned to the forces of nature and expressing their bond with nature in elaborate ritual dances. Tippett has them sing, ‘We are the laughing children,’ and this is the single most apt and potent image that I can find for people who were startlingly child-like in appearance, temperament and daring.
