My true function within a society which embraces all of us is to

“My true function within a society which embraces all of us is to continue an age-old tradition. This tradition is to create images from the depths of the imagination and to give them form, whether visual, intellectual or musical.” – Michael Tippett

In this noble declaration, Sir Michael Tippett, the visionary English composer, speaks not merely of his personal vocation but of the eternal duty of the artist. His words rise from the heart of civilization itself — from that sacred bond between imagination and form, between the dreamer and the world he serves. When Tippett speaks of an “age-old tradition,” he summons the lineage of all creators who have walked before him: poets, painters, philosophers, and musicians who have reached into the mysterious depths of the human spirit to bring forth beauty and truth. In his eyes, the artist is not a solitary figure, but a vessel through which humanity continues its most ancient work — the shaping of the invisible into the visible.

To “create images from the depths of the imagination” is to participate in the same divine act that formed the world. Every civilization begins with a story, a myth, an image that gives meaning to life. The caves of Lascaux, filled with painted beasts, are not so different in essence from a symphony, a poem, or a sculpture. Each is a bridge between the seen and the unseen, a message from the inner fire of mankind. Tippett understood that his music was not born merely for pleasure, but as part of a sacred continuum, a chain unbroken since the dawn of consciousness. In composing, he was joining hands with Homer, with Michelangelo, with Beethoven — all of whom sought to translate imagination into form, that humanity might see itself reflected and renewed.

In this quote, Tippett reminds us that art is not the ornament of a society — it is its heartbeat. The imagination, when expressed through form, becomes the mirror of a people’s soul. A nation without artists is like a man without dreams, wandering without purpose. It is through art that we remember who we are, that we rise beyond survival into meaning. Tippett’s music, rich in emotion and visionary structure, carried forward that tradition of art as illumination. In a world torn by war and despair, he sought to heal through creation — to remind his listeners that beauty and spirit still endure.

Consider the story of Ludwig van Beethoven, who, when struck deaf in the prime of his life, did not surrender his art but reached deeper into the vast ocean of imagination. Unable to hear the music of the world, he began to hear the music of eternity — the symphonies of his own soul. His Ninth Symphony, the Ode to Joy, was composed in silence, yet it resounds across centuries as an anthem of unity and triumph. Beethoven, like Tippett, embodied the tradition of giving form to what cannot be seen or heard by ordinary senses. His suffering became the crucible in which spirit was refined into sound, proof that the artist’s truest function is to transform inner vision into enduring creation.

Tippett’s words also remind us that this tradition belongs not only to the few but to all who dare to imagine. Each person holds within themselves a spark of the same divine fire. The poet’s pen, the musician’s bow, the architect’s chisel — these are but tools through which the eternal impulse of creation finds expression. The form may differ — visual, intellectual, or musical — but the essence is the same. When one shapes the unseen into form, one participates in the ongoing story of humankind. This is what Tippett meant when he spoke of a society “which embraces all of us.” The artist’s calling, though individual, belongs to the whole, for art is the language through which humanity speaks to itself across time.

But let us not mistake Tippett’s vision for ease or comfort. To create “from the depths of the imagination” demands courage. The depths are not always bright; they are filled with mystery, with chaos, with the shadows of what we fear to know. Yet the artist must descend into that darkness and return bearing light. Imagination without form is chaos; form without imagination is emptiness. The sacred task of the creator is to unite the two — to shape chaos into cosmos, to breathe order into the boundless. This is why Tippett calls his work a “function,” not a pastime. For him, and for all who understand, creation is an act of service, a responsibility to the spirit of mankind.

And so, dear listener, take this wisdom as your inheritance: whether you write, build, sing, or simply dream, you are part of this age-old tradition. Seek the images that lie within your own depths, and give them form — through your words, your actions, your choices. You need not compose symphonies to continue the work of the ancients; it is enough to live creatively, to bring forth goodness, truth, and beauty in whatever you touch. This is the lesson Tippett leaves us: that imagination is the source, and form the offering — and through their union, the human spirit endures.

Thus, from the voice of Michael Tippett echoes a call as old as art itself: create. For in creating, you fulfill your truest function within the great society of humankind. You carry forward the eternal tradition — to shape from the depths of the imagination something that will outlast your own brief years, and in doing so, remind the world that it is still alive, still dreaming, still divine.