Haydn's Creation Schwarzenberg Palace, Vienna
The Great Oratorio of Enlightenment Music
Jul 14, 2009
As the orchestra moved through the first choral piece and reached the sudden explosion of sound at the phrase “and there was light”, the entire audience rose to its feet and applauded.
The Creation’s First Public Recital and Premieres
This select premiere of Haydn’s Creation set the level of excitement that was to follow each performance. The first public recital was on 19th March 1799 in the Burgtheater, followed by its London and Paris premieres in 1800. A letter from one of the audience at the Burgtheater performance, quoted in Hadyn, The Years of the Creation, 1977, p.455, states that “The music all by itself described thunder and lightening… the rain falling and the water rushing… all night I dreamed of the Creation of the World.”
Haydn’s Birth and Years as a Kapellmeister
Franz Joseph Haydn was born in Rohrau, Austria-Hungary in 1732. By 1758, he had become the Kapellmeister (Director of Music) to the court of Count Karl Morzin. Three years later, and now married, he was appointed court musician to Prince Esterhazy, eventually becoming Kapellmeister, where he stayed for almost thirty years.
Haydn’s visit to England
Haydn had visited England a few times and seemingly was so impressed by Handel’s oratorios, particularly The Messiah, and the appreciative audience reaction to them, that he decided he must try a choral work of his own. There are various stories as to how Haydn came by the libretto for The Creation. Some say he was given a completed text in England, which he then had translated. Another story suggests that his friend showed him a Bible and told him to begin at the beginning.
The Translation of The Creation into German by Baron Van Swieten
Haydn eventually brought his English libretto to Vienna where it was translated into German by Baron Van Swieten, a wealthy patron and diplomat. Haydn began his composition in 1796 and completed it in 1798. The Creation had as its source the Bible, mainly the books of Genesis and the Psalms, and owed some of its inspiration to John Milton’s great seventeenth century poem, Paradise Lost. The first performance was sung in German and two years later a bilingual edition was published.
The Creation as Enlightenment Music
The eighteenth century, during which The Creation was written, was the period in Europe known as The Enlightenment. It was an age of reason and order, of optimism and, as the name suggests, intellectual enlightenment. The music of the period is concerned with exploring human character, especially with regard to feelings. It was also a time concerned with the pursuit of pleasure, when the public concert gradually displaced the princely court as a venue for musical performance, and when the comic opera had its origins.
Themes of the Enlightenment in The Creation
The Creation closely follows many of the ideas identified with the Enlightenment’s sense of progress, not least in its opening themes: creating order out of chaos, the transition between extremes, from soft to loud, minor to major and, of course, darkness to light.
In a period that recognised the wonders of the natural world, The Creation seemed to reinforce how wonderful the created world actually was, with music that so perfectly described the words. It was also in keeping with the optimism of the period, the concern for survival and a happy ending. It is a religious work that celebrates this world and not the next.
The Creation as a Religious Oratorio
It was also an age when orthodox Christianity was being challenged by the great philosophers of the period, such as Hume and Voltaire. While some did not dispute the existence of a creator God, many were scathing about the superstitions and fanaticism they believed characterised the church.
In the midst of such scepticism, and sometimes unbelief, Haydn’s great oratorio is undeniably a religious work, celebrating the creation of the world as it appears written in the Bible. The first and second part of the score follows the six days of creation while part three celebrates the place of man and woman in the world.
Haydn’s Death and Legacy of The Creation
Franz Joseph Haydn died in Vienna in May 1809, while Napoleon’s army occupied the city. Haydn is credited with establishing the symphonic form and type of orchestral composition that would eventually be adopted by Mozart and Beethoven. It was an exciting time for music as the late Baroque period gave way to the Classical period, of which Haydn arguably was the first great master.
Haydn’s great oratorio, The Creation, deservedly takes its place beside such memorable religious works as The Messiah. Who could forget the opening recitative, as the music reaches the remarkable crescendo and the chorus sings, “And there was light?”
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