Classical oratorio with cosmic views: Die Schöpfung (The Creation) by Joseph Haydn, here with the Netherlands Chamber Choir (Nederlands Kamerkoor) and the Concerto D’Amsterdam under the baton of Klaas Stok. The performance took place in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on May 21, 2009. The special thing about this video is that the concert footage is combined with images from the Hubble telescope and paintings from Haydn’s time. Thus Haydn’s oratorio about the creation of the world becomes a fascinating concert experience with cosmic views.
Johanette Zomer | SOPRANO
Marcel Beekman | TENOR
André Morsch | BARITONE
Netherlands Chamber Choir
Concerto d’Amsterdam
Klaas Stok | CONDUCTOR
Rob van den Berg | VIDEO DIRECTOR
Leo Samama | VISUAL CONCEPT
It is mere legend that Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809) was inspired to write his oratorio The Creation (Hob. XXI:2) while looking through a telescope at the starry night sky. In fact, Haydn only took a look at the telescope of the musician and astronomer William Herschel (1738 - 1822) during one of his trips to England, but did not meet Herschel himself, let alone was he allowed to put his eye to the magnificent telescope to peer out into space.
Nevertheless, his travels to England inspired him to compose The Creation: In England Haydn had heard the great oratorios of George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759) and brought back with him the text poetry of a certain “Lidley” (nothing further is known about this author), in which the biblical story of creation and paradise (Genesis 1 & 2) and John Milton’s (1608 - 1674) epic poem Paradise Lost were combined into an oratorio text. Gottfried van Swieten translated this text into German for Haydn. Haydn wrote The Creation between 1796 and 1798, and is even said to have afterwards described the compositional work as a religious experience.
Although private previews of The Creation in April 1798 had already been received with enthusiasm, Haydn made some corrections to the oratorio. The public premiere then took place in March 1799 at the old Burgtheater in Vienna and was a great success. To this day, Haydn’s The Creation is a beloved classic that frequently appears on concert programs.
The three-part oratorio offers plenty of special features: Haydn had van Swieten’s German text retranslated into English and published the score of The Creation in two languages. It is considered the first bilingual composition ever. Haydn has the three archangels Gabriel (soprano), Uriel (tenor) and Raphael (baritones) narrate and at the same time comment on the material of the divine creation of the world in six days, which is significant in religious and cultural history. The six-day work is not completed by God’s seventh day of rest, as in the biblical template; rather, on the seventh day Haydn celebrates the happy coexistence of Adam and Eve in paradise before the Fall.
One of the musical highlights of The Creation is the prelude, in which the idea of a primordial chaos is set to music. Haydn, whose compositions can actually be considered prime examples of “orderly” form, has ingeniously set a cosmic chaos to music in this introduction - and thus in turn put it into musical form. The most outstanding and famous passage in the entire oratorio, however, is that of the creation of light (07:57). At the words “und es ward Licht” (and there was light), a radiant C major bursts forth, like an elemental sound event, which has captivated every listener of The Creation to this day. If you listen to the abruptly sounding C major chord, it seems as if Haydn, while composing, had glimpsed the first spark of the big bang in the depths of space.
Part I
00:00 The Representation of Chaos
09:01 Now vanish before the holy beams
12:33 And God made the firmament
14:31 The marv’lous work beholds amaz’d
16:34 And God said: Let the waters
17:18 Rolling in foaming billows
20:56 And God said: Let the earth bring forth grass
21:27 With verdure clad the fields appear
26:25 And the heavenly host proclaimed the third day
26:37 Awake the harp
28:39 And God said: Let there be lights
29:16 In splendor bright
32:08 The heavens are telling the glory of God
Part II
36:01 And God said: Let the waters bring
36:34 On mighty pens
43:38 And God created great whales
45:40 And the angels struck
46:04 Most beautiful appear
50:13 The Lord is great
52:21 And God said: Let the earth bring forth
52:49 Strait opening her fertile womb
56:14 Now heav’n in fullest glory shone
59:26 And God created man
1:00:09 In native worth and honour
1:03:27 And God saw ev’ry thing
1:03:54 Achieved is the glorious work
1:05:19 On thee each living soul awaits
1:09:48 Achieved is the glorious work
Part III
1:12:28 In rosy mantle appears
1:16:19 By thee with bliss
1:25:26 Our duty we performed now
1:27:47 Graceful consort
1:35:54 O happy pair
1:36:17 Sing the Lord ye voices all
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