About the Music
March 5, 2013
FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN
Die Schöpfung (The Creation)
Franz Joseph Haydn was born in Rohrau, Austria in
1732 and died in Vienna in 1809. He composed this work
in 1796-1798, and led the first private performance in
Vienna in 1798; he also led the first public performance,
also in Vienna, the following year. The score calls for
soprano, tenor, and bass soloists, chorus, 3 flutes, 2
oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 2 horns, 2
trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, continuo, and strings.
When Haydn was in London, he asked a
good friend for advice on what subject he might
compose an oratorio. His friend took up the Bible
that was near at hand and said, “This is the book;
begin at the beginning.”
Haydn had made two long visits to England
under the aegis of Johann Peter Salomon, an
impresario who organized a concert series in
London. England received Haydn warmly, and he
became a popular figure in society as well as the
concert stage. While in London Haydn attended the
Handel Commemorative Festival in Westminster
Abbey, where he heard Handel’s Messiah and
Israel in Egypt. He was overwhelmed; during the
performance of the Hallelujah Chorus he is said to
have wept and cried out, “Handel is the master of
us all!”
He knew then that he would compose an
oratorio, but it would have to wait: London kept
him busy. As it happened, though, during his final
trip to London Salomon handed him a libretto in
English called “The Creation of the World,” and he
had his subject. He would “begin at the beginning.”
The text of this libretto was taken from the
Bible’s Book of Genesis, the Book of Psalms, and
Milton’s Paradise Lost. No one is quite sure who
assembled it. When he returned to Vienna, Haydn
gave the libretto to Baron Gottfried van Swieten, a
diplomat, director of the Imperial Library, generous
patron of the arts, and an amateur composer.
Haydn asked him to cut its length severely and to
provide a German translation; his intention was
to publish the oratorio simultaneously in both
English and German.
Van Swieten did well with the German
translation. But for reasons known only to him, he
did not simply leave the original English version
as it was, but re-translated the German back into
English again; this has made the English version
problematic, for the translation was poorly done.
It is often inelegant, and parts of it are even
nonsensical. Because of this the oratorio is often
performed in German even in English-speaking
countries; at the least, the text is usually touched
up a bit when it is performed in English.
The Creation is divided into three parts: Part I
comprises the first four days of creation, Part II the
fifth and sixth days, and in Part III Adam and Eve
relate their wonder and thanksgiving. The three
soloists represent the angels Gabriel (soprano),
Uriel (tenor), and Raphael (bass). It was Haydn’s
intention that the soprano and bass also take the
parts for Adam and Eve, though some conductors
prefer to have two additional soloists in these
roles.
Likewise, each day of creation is divided into
three. Each begins with a narrative from the Book
of Genesis presented as a recitative with continuo
accompaniment. Then comes a accompanied
recitative and aria, taken from Paradise Lost, as
description or commentary. Finally we hear a
chorus, usually with text from the Psalms, sung as
a celebratory hymn of praise. When Adam and Eve
make their appearance in Part III, this pattern is
abandoned and Haydn mixes his forms freely.
Haydn’s introduction to the work, for
orchestra alone, is one of the most astonishing
pieces of music ever composed. This is “The
Representation of Chaos” before creation, and
to say it was ahead of its time is to understate
the case. The harmonies of this piece are utterly
unstable; time and again Haydn leads us to expect
a resolution only to veer off in another direction
entirely. The snatches of instrumental melody are
fleeting and incomplete. Rhythms occur in odd
places, and there is no overall sense of pulse. An
air of anticipation and wonder prevails.
As this primal sound-world winds down,
Raphael describes an Earth “without form, and
void.” The chorus enters, sotto voce; it intones the
words “And God said: ‘Let there be light.’ And there
was light. ” At the instant of that final “light,” the
chorus and orchestra explode into a brilliant,
overwhelming C-major so firmly established that
its foundation seems to reach bedrock. At the
work’s premiere, the audience at this point simply
stopped the performance with their tumultuous
and lengthy applause.
Now the real fun begins. One of the reasons
The Creation is so well-loved is the obvious—and
contagious—delight Haydn took in creating
musical depictions of the text. These are far
too numerous to note comprehensively; a few
examples must suffice. (In most cases Haydn does
his tone-painting before the words explain what
is going on, so looking a little bit ahead in your
libretto will often bring rewards.)
Haydn frequently uses sonata form to make his
tone-painting not only evocative, but musically
satisfying as well. On the third day God creates
the waters of the earth, and in his aria for Raphael
(“Rolling in foaming billows”), Haydn begins with
the “foaming billows” of the vast seas. His craggy
second subject depicts the rocks and mountains;
the wandering of the development represents the
“serpent errors” of the rivers; in the final section—
the recapitulation, if you will—the “limpid brook”
is described by a tender major-key variant of the
stormy minor-key opening. Haydn was clearly
having a good time with all this: when he played
this section for a friend he remarked, “You see?
You see how the notes run up and down like the
waves? One has to have some amusement after
one has been serious for so long.”
Haydn lets his amusement reign in Part
II’s zoological celebration. In an aria for soprano
(“On mighty wings the eagle proudly soars aloft”)
we hear the eagle, the lark, the dove, and the
nightingale’s “sweet notes.” A stunning passage
for divided violas and cellos—with violins silent—
gives us “And God created great whales.” Later on,
in “At once Earth opens her womb,” we hear the
noble animals: the lion, tiger, stag, and horse. Next
come the lesser creatures: cattle, sheep, insects,
and worms. (If the bass soloist owns a low D, you
will hear it at the word “wurm.”) In “By heavy
beasts the ground is trod,” the bassoons provide
the thud of their hooves with a fortissimo—and
rather startling!— unison low note.
All of these are accomplished with an
unbridled zest. But as we enter the Garden of Eden
in Part III, we find that Haydn has left his most
inspired music for last. The spaciousness of his
design, the rich colors of his orchestral palette,
his harmonic genius, and his devotion to the text
all combine into an awe-inspiring grandeur full of
glory and profound thanksgiving.
When he completed The Creation, Haydn
said, “I have never felt so devout as when I was
working on The Creation. Every day I fell on my
knees and prayed to God to give me strength to
finish the work successfully.” In 1808, near the end
of his life, Haydn made his last public appearance
at a performance of The Creation in Vienna. Seventyfive years old and in ill health, he was carried into
the hall to the herald of trumpets, for he was as
famous as any man alive. When the music of “And
there was light” overwhelmed the audience—as
it always does—their affection for Haydn brought
him to tears. He weakly pointed upward and said,
“Not from me; from thence comes everything.”
For all its dazzling depictions and gentle
humor, The Creation was, for Haydn, an act of
faith. Yet The Creation belongs to everyone: those
of different faiths or even no faith at all. All are
invited to share the beauty and power of this story,
and of its masterful realization into sound by a
devout yet worldly man. You don’t have to believe
in the Bible, the story of Genesis, or even in God
to be delighted by The Creation. You only have to
believe in Haydn.
—Mark Rohr is the bass trombonist for the PSO.
Questions or comments? [email protected]
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