Something about Haydn’s The Creation…
I almost don’t know where to start when talking about Haydn’s masterpiece, The Creation. Masterworks are so interesting, I believe, for they are multi-layered. There is so much there to experience, learn, dig into, and discover, that it is a bit like peeling an onion. There is always another layer underneath. Unlike an onion, there is no crying associated with Haydn’s massive oratorio, however. Indeed, it is some of the happiest music Haydn ever wrote. Instead we find, vocal fireworks, explosive runs, daring and exciting harmonies, hidden symbolism, exciting fugues, graceful phrasing, brotherhood, fraternity, innocence, foreshadowing, orthodox theology, masonic symbolism, and Newtonian order. It reads much like a modern thriller and musically, it certainly can put you on an emotional roller coaster.
Haydn composed The Creation between 1795 and 1798 at the urging of Baron Van Swieten (a very interesting patron of many leading composers including Mozart and Beethoven – but that is another story). Based on John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost,Haydn’s oratorio is divided into three large sections in the score. I tend to view it in 7 sections, each representing a day of creation. Much like Handel’s oratorios, Haydn structured each “day” with a soloist declaring the item of creation in recitative, followed by a highly virtuosic solo or group of soloists expounding upon the creation of the day, followed by a praise chorus by the choir.
Now, depending on one’s interests you can spend a lifetime peeling the onion. The overture alone was revolutionary in its design. The ambiguity of tonal center and key that represents primordial chaos foreshadows Wagner a century earlier. Peel back a fugue and one finds Haydn’s reliance on Handel stemming from his 1791 trip to London where he heard some of Handel’s oratorios for the first time. The incredible pictorial symbolism of Milton’s poetry finds a home in Haydn’s musical gestures. Rolling waves, meandering streams, the incredible creation of light in the 1st movement, or the winding musical line depicting the creation of the serpent all are delightful to hear and encounter. And Haydn was at the height of his creative powers. He revels in these little details.
The organizing principles of the piece are also wondrous to behold and betray the touch of the master. If you have a detective bent, you might want to trace the tonal plan of the piece to find where the key of C Major is used (God’s Grandeur, main points at the end of day 4, the creation of Man, Adam and Eve’s duet, the creation of light, etc….), E-flat (Masonic key, Trinitarian key with 3-flats mirrors 3 large sections, 3 soloists), and B-flat (ending key that foreshadows the fall from grace and expulsion from the Garden of Eden, hinted at at the close of Part II). Haydn was a mason and the view of God as the great architect was a very popular view of the day. It fit in with the Newtonian ideals of a loving creator ruling over an ordered universe.
One can go on and on: the double text in English or German has its roots in the ideals of the Enlightenment – an accessible text in the vernacular reinforces the equality and brotherhood of all; the back story of how the text went from English to German and then back to English; the controversy over where the chorus should be placed in a performance (Haydn left a diagram), how many winds to use (up to three of each instrument on a part is permissible). And how does this all square with the science vs. belief of today? Creationism vs. Intelligent Design vs. Evolution?
And in the middle of all this is the glorious music of a very devoted, religious, happy man whose joy in composing comes across in every bar. Here is a man who was a servant for most of his life. Who struggled with an unhappy home life. Who saw his music being stolen and pirated across Europe. Who outlived Mozart. Who invented the modern string quartet and the symphony. Who is widely considered the father of the classical style. – a man who turned to his art to express his very joy in living. And what piece better to attest to this joy than The Creation. I think it is definitely worth a listen and perhaps a little peeling.
Steven