Many of us are familiar with Haydn's oratorio The Creation. We have sung the choruses, studied the famous opening passage, The Representation of Chaos, and enjoyed the gorgeous duets and trios. I have lived with this piece for several years, studying it as a singer and conductor, and this particular excerpt is probably my favorite of the entire piece.
Factoids:
- In Creation, Haydn and librettist, Baron von Swieten combine stories from The Book of Genesis and Paradise Lost to form their version of the Creation Story.
- The piece opens with the splendid Representation of Chaos.
- You MUST watch this if you are not familiar with it:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8omYmytYvlo
- This is Haydn's depiction of the existence before the creation of the world.
- Musically he illustrates the "chaos" by using unresolved motives and avoiding a clear cadence for almost the entire movement.
- Right at the moment when it seems a tonic has been established, Haydn slides into a new key area, giving the listener a sense of uneasiness and uncertainty.
- Today's excerpt, is Haydn's account of the first sunrise and sunset.
- The passage opens with the violins on a single pitch.
- The flute enters and plays an ascending scaler passage.
- Which each rising pitch a new instrument enters.
- It's as if each note of the scale represents a new ray of sunlight appearing on the horizon.
- Each new entry creates a natural crescendo to the high point where the timpani and trumpets enter at about :56.
- At this moment the sun his risen, and the tenor reinforces this idea by singing "In splendor bright, the sun arise with all it's rays."
- At about 2:12 we begin the illustration of the moon.
- Haydn uses the basses to initiate this image.
- Perhaps because the bass is an opposite to the violin and flute which were used in the "sun" section.
- There is no brass in this section, reminding us of the sweetness of the moon.
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