Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809) was an Austrian
composer of the Viennese Classic period. Joseph,
brother of the composer Michael Haydn and the tenor
Johann Evangelist Haydn, spent the greater part of his
professional career as a court musician at the country
estate of the wealthy Hungarian Esterházy family,
whose orchestra and opera he conducted. He described
the isolation from other composers and musical currents
with the words: "I was cut off from the world, no one
around me could fool me an...(+)
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809) was an Austrian
composer of the Viennese Classic period. Joseph,
brother of the composer Michael Haydn and the tenor
Johann Evangelist Haydn, spent the greater part of his
professional career as a court musician at the country
estate of the wealthy Hungarian Esterházy family,
whose orchestra and opera he conducted. He described
the isolation from other composers and musical currents
with the words: "I was cut off from the world, no one
around me could fool me and torment me about myself,
and so I had to become original."Die_Schöpfung" (The
Creation) is an oratorio by Joseph Haydn, (Hob. XXI
Part II). The work was written from 1796 to 1798 as the
third of his four oratorios. It deals with the creation
of the world as it is told in the first chapter of
Genesis (the story of creation in the Priestly
Scriptures). It follows the works of God mentioned
there on days one through six, but instead of day seven
it gives a contemplation of the first men in Paradise
(the last five of 34 musical numbers).
The Creation was composed for three vocal soloists
(soprano, tenor and bass), four-part choir (soprano,
alto, tenor and bass) and a large late classical
orchestra, consisting of: three flutes, two oboes, two
clarinets, two bassoons, a contrabassoon, two French
horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, and the
usual string section with first and second violins,
viola, cello, double bass. A keyboard instrument takes
over the chordal execution of the basso continuo. This
not only accompanies the recitatives, but also arias
and choirs. There is little doubt that, by the
standards of his day, Haydn desired a large volume of
sound. Between the first private performances and the
premiere, Haydn added further instrumental parts to the
work. 120 instrumentalists and 60 singers performed at
the premiere.
The three soloists represent archangels who narrate and
comment on the six days of creation: Gabriel (soprano),
Uriel (tenor) and Raphael (bass). Following Haydn's
practice, in Part 3 the roles of Adam and Eve are
usually sung by the soloists, who also sing Raphael and
Gabriel. However, some conductors prefer to fill the
five roles with five soloists. Although there is a
passage for an alto soloist in Creation, this is
limited to four amen in the final chorus. The chorus is
entered in a series of monumental choral passages, some
of which celebrate the end of a day of creation. The
orchestra often plays without vocal accompaniment,
especially in tone painting episodes: the rising of the
sun, the creation of the various animals and in the
overture - the description of the chaos before
creation.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Sch%C3%B6pfung).
Although originally composed for Solo bass voice &
Orchestra, I created this Interpretation of "Nun
scheint in vollem Glanze der Himmel" (Now the sky
shines in full splendor) from "Die_Schöpfung" (The
Creation Hob. XXI Part II No. 22) for Viola & Piano.
