HAYDN: The Creation

HAYDN: The Creation

Emőke Baráth – soprano
Tibor Szappanos – tenor
István Kovács – bass

Hungarian National Choir (choir master: Csaba Somos)
Hungarian National Philharmonic
Conductor: Zsolt Hamar

Musical Picture Book to Accompany the Bible

After Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) had completed 30 years of service for the noble Esterházy family, he twice travelled to England to perform a series of concerts. The performances of his works were hugely successful and lucrative, but his musical discovery was even more significant: the centuries-old tradition of English choral music and the genre that had developed from it, the oratorio. Upon his return home, Haydn swiftly composed two oratorios of his own: The Creation and The Seasons. The text of The Creation tells the story of the Old Testament, with considerable detail added. The story and the music begins with a depiction of primordial chaos. How? Is it even possible to represent nothingness through music? Haydn pulled it off. The choir, soloists and orchestra tell us everything. They make us see the essence of the story: light and darkness, the sun, the moon, the stars, the seas and the land, the mountains and rivers, the plants, the animals and, finally, man, who is capable of love and offering praise to our Lord and Creator.