Sir Simon Rattle conducts Haydn’s “Creation” in Lucerne

“Never has a musical work of art caused such a sensation and found such a wide audience as J. Haydn’s Creation,” wrote the Journal des Luxus und der Moden in 1801. How could a sacred work become so popular at the height of the Enlightenment? The first key to its appeal is probably the curious fact that Haydn conceived the oratorio in two language versions – one in German and one in English. However, the English translation provided by Haydn’s patron Gottfried van Swieten is so stilted that even in English-speaking countries, The Creation is usually heard today in German. The music itself is likely more decisive. Right from the start, the audience at the time must have rubbed their ears in disbelief: the composed chaos, the Big Bang and the overwhelming coming into being of light are not only extremely effective, but also incredibly modern in Haydn’s treatment.

Haydn depicts the story of creation as a compelling narrative, with both dramatic flair and evocative imagery. This music is accessible, engaging and immediate, yet the composer manages to avoid falling into the trap of simplistic naivety, even when onomatopoeically imitating animal sounds. Haydn attached great importance to the dramatic structure of his oratorio, as is shown in a performance in Vienna, for which he asked in the theatre programme that there be no applause between movements, “because otherwise the precise connection between the individual parts, from whose uninterrupted sequence the effect of the whole is supposed to arise, would necessarily be destroyed, and the enjoyment would be noticeably diminished”.

Finally, the Enlightenment also finds direct expression in The Creation. The libretto initially follows the biblical account in which God creates the world and its living creatures. In the aria “Mit Würd und Hoheit angetan” (In native worth and honour clad), which celebrates the creation of man, the latter is remarkably attributed with courage and wisdom, central virtues of the Enlightenment – and even more, he is, as it were, deified by his own intellect: “In his eyes with brightness shines the soul, the breath and image of his God.”