On Sunday I was able to take in a real treat: a full performance of Franz Joseph Haydn's oratorio Die Schöpfung (The Creation). An oratorio is sort of like an opera but without costumes, props, staging, acting...it's sort of like an opera with more focus on music and less focus on plot. Which, if you know anything about opera, is really saying something, as many operas feature a half hour of a bunch of people bummed that the heroine is dying of TB.
Essentially, an oratorio is a piece of music more than an hour long featuring an orchestra, choir, and soloists. Many oratorios deal with religious subjects, and famous oratorios include The Messiah by Handel, St. Matthew Passion by J.S. Bach (which I talked about in an earlier post), The Christmas Oratorio also by Bach, Elijah by Mendelssohn and The Creation.
The Creation is arguably Haydn's masterpiece. Some of Haydn's works I actually find boring, but I can't blame the guy too much because a lot of his stuff was knocked off in a hurry because the Prince needed something to amuse his dinner guests with. The Creation, however, was written after Haydn had more or less retired, so the by-now old man was able to take his time, deliberately setting out to write something for posterity. The full composition of the work took about two years, and when asked why he was working so slowly Haydn said that he intended for this work to last a long time. Haydn composed two versions, an original in German and an authorized translation into English. Unfortunately, the translation makes clear that Haydn did not the language of English speak, and the translator hardly did either. This comfort lacking displays the text. I'm not even kidding. Who can forget such gems as "the wonder of his work displays the firmament" and "Despairing cursing rage / attends their rapid fall /A new created world / springs up at God's command." Fortunately, this version was sung in German.
I've always found this a stylistically very interesting piece. As one of Haydn's last works, at times the piece seems almost Romantic in nature, yet it also displays contrapuntal virtuosity as well as having a few movements that are simpler in construction, like works of the Classical era. There is a grandiosity to the piece, as well as some examples of music to paint a particular picture. The overture, "A representation of Chaos," features a very unsettled orchestra that seems to be trying to create some kind of order yet simply cannot manage to do so. For example, the orchestra builds to cadences but doesn't actually get them, the key of the piece keeps shifting and it is not until the chorus sings "let there be LIIIIGHT!" that we get a nice, organized, major chord. The overture can be found here.
In some ways, this oratorio is a summary and mastery of every musical trend of Haydn's 77 year life, a remarkable era in music wherein Haydn was a contemporary of J.S., C.P.E. and J.C. Bach, Handel, Telemann, Mozart, Cherubini and Beethoven, among others.
The performance itself, by the Capella Cracoviensis, was somewhat spotty. The largest and most persistent issue was one of balance. The orchestra was consistently too loud, drowning out the choir or at least destroying a lot of subtleties in the choral parts. At times the choir also sounded a little bit muddy, with some parts just seeming to be a bit lost in the shuffle. There were also some minor intonation issues, including one cringe-inducing moment where the choir sang a few measures a capella, with the orchestra coming back in a good half-step lower. The soloists were quite good, even if the soprano was somewhat histrionic. I also believe that the conductor took a few movements at too fast a tempo, not only causing a few of them to be over before they could be fully appreciated but also leading to some serious rushing issues. Rushing is particularly problematic in fugue passages combined with a long crescendo, of which there are several in this particular piece. Instead of getting a very exciting build-up to an excellent cadence, what ended up happening was the sound of a choir primarily focused on hitting those cadences at the same time.
However, I've always been a major fan of this piece, so I would definitely attend this concert again if I had the chance.
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