"The Creation (Haydn) The Creation () is an oratorio written between 1797 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn (Hob. XXI:2), and considered by many to be one of his masterpieces. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described in the Book of Genesis. The libretto was written by Gottfried van Swieten. The work is structured in three parts and scored for soprano, tenor and bass soloists, chorus and a symphonic orchestra. In parts I and II, depicting the creation, the soloists represent the archangels Raphael (bass), Uriel (tenor) and Gabriel (soprano). In part III, the bass and"
"by at least 35 composers from 1730–90. In Germany the middle baroque oratorios moved from the early-baroque ""Historia"" style Christmas and Resurrection settings of Heinrich Schütz, to the Passions of J. S. Bach, oratorio-passions such as ""Der Tod Jesu"" set by Telemann and Carl Heinrich Graun. After Telemann came the galante oratorio style of C. P. E. Bach. The Georgian era saw a German-born monarch and German-born composer define the English oratorio. George Frideric Handel, most famous today for his ""Messiah"" (1741), also wrote other oratorios based on themes from Greek and Roman mythology and Biblical topics. He is also"
"Christmas Oratorio The Christmas Oratorio (), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 and incorporates music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a now lost church cantata, BWV 248a. The date is confirmed in Bach's autograph manuscript. The next performance was not until 17 December 1857 by the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin under Eduard Grell. The ""Christmas Oratorio"" is a particularly sophisticated example of parody music. The author of the text is unknown, although a"
"Creation (William Billings) Creation is a hymn tune composed by William Billings. Billings included ""Creation"" in his final collection, ""The Continental Harmony"" (published in 1794). The words are by Isaac Watts: the first stanza is from Psalm 139 and the second from hymn 19, book 2, of his ""Hymns"". In 2002, historian of science Edward B. Davis (co-editor of ""The Works of Robert Boyle"") discovered that Watts based the second stanza on a meditation by the famous chemist Robert Boyle. In that text, from ""Occasional Reflections Upon Several Subjects"" (1665), Boyle reflected on an illness from which he had recovered,"
"noting the great complexity of the human body and the wonder of how it all stays so well for so many years. Creation (William Billings) Creation is a hymn tune composed by William Billings. Billings included ""Creation"" in his final collection, ""The Continental Harmony"" (published in 1794). The words are by Isaac Watts: the first stanza is from Psalm 139 and the second from hymn 19, book 2, of his ""Hymns"". In 2002, historian of science Edward B. Davis (co-editor of ""The Works of Robert Boyle"") discovered that Watts based the second stanza on a meditation by the famous chemist"
"messages. Christus (Liszt) Christus (S.3, composed 1862-1866) is an oratorio by the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt. The oratorio takes the traditional plot of Jesus Christ's life from his birth to his passion and resurrection, using Bible texts, and is thus somewhat reminiscent of another famous religious work, ""Messiah"" by George Frideric Handel. When Liszt, after his prolific Weimar years, moved to Rome in 1861, the majority of his works for the next ten years would be religious music for choir. The composition of his most famous oratorio, ""Christus"", occupied Liszt from 1862 to 1866, with shorter or longer"
"have revived his secular cantatas and what one might call 'secular oratorios' or 'concert operas'. Of the former, ""Ode for St. Cecilia's Day"" (1739) (set to texts by John Dryden) and ""Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne"" (1713) are noteworthy. For his secular oratorios, Handel turned to classical mythology for subjects, producing such works as ""Acis and Galatea"" (1719), ""Hercules"" (1745) and ""Semele"" (1744). These works have a close kinship with the sacred oratorios, particularly in the vocal writing for the English-language texts. They also share the lyrical and dramatic qualities of Handel's Italian operas. As such, they are"
"Luke Passion"", René Clemencic's ""Kabbala"", and Osvaldo Golijov's ""La Pasión según San Marcos"". Mauricio Kagel composed ""Sankt-Bach-Passion"", an oratorio about Bach's life, for the tercenary of his birth in 1985. Oratorios by popular musicians include Léo Ferré's ""La Chanson du mal-aimé"" (1954 and 1972), based on Guillaume Apollinaire's poem of the same name, and ""Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio"" (1991). When Dudley Buck composed his oratorio ""The Light of Asia"" in 1886, it became the first in the history of the genre to be based on the life of Buddha. Several late 20th and early 21st-century oratorios have since been based"
"Christus (Liszt) Christus (S.3, composed 1862-1866) is an oratorio by the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt. The oratorio takes the traditional plot of Jesus Christ's life from his birth to his passion and resurrection, using Bible texts, and is thus somewhat reminiscent of another famous religious work, ""Messiah"" by George Frideric Handel. When Liszt, after his prolific Weimar years, moved to Rome in 1861, the majority of his works for the next ten years would be religious music for choir. The composition of his most famous oratorio, ""Christus"", occupied Liszt from 1862 to 1866, with shorter or longer pauses."
"The Light of the World (Sullivan) The Light of the World is an oratorio composed in 1873 by Arthur Sullivan. Sullivan wrote the libretto with the assistance of George Grove, based on the New Testament. The story of the oratorio narrates the whole life of Christ, focusing on his deeds on Earth as preacher, healer and prophet. The oratorio was inspired by William Holman Hunt's popular 1853–54 painting, ""The Light of the World"". The work was first performed at the Birmingham Festival on 27 August 1873 and was the composer's second oratorio, the first being ""The Prodigal Son"" (1869). Historian"
"complete English version of the Christmas Oratorio was that prepared in 1874 by John Troutbeck for the music publisher Novello. A new edition has been worked up by Neil Jenkins. Each section combines choruses (a pastoral ""Sinfonia"" opens Part II instead of a chorus), chorales and from the soloists recitatives, ariosos and arias. By notational convention the recitatives are in common time. Christmas Oratorio The Christmas Oratorio (), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 and incorporates music from earlier compositions,"
"Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen, BWV 11 ' (Laud to God in all his kingdoms), ', known as the Ascension Oratorio (), is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, marked by him as (Oratorio for the feast of the Ascension of Christ), probably composed in 1735 for the service for Ascension and first performed on 19 May 1735. Bach had composed his ""Christmas Oratorio"", based on the gospels of Luke and Matthew, in 1734. He had composed an ""Easter Oratorio"" already in 1725. The text for the ""Ascension Oratorio"", a compilation of several biblical sources, free poetry and chorales, was"
"The Origin The Origin is an opera/oratorio composed by Richard Einhorn to a libretto by Richard Einhorn and Catherine Barnett based on the writings of Charles Darwin. The oratorio takes its title from Darwin's 1859 ""On the Origin of Species"". The work was commissioned by the Artswego program and the Music Department of State University of New York at Oswego for the worldwide Darwin Bicentennial. ""The Origin"" had its world premiere on 6 February 2009 at the university's Waterman Theatre. The premiere performance of ""The Origin"" was conducted by Julie Pretzat and featured soprano Jacqueline Horner from the a cappella"
"credited with writing the first English language oratorio, ""Esther"". Handel's imitators included the Italian Lidarti who was employed by the Amsterdam Jewish community to compose a Hebrew version of ""Esther"". Britain continued to look to Germany for its composers of oratorio. The Birmingham Festival commissioned various oratorios including Felix Mendelssohn's ""Elijah"" in 1846, later performed in German as ""Elias"". German composer Georg Vierling is noted for modernizing the secular oratorio form. John Stainer's ""The Crucifixion"" (1887) became the stereotypical battlehorse of massed amateur choral societies. Edward Elgar tried to revive the genre around the turn of century with the composition"
"– whether they are two separate works or an enormous religious diptych. Van Swieten, at any rate, was certainly keen to follow up on the former's success with another large-scale pictorial work in a similar vein, and some authors have seen the two oratorios as constituting the first and second act of a metaphorical 'vast sacred opera'. The Seasons (Haydn) The Seasons (German: ""Die Jahreszeiten""), Hob. XXI:3), is an oratorio by Joseph Haydn, first performed in 1801. Haydn was led to write ""The Seasons"" by the great success of his previous oratorio ""The Creation"" (1798), which had become very popular"
"produced until John the Deacon in the 9th century. The namesake church of San Gregorio al Celio (largely rebuilt from the original edifices during the 17th and 18th centuries) remembers his work. One of the three oratories annexed, the oratory of Saint Silvia, is said to lie over the tomb of Gregory's mother. In England, Gregory, along with Augustine of Canterbury, is revered as the apostle of the land and the source of the nation's conversion. Italian composer Ottorino Respighi composed a piece named ""St. Gregory the Great"" ""(San Gregorio Magno)"" that features as the fourth and final part of"
"choral works, though not as numerous as his works for other media, stand out as some of his greatest (such as the ""Great"" Mass in C minor and Requiem in D minor, the latter of which is often considered the greatest Requiem Mass of all time). Haydn became more interested in choral music near the end of his life following his visits to England in the 1790s, when he heard various Handel oratorios performed by large forces; he wrote a series of masses beginning in 1797 and his two great oratorios ""The Creation"" and ""The Seasons"". Beethoven wrote only two"
"century: Horatio Parker's ""Hora novissima"" (1892) and ""Legend of St. Christopher"" (1897), John Knowles Paine's ""St. Peter"" (1872) as well as his ""Mass in D"" (1867–68), and Amy Beach's ""Mass in E-flat"" (1891). Bristow's ""The Oratorio of Daniel"" has been published in full score form by A-R Editions in its ""Recent Researches in American Music"" series. George Frederick Bristow George Frederick Bristow (December 19, 1825 – December 13, 1898) was an American composer. He advocated American classical music, rather than favoring European pieces. He was famously involved in a related controversy involving William Henry Fry and the New York Philharmonic"
"instance of attempted inter-species communication through music. For the 56th Biennale di Venezia, Allora & Calzadilla presented ""In the Midst of Things"", a choral work with music by composer Gene Coleman based on Haydn’s oratorio The Creation (1796–98), whose original libretto drew on descriptions of the origins of the world and humankind from the Book of Psalms, the Book of Genesis and Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667). Allora & Calzadilla follow Milton's in medias res tradition for a series of interruptions on Haydn’s score. In taking liberties, Allora & Calzadilla are also playing on the translation history of the libretto: originally"
"of tone painting, perhaps an inspiration to Haydn's own pervasive use of this device in ""The Creation"". The text of ""The Creation"" has a long history. The three sources are Genesis, the Biblical book of Psalms, and John Milton's ""Paradise Lost"". In 1795, when Haydn was leaving England, the impresario Johann Peter Salomon (1745–1815) who had arranged his concerts there handed him a new poem entitled ""The Creation of the World"". This original had been offered to Handel, but the old master had not worked on it, as its wordiness meant that it would have been 4 hours in length"
"and Handel dominated 18th-century programmes with oratorios such as ""Alexander's Feast"", ""Samson"", ""Judas Maccabaeus"" and ""Messiah"". Sir Samuel Hellier, guardian of the Hellier Stradivarius, was a ""prominent figure"". Haydn's ""The Creation"" was heard first in the festival of 1800. From 1840, Mendelssohn's ""Elijah"" was performed every year until 1930. The 19th century saw the introduction of Rossini, Mozart and Beethoven, and the festival's fortunes were enhanced by the arrival of the railways. However, these also brought crowds, a phenomenon not always pleasing to the church authorities, although full seats uplifted the finances. In the 1870s, the festival was reduced to"
"narrator Anthony Hopkins. Christus Apollo Christus Apollo: Cantata Celebrating the Eighth Day of Creation and the Promise of the Ninth is a cantata in four movements for narrator, mezzo-soprano, choir, and orchestra, based on a text by the science fiction author Ray Bradbury and composed by the American composer Jerry Goldsmith. The piece was commissioned by the California Chamber Symphony in 1969, and premiered later that year in Royce Hall at UCLA with the narration performed by Charlton Heston (who had starred in the 1968 film, ""Planet of the Apes"", for which Goldsmith had composed the musical score). ""Christus Apollo"""
"then moved on to larger projects: the full-scale oratorios ""The Creation"" (1798) and ""The Seasons"" (1801). Van Swieten translated (from English to German) and adapted the source material, which came from an anonymous English libretto and James Thomson's poem ""The Seasons"", respectively. He also translated in the reverse direction, putting the German back into English in a way that would fit the rhythm of Haydn's music. This reverse translation, though often awkward, enabled the first published editions of these oratorios to serve both German- and English-speaking audiences. In the margins of his libretti, Van Swieten made many specific artistic suggestions"
"La resurrezione La resurrezione (HWV 47) is a sacred oratorio by George Frideric Handel, set to a libretto by Carlo Sigismondo Capece (1652–1728). Capece was court poet to Queen Marie Casimire of Poland, who was living in exile in Rome. It was first performed on Easter Sunday, 8 April 1708 at Rome, with the backing of the Marchese Francesco Ruspoli, Handel's patron at this time. The work details the events between — and during — Good Friday and Easter Sunday, with the action carried forward in recitative, and exploration of character and delineation of mood taking place in the arias."
"originated in Italy, alongside the oratorio. Carissimi's pupil Marc-Antoine Charpentier brought the small-scale Latin Christmas oratorio to Paris (""In nativitatem Domini canticum""), while the vernacular Italian Christmas cantata was developed by composers such as Alessandro Stradella (""Si apra al riso ogni labro"" 1675), Francesco Provenzale (""Per la nascita del Verbo"" 1683) and Alessandro Scarlatti in Naples, Antonio Caldara in Vienna (""Vaticini di pace"" 1713). The best known Christmas cantatas today are those of Johann Sebastian Bach, who composed several cantatas for the three days of Christmas in his three annual cantata cycles (1723 to 1725), also before and afterwards: In"
"L'enfance du Christ L'enfance du Christ (""The Childhood of Christ""), Opus 25, is an oratorio by the French composer Hector Berlioz, based on the Holy Family's flight into Egypt (see Gospel of Matthew 2:13). Berlioz wrote his own words for the piece. Most of it was composed in 1853 and 1854, but it also incorporates an earlier work ""La fuite en Egypte"" (1850). It was first performed at the Salle Herz, Paris on 10 December 1854, with Berlioz conducting and soloists from the Opéra-Comique: Jourdan (Récitant), Depassio (Hérode), the couple Meillet (Marie and Joseph) and Bataille (Le père de famille)."
"La mort d'Abel ' was one of a number of French operas and oratorios on Biblical themes to appear in the first decades of the 19th century. This fashion was inspired by a performance of Haydn's ""The Creation"" at the Paris Opéra in 1800. Examples of the genre include Kalkbrenner's staged oratorios ""Saul"" and ', Lesueur's """" and, most famously, Méhul's ""Joseph"" (1807). The French Emperor Napoleon did not share the enthusiasm for putting Bible stories on stage, regarding any potential offence to religious sensibilities as a threat to the understanding he had reached with the Catholic Church. The only"
"at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité, Paris, under Jeanne Roth and Jean-Philippe Sarcos. A German version with text by Otto Neitzel, ""Das Gelobte Land"", was published in 1914. The Promised Land (Saint-Saëns) The Promised Land, also La Terre promise (Op. 140) is an English and later French-language oratorio by Camille Saint-Saëns for the Three Choirs Festival of 1913 and which the composer conducted at Gloucester Cathedral. Saint-Saëns had asked Herman Klein to arrange the Biblical text for an oratorio, commissioned by the English publisher Novello and originally called ""The Death of Moses"", in 1887, for Norwich. The composer wrote to"
"of this score revealed ... many fine choruses, brilliant solos, and beautiful pastoral passages. While not of a consistency or individuality of ""The Martyr of Antioch"" or ""The Golden Legend"", ""The Light of the World"" has more than enough virtues to justify a professional revival."" The Light of the World (Sullivan) The Light of the World is an oratorio composed in 1873 by Arthur Sullivan. Sullivan wrote the libretto with the assistance of George Grove, based on the New Testament. The story of the oratorio narrates the whole life of Christ, focusing on his deeds on Earth as preacher, healer"
"Creation (Branford Marsalis album) Creation is a classical music album by Branford Marsalis with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Focused on 20th century French classical music, this second classical album from Marsalis, coming 15 years after his earlier ""Romances for Saxophone"", was recorded March 9 – 11, 2000 at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City. The album reached number 2 on the ""Billboard"" Top Classical Albums chart. In his AllMusic review, Richard S. Ginell calls the album a ""winner, sumptuously recorded and proof that good things can come from those who wait."" He specifically calls out"
"Creation (Branford Marsalis album) Creation is a classical music album by Branford Marsalis with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Focused on 20th century French classical music, this second classical album from Marsalis, coming 15 years after his earlier ""Romances for Saxophone"", was recorded March 9 – 11, 2000 at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City. The album reached number 2 on the ""Billboard"" Top Classical Albums chart. In his AllMusic review, Richard S. Ginell calls the album a ""winner, sumptuously recorded and proof that good things can come from those who wait."" He specifically calls out"
"Griesinger. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart took on the task of conducting the Gesellschaft's concerts in 1788. In addition to having him conduct, the Gesellschaft commissioned Mozart to prepare four works by Handel for performance according to contemporary taste: The Gesellschaft's concerts were an important source of income for Mozart during this time, when he was experiencing severe financial worries. The Gesellschaft sponsored the composition and premieres of Joseph Haydn's last three oratorios. These were his ""The Seven Last Words of Christ"" (1795–1796), an oratorio reworking of an earlier orchestral piece; ""The Creation"" (1798); and ""The Seasons"" (1801). The Gesellschaft der Associierten"
"and later a busy entrepreneur, Haydn wrote his works quickly and in profusion, with frequent deadlines. As a rich man, Haydn now felt that he had the privilege of taking his time and writing for posterity. This is reflected in the subject matter of ""The Creation"" (1798) and ""The Seasons"" (1801), which address such weighty topics as the meaning of life and the purpose of humankind and represent an attempt to render the sublime in music. Haydn's new intentions also meant that he was willing to spend much time on a single work: both oratorios took him over a year"