Haydn: The Creation

Cambridge Music Handbooks

by Joseph Haydn, Nicholas Temperley

Haydn's Creation is one of the great masterpieces of the classical period. This absorbing and original account of the work provides an indispensable guide for the concert-goer, performer and student alike. The author places the work within the oratorio tradition, and contrasts the theological and literary character of the English libretto with the Viennese milieu of the first performances. The complete text is provided in both German and English versions as a useful reference point for discussion of the design of the work, the musical treatment of the words, including questions of Haydn's pictorialism, and a detailed examination of the different movement types employed. The book also contains a brief history of the reception of the work with appendices of notes on the changing performance traditions and selected extracts from critical accounts from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Genres: Music

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 1991

About the author

Franz Joseph Haydn (31 March, 1732 – 31 May, 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was pivotal in the evolution of chamber music forms like the string quartet and piano trio.

His contributions to musical form have led him to be called "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String quartet." Haydn was a friend and mentor of Wolfgang Mozart, and a teacher of composer Ludwig Beethoven.

Reviews

[Michelle Louer]

Absolutely stellar concise presentation of context, structure, and performance considerations.

[Paul Doody]

Excellent, succinct book giving the story behind this, the greatest of Haydn's Oratorios.