The Creation

We are most grateful to Walker Singleton, Charnock Bates and Sellers International for their support of our Autumn Concert

The Creation
Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809)

Conductor: James Savage-Hanford
Organ: Alan Horsey
With principals and soloists from the National Festival Orchestra

In February this year David Armitage expressed a wish to contribute towards the sponsorship of the Choir’s autumn concert through his company Sellers International Ltd and gave us a generous donation. Very sadly, David will not be able to see us perform The Creation as he died on 6 April, but we are so grateful to him for his generosity to the Choir over many years and dedicate this concert to his memory.

For our Autumn concert we are delighted to present the choral masterpiece that is Haydn’s Creation. Combining texts from Genesis, the Psalms and Milton’s Paradise Lost, it tells the story of that most audacious of subjects; creation itself.

The oratorio opens with an extended instrumental passage where Haydn conjures primordial disorder and nothingness in sound; truly memorable and arresting. The work plays out almost like a musical panorama – changing landscapes and scenes summoned one after the other. We meet a whole host of angels, as well as Adam and Eve, who in turn take delight in introducing all of creation, from dazzling light, billowing seas and uplifted land, to the whole animal kingdom. Listen out for the ‘musical jokes’ of the great whale, leaping tiger and sinuous worm.

The architecture of Haydn’s music is breath-taking, from the vast sweep of immense themes to tiny details that only emerge on closer inspection. It’s also a work that does unbounded joy and celebration better than almost any other; a spiritual masterpiece for a secular age.

Please see the Tickets page for details of how to book tickets…