Arun Choral Society is currently hard at work rehearsing for our next concert, Haydn’s The Creation, which we will perform in the stunning setting of Arundel Cathedral at 7.30pm on Saturday 21 October 2023. Dr Joe Paxton will be directing, and we are delighted to be joined by the 40-piece Sinfonia of Arun and three superb soloists Jess Wise (soprano), Dominic Lee (tenor) and Owain Gwynfryn (bass). Tickets are on sale now from www.wegottickets.com/arunchoralsociety or via email at boxoffice@arunchoralsociety.co.uk.
With only 2 weeks to go before we perform The Creation, here’s the penultimate instalment of our membership secretary Dee’s fascinating blog for your interest and enjoyment. Check back next Monday when we will be publishing the final part of Dee’s blog…
☜ Go to the previous instalment of Dee’s blog here
The Joy of Creating the Universe: Haydn’s The Creation
PART 2
At the beginning of Part 2 of Haydn’s The Creation, the angel Gabriel describes God’s great work of populating the Earth with all the animals both on and beneath the land, under the sea and in the sky. She sings a majestic solo about the birds of the air; her soprano voice soaring as high as the eagle’s flight “on mighty pens uplifted” and of the songs of the lark, the nightingale and the cooing “tender dove”. Gabriel has great fun imitating the cooing of the doves, and the flute players beautifully imitate the song of the nightingales.
Raphael joins in with his deep, bass voice and sings about the creatures of the oceans and sea: the “great whales” and the “finny tribes filling each wat’ry deep”. The Earth is now teeming with life, and the three angels take turns to sing about how beautiful it all is. Gabriel sings about “gently sloping hills”, while Uriel sings about “the cheerful host of birds; and as they flying whirl, their glittering plumes are dy’d as rainbows by the sun”. Raphael joins in and sings about the swarms of fish “flashing through the deep” and the immense Leviathan. Then all three angels sing in harmony about this marvellous creation. The excitement of marvelling at the richness of life on Earth is too much for all the angels, and they burst forth with another song of praise “The Lord is great!” with such fervour that Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel are compelled to join in too. The combined harmonies are enthralling.
Raphael then relates how God created all the creatures of the land, the “tawny lion”, the “flexible tiger” and the horned stag, the noble steed, the great herds of cattle and the flocks of sheep, great swarms of insects and not forgetting the most important if most lowly of all “creeps with sinuous trace, the worm”. Haydn has great fun in this song and shows his versatility and mastery of music by writing a special section for each animal’s characteristic movement which makes the song interesting for orchestra and audience alike.
Raphael sings about the richness of life on land which is trod by heavy beasts on the ground, and here Haydn plays a joke on his audience by surprising them with the unexpected deep notes of bassoons and a very low-sounding contrabassoon. The Universe with its stunning variety of life on Earth seems complete. But Raphael realises the work is incomplete, for there is no creature who can truly appreciate the beauty of the work and praise God for it. But he is mistaken, for God had not finished his work. For on the sixth day Uriel tells us that God created an image of himself whom he called Man, and also a companion for Man whom he called Woman. Uriel sings a wonderful air extolling all the wonderful attributes of this noble creature. The sixth day is coming to an end and Raphael declares that the work of the creation is finally finished, and God is well pleased with his work. The angels too look at the marvels of this new creation and cannot help but agree and sing to God in praise: “Achieved is the glorious work; the Lord beholds it, and is pleas’d”.
God breathes life into these two humans and into all of life on Earth, and they thrive in his presence. Gabriel and Uriel sing optimistically. But Raphael sadly warns that when God turns his face away, they are terrified and “Thou tak’st their breath away, they vanish into dust”. This brief moment of sadness is dispelled when Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel then sing joyously, “Thou sendest forth thy breath again, and life with vigour fresh returns”. And now the perfect work of the creation is finally complete, all the angels burst forth in an ecstatic chorus of hallelujahs and praise to God that “achieved is the glorious work”.
Go to the next instalment of Dee’s blog here ☞
Deirdre Tilbury, Membership Secretary, Arun Choral Society 2023
Tickets for Arun Choral Society’s performance of Haydn’s The Creation are now on sale from www.wegottickets.com/arunchoralsociety or via email at boxoffice@arunchoralsociety.co.uk.