“the majesty of the universe, the mystery of the Divine and the creation of man”

Simon Carrington on Haydn’s The Creation

01.09.2022/0 Comments/in Choral works in focus /by Simon Carrington

50 years of Carus – 50 years of passion for choral music, which we share with you. In the Carus anniversary year, each month in the CARUS blog prominent choral directors present their personal highlight from five centuries of choral music for you.

While visiting England in the late 1700s, Haydn attended the gigantic Handel Commemoration at Westminster Abbey in 1791. He was clearly overwhelmed by Handel’s oratorios and was inspired to compose a choral work of his own. Haydn’s rich tapestry of harmony, orchestration, and word-painting brings to life the texts of Genesis, Psalms, and Milton’s Paradise Lost making his Creation a work of the Enlightenment in which science, reason and religion sit happily side by side. Haydn’s inspired music depicts the majesty of the universe, the mystery of the Divine and the creation of man. I know of few other choral and orchestral works which bubble with so much variety of style and tempo, so many different colours both instrumental and vocal, and so many unexpected contrasts using relatively modest forces.

I congratulate Carus on their forethought. In this case they have produced editions of both the full orchestral version and a superb and very practical version for reduced orchestra which brings this magnificent oratorio within reach of choral societies with more limited budgets. I have conducted both versions, and the materials, which are of the usual high Carus standard, have proved very useful.

Joseph Haydn: The Creation
Carus 51.990

Simon Carrington, has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in music. From 2003 to 2009 he was professor of choral conducting at Yale University and director of the Yale Schola Cantorum. Prior to coming to the United States, he was a creative force for 25 years with the internationally acclaimed British vocal ensemble The King’s Singers, which he co-founded at Cambridge University. Simon now keeps up an active schedule as a freelance conductor and choral clinician, leading workshops and master classes round the world.

Further works

Missa solemnis in B flat

Hayn's Missa solemnis in B flat shows the composer at the height of his compositional development. It is largely thoroughly composed, the vocal quartet increasingly takes the place of arien-like passages, and the motivic-thematic work determines both the vocal and the independent instrumental parts.

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The Creation: carus music, the Choir Coach

At home and out and about: Straight away your choral works will always be with you to practice! With carus music, the Choir Coach, you can follow the music while listening to a top-class recording on your smartphone or tablet, and easily practice your own choral part with the help of a coach.