Haydn and the Oratorio

Haydn's journeys to England in 1791-92 and 1794-95 greatly affected him personally and were of momentous artistic importance. Praised as the most famous living composer, he returned to Vienna as a well-to-do-man, whose financial resources secured for him a comfortable life. He had purchased a home in the suburb of Gumpendorf, which was then rural in appearance. The surroundings -- orchards, fields and meadows -- appealed to the man who had been born and raised in the country. As Kapellmeister of the Prince Esterhazy, he had spent the greater part of his life in the countryside, and had enjoyed walking through the large park around the princely palace and strolling through the vineyards of tiny Eisenstadt, the capital of the mini­principality, or roaming the wide plains in which Esterhazy Castle was located. Yet the pressure of work, rehearsing, conducting and composing for the concert hall, theater and church, left him very little time for the enjoyment of nature. Even after he had settled down in Gumpendorf, he was not inclined to spend his time as a gentleman of leisure.

At sixty-three he considered his career as a symphonist closed with the composi­tion of the second set of six London Symphonies. He still had much to say, and ex­pressed himself most profoundly in his last eight string quartets (Opus 76 and 77) and his last choral works: the six great Masses, the Te Deum and the oratorios The Creation and The Seasons.

 

In London he had attended the Handel Festival at Westminster Abbey, where he heard the Messiah, Israel in Egypt and sections from Saul, Judas Maccabaeus and other oratorios. More than a thousand people performed, and it is said that Haydn wept when the ''Hallelujah Chorus" swept through the venerable building, and exclaimed: "He (Handel) is the greatest of us all.'' Impressed with Handel's powerful oratorios, Haydn pre­sumably conceived the idea of composing an oratorio of the highest artistic caliber.

 

During his second sojourn in England, Haydn met Lord Abington, a patron of music, who had tried as early as 1783 to engage the master for appearances in the so-called Professional Concerts with which the Salomon enterprise competed. Haydn, at that time in the employ of Prince Esterhazy, was unable to accept the offer. In a meeting with Haydn in 1794, Lord Abington suggested the composition of an oratorio and transmitted to him a libretto which was based on Mare clausum by John Selden (1584-1654). Haydn evinced interest and composed an aria and a chorus, but then his creative urge waned and he laid the matter aside. It is surmised that the master did not regard his knowledge of the English language as being sufficient for the composition of a large­scale work.

 

Haydn was no novice in the field of the oratorio. In 1775 he had composed an Italian oratorio, Il ritorno di Tobia ('The Re­turn of Tobias') for the concerts of the Viennese Tonkunstler Sozietat, a welfare organization for the benefit of widows and orphans of Austrian musicians. Founded by professionals in 1771, this was the oldest musical society in Vienna and also the first institution for organizing public concerts which took place at Easter and in the Christmas Season. There was no public concert auditorium in 18th-century Vienna. Concerts were mostly given in the Burgtheater which was located within the imperial palace. Comparatively small, it was the theater where Gluck's operas and Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio, The Marriage of Figaro and Cosi fan tutte were first produced and also the first public performance of The Creation had taken place.

Haydn presented Il ritorno di Tobia to the Sozietat free of charge, came to Vienna to conduct it twice and even brought the soloists with him. This is a work in the typical Italian fashion of the time: an assortment of numerous recitatives and coloratura arias. The original version contained only two choral numbers, which are the strongest elements of the work and foreshadow the Haydn of the last masses and oratorios. Haydn purposely avoided breaking new ground and catered to the fashionable taste in order to secure the financial success of the undertaking. In 1784 he added two more choral numbers to the score, and after the completion of The Creation and The Seasons he even permitted his student Sigismund von Neukomm (1778-1856) to modernize Il ritorno di Tobia through deletions, abbreviations and instrumental changes. But these and later attempts were of little avail in the face of the melodic freshness, depth, power and mastery of the two great oratorios that bear the indelible stamp of the late Haydn. Passing over the oratorio­like adaption of The Seven Last Words, originally an instrumental work, written in 1786 for a religious ceremony in Cadiz, Spain, we come to recount briefly the circumstances which led to the composition of The Creation.

 

The Genesis of The Creation

 

To Sir George Grove, the famous British lexicographer, has related the following episode which occurred during Haydn's stay in England: One day, the master visited the French violinist and composer Francois-Hippolyte Barthelemon (1741-1808), with whom he had become very friendly. In the conversation Haydn expressed his wish “to write something which will make my name last in the world. "What would Barthelemon advise him to do? The Frenchman reached for a Bible which was lying on the table and said: "There is the book; begin at the beginning.'' The story rings true and may have had a bearing on later events.

 

Before Haydn left London in 1795, Johann Peter Salomon, his impressario, anxious to persuade him to compose an oratorio in English, gave him a libretto by an unknown author. According to August Griesinger-Saxonian diplomat, friend of Haydn and his first biographer -- his name was Mr. Lidley, or Lindley. The poem was drawn largely from Milton's Paradise Lost and was intended for Handel. We don't know if Handel had concerned himself with the libretto which Haydn accepted without commitment. Yet the subject matter must have interested him for several reasons. First, it was the Biblical topic which, following the traditions of Handel's Scriptural oratorios, appealed to Haydn's religious feelings. In addition, and no less important, Haydn, the nature-­loving man, saw many fine musical opportunities in the descriptive pages of the poem. He undoubtedly remembered the suggestion made by Barthelemon: ''Begin at the beginning."

 

About a year after his return to Vienna, Haydn was prompted to take up the libretto again by a remark made by Gottfried Freiherr van Swieten, who said: "Haydn, we would like at long last to hear an oratorio from you." Van Swieten's remark could not be ignored. Born in 1734 in Leyden, he served for a time in the diplomatic corps, and in 1778 he became Prafect of the Court Library. A passionate musician, tall and solemn, he moved like a high priest in musical circles. His opinion carried the weight of infallibility. At concerts he was closely observed, and people formed their judgments on the basis of his facial expressions. Van Swieten became part of musical history because of his relations with Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Yet van Swieten's remark to Haydn about the composition of an oratorio engendered the situation to which Haydn undoubtedly was looking forward. He showed van Swieten the English libretto he had received from Salomon. Van Swieten immediately went to work in a three-fold capacity: as translator-editor, self-styled musical consultant and organizer of the first performance. Whether he did all this for the sake of art or to prove his indispensability to Vienna's musical life does not matter. His achievements benefited Haydn substantially.

 

Haydn started work on the oratorio in the fall of 1796 after completion of the Heiligmesse and the Missa in tempore belli. On December 15, 1796, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736-1809),. conductor at St. Stephen's Cathedral, wrote to his student, Ludwig van Beethoven: '' Haydn came to see me yesterday: he is occupied with the idea of a big oratorio which he intends to call The Creation and he hopes to finish the work soon. He improvised some of it for me (at the piano) and I think it will be very good." The oratorio kept Haydn occupied throughout the year 1797 and the winter of 1798. Prince Schwarzenberg, who put his palace on the Mehlmarkt (Neuer Markt today) at Haydn's disposal for the first performance, received the notice of the completion on April 5, 1798. The preparations for the first performance, scheduled for April 29 and 30, were initiated immediately.

 

First Performances

The event was strictly a private affair for the Austrian aristocracy, undertaken by amateurs guided by the industrious van Swieten. To avoid congestion, flour and vegetable vendors removed their stalls and the market was cleared. Twelve policemen and eighteen men on horseback directed the movement of the state coaches of the exclusive audience. Haydn conducted, and Antonio Salieri, the influential court conductor, sat at the piano to play the secco recitatives. A poem honoring Haydn, written by the famous Austrian orientalist Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, was distributed among the audience. The oratorio was received with enthusiasm. The ten promoters who underwrote the expenses of the performance increased Haydn's compensation from 500 to 600 ducats, and donated to him the receipts of 4,088 florin (gulden) -- a handsome amount in 1798. Two more readings were given in the Schwarzenberg Palace on May 7 and 10.

 

The first public performance of The Creation took place on Haydn's name day, March 19, 1799, under dramatic circumstances. A Russian army, allies of Austria against Napoleon, marched through the city. For two hours, the gravity of the situation was ignored, and the audience was carried into a peaceful world by the music. Griesinger, Haydn's first biographer, who also was in attendance, relates the following: ''I had the good fortune to be witness to the profound emotion and wild enthusiasm with which this oratorio was greeted by the whole audience when it was played under Haydn's direction. Haydn admitted to me, too, that he could not express the feelings which filled his soul when the performance expressed his every wish, and when the audience awaited every note in profound silence. 'Sometimes my whole body was ice-cold,' he said; “and sometimes I was overcome with burning fever; more than once I was afraid that I should suddenly suffer a stroke.'' When the Tonkunstler Sozietat repeated The Creation on December 22 and 23, 1799, it doubled the prices and netted 4,474 florins. This reflects Haydn's drawing power which, tested in London, was not to lessen in years to come.

 

The most memorable presentation of The Creation was on March 27, 1808, given in honor of Haydn, in the aula of the old Vienna University (still standing), by the Society of Amateur Concerts, also known as the Cavalier Concerts. The occasion was glorified in poems of Heinrich von Collin and Giuseppe Carpani (in Italian). They were presented by two ladies to the composer, who was deeply moved. Prominent Viennese musicians, including Beethoven, were present. The feeble Haydn, seventy-six, was carried in a chair into the hall and received with trumpet flourishes and cries: ''Long live Haydn!" Though he was advised to keep his hat on, he complained about the draft and Princess Esterhazy put her shawl around him. Several ladies followed her example, and soon Haydn was covered with shawls.

 

Strangely enough, the oratorio was sung in Carpani's Italian translation. Antonio Salieri, who -- as conductor of the Court Chapel -- kept Haydn's Masses from the repertory for almost thirty years, conducted. After the passage, "And there was light,'' the audience burst into applause. Haydn raised his hands as if to indicate the source of his inspiration. Overwhelmed by the honors and by the power of his own music, he left after the first part, hardly able to express his thanks to the audience and the musicians. It is said that when he was carried away he made a gesture as if to bless the assembly. It was Haydn's last public appearance and also the last of the Cavalier Concerts.

 

The performances of Haydn's The Creation and also of The Seasons were monopolized by the Tonkunstler Sozietat. The presentation of these oratorios in the Burgtheater at Easter and in the Christ­mas Season was as inseparable from Vienna's concertlife as the Amen from the prayer. This went on until the middle of the 19th century. Then the Tonkunstler Sozietat changed its name and became the Welfare Organization Haydn, and amassed a sizeable asset thanks to the un­diminished drawing power of Haydn's great oratorios.