Sunday, February 12, 2012

The Creation According to Haydn

The Archangels praise the beauty of the newly created earth.





GABRIEL
Most beautiful appear, with verdure young adorn’d, the gently sloping hills. Their narrow sinuous veins distill in crystal drops the fountain fresh and bright.

URIEL
In lofty circles play and hover thro’ the sky the cheerful host of birds. And in the flying whirl, the glitt’ring plumes are died, as rainbows, by the sun.

RAPHAEL
See flashing thro’ the wet in thronged swarms the fry on thousand ways around.
Upheaved from the deep, th’ immense Leviathan sports on the foaming wave.

GABRIEL, URIEL, RAPHAEL
How many are thy works, O God?
Who may their numbers tell? Who, O God?
Trio (Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael and Chorus)

GABRIEL, URIEL, RAPHAEL
The Lord is great and great his might.
His glory lasts for ever and evermore.

CHORUS
The Lord is great and great his might.
His glory lasts for ever and evermore.



The Creation was made good as are we who are part of it.

"Life remains a blessing even when you cannot bless" -- WH Auden

4 comments:

JCF said...

Die Schopfung!

For some reason, I always loved my mom's "Creation" record, in a way I couldn't do w/ the Mozart.

Counterlight said...

Sorry mate, but my mum hated classical music, all of it from Bach to Bernstein, and she shared her opinion with me frequently.
Mozart and Haydn are among the great pleasures of being alive as far as I'm concerned. That for me they were long illicit pleasures only adds to their savor and sweetness.

JCF said...

I think that's the point: familiarity breeds contempt, illicitness leads to attraction!

[Or, "Why There is ALWAYS a Generation Gap"! My 19 y.o. namesake has a t-shirt that says "It is not 'Too Loud'. You are Too Old!" ;-p]

Mary Clara said...

This is wonderful.

Gosh, I have to give my Mom credit. She loved classical music and we would play Mendelssohn and Grieg and Beethoven on the Victrola while we did the ironing.