Joseph Haydn Die Schöpfung

Raphael
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth;
and the earth was without form and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

Chorus
And the Spirit of God
moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said: Let there be Light,
and there was Light.

Uriel
And God saw the Light, that it was good;
and God divided the Light from the darkness.

Uriel
Now vanish before the holy beams
the gloomy dismal shades of dark;
the first of days appears.
Disorder yields to order the fair place.
Affrighted fled hell’s spirits black in throngs;

...

Raphael
Im Anfange schuf Gott Himmel und Erde,
und die Erde war ohne Form und leer,
und Finsternis war auf der Fläche der Tiefe.

Chor
Und der Geist Gottes
schwebte auf der Fläche der Wasser,
und Gott sprach: Es werde Licht,
und es ward Licht.

Uriel
Und Gott sah das Licht, dass es gut war,
und Gott schied das Licht von der Finsternis.

Uriel
Nun schwanden vor dem heiligen Strahle
des schwarzen Dunkels gräuliche Schatten:
der erste Tag entstand.
Verwirrung weicht, und Ordnung keimt empor.

...

Wolfgang Gersthofer
Translation: Earl Rosenbaum

In the first half of the 1790s Joseph Haydn made two concert tours to England which were of decisive importance for the composition of The Creation: Not only did the monumental performances in Westminster Abbey leave a lasting impression, but on his last departure from London in August 1795 he is supposed to have been given an older oratorio libretto on the biblical story of creation, originally intended for Handel, however its existence in this form has never been documented.

Following his return to Vienna, Haydn actually did set to work on the material at once, whereby Gottfried Bernhard Freiherr van Swieten (1733–1803), who was almost the same age, would become his most important contact. Born in Leyden, in the Netherlands, since 1755 a diplomat in the service of the Habsburgs, during his last assignment abroad at the Prussian Court of Frederick the Great van Swieten became acquainted with the music of Handel and Bach, which henceforth essentially shaped his musical preferences. Even after leaving his political functions he continued to make his mark in the intellectual life of the Imperial (musical) Metropolis as what

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