Haydn “The Creation” with the Festival choir, orchestra & soloists: Closing concert, Church of St Léger, SEILLANS, 9 August 2025, 7PM
Saturday 9 August, 19:00
Seillans, Église Saint-Léger
£5.00 – £30.00
Haydn “The Creation” with choir, orchestra & soloists: Church of St Leger, SEILLANS, 9 August 2025, 7PM Haydn’s resounding oratorio ends our Festival concert series this summer.
| Ticket options | Premium, standard, aged 80+, child aged under 13 |
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Description
Grand closing Choral concert of the 2025 Festival
Haydn's resounding oratorio ends our concert series this summer.
(Note: this is the 2nd and final performance performance of The Creation (and the only one that will take place in the Pays de Fayence this summer); there will be a previous initial performance of this oratorio in the church in Claviers, in the nearby canton of Dracenie, on 7 August.
conductor: Graham Ross
Haydn finished "The Creation" in 1798, nearly seven years after his friend Mozart's death. Considered by many to be one of his masterpieces, this oratorio depicts and celebrates a a widely-believed version of "the creation of the world" as narrated in the Book of Genesis. One of the most famous moments of Haydn's The Creation is when the chorus sings, “and there was light.”
The work is structured in three parts and scored for soprano, tenor and bass soloists, chorus and a symphonic orchestra. In parts I and II, depicting the creation, the soloists represent the archangels Raphael (bass), Uriel (tenor) and Gabriel (soprano). In part III, the bass and soprano represent Adam and Eve.
The first public performance was held in Vienna at the old Burgtheater on 19 March 1799. The oratorio was published with the text in German and English in 1800.
The choir & orchestra last performed this work in German at the 2018 festival: Die Schöpfung. This time it will be sung in English.
There will be one interval (including refreshments) between parts 1 and 2 - and a brief pause between the 2nd & 3rd parts.
PERFORMERS:
Maestro – Graham Ross
Soprano – Rebecca Hardwick
Mezzo-Soprano – Hannah Dienes-Williams
Tenor - Aidan Coburn
Baritone – Malachy Frame
Choir & Orchestra of Musique-Cordiale
(illustration: Musique Cordiale Festival Concert,
from the little sketchbook of the Late Paddy Lovely, a noted Seillans artist who died in the past year)