Scholarly Abstractions: Haydn’s “The Creation”

Moody, Philip. A New English Libretto for Haydn’s The Creation.  Doctor of Musical Arts dissertation, University of Arizona, 2012.

 

       This document was created to provide a new English translation to Franz Joseph Haydn’s (1732-1809) oratorio The Creation that both respects Hadyn’s original musical content and employs contemporary English language and idioms. In preparing The Creation for performances with English text it became clear that, at this time, no English libretto is available which completely supports the composer’s intended relationship between text and music. This document explores the research on Haydn’s oratorio The Creation, most notably the research of A. Peter Brown and Nicholas Temperley. English librettos from Nicholas Temperley, Robert Shaw and Alice Parker, and the original English libretto of Baron Gottfried van Swieten (1733-1803) have all been explored through the course of this document.

       No English-texted editions of Haydn’s oratorio The Creation entirely capture what appears to be the composer’s intended relationship between text and music while employing contemporary English language and idioms. I demonstrate that it is possible to create a contemporary English libretto for The Creation that both holds true to Haydn’s original musical content and employs contemporary English language and idioms. The methodology I have used during the translation process is provided and examples are discussed. Finally, a complete English translation of The Creation has been included in the form of a piano/vocal score for reference purposes.

 

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