The Creation by Joseph Haydn

Melbourne Bach Choir and Orchestra conducted by Rick Prakhoff, with Kathryn Radcliffe, soprano, Andrew Goodwin, tenor and Adrian Tamburini, bass-baritone.

For Haydn, The Creation was a summation of his religious convictions as well as his life's work as a composer. Every one of his scores ended with the inscription "Laus Deo" (God be praised) or "Soli Deo gloria" (For the glory of God alone), and never was it more fitting than at the end of The Creation. And even in our world, two centuries later, when science has called the foundation of the composer's beliefs into question, The Creation still speaks eloquently to believer and non-believer alike with its lively arias and rousing choruses, and this, in the end, was what Haydn hoped his music would do. Responding to fan mail in 1802, he explained that "a secret voice whispered to me: 'There are in this world so few happy and contented people; sorrow and grief follow them everywhere; perhaps your labor will become a source in which the man bowed down by care, or burdened with business matters, will for a while find peace and rest.'"

Date: 3 September 2022
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: St Paul’s Cathedral, cnr Swanston St and Flinders St, Melbourne