Creative Genius
On Saturday evening, in spite of rain and gales, Guildford Cathedral rang to the glorious
sound of Haydn’s “Creation”.
This work, written at the end of the eighteenth century, has not always had the popularity it
deserves in Britain, but over the last hundred years it has enjoyed a renaissance and now
justly takes its place in the top rank of oratorios. It is the story of the creation of the world,
taking its texts from the bible and Milton’s “Paradise Lost”. Haydn took the libretto back to
Austria after a visit to England and had it translated into German, but the first published
score included the text in both languages.
The Vivace chorus and the Brandenburg Sinfonia were joined by three soloists: Soprano ,
Tenor and Bass. The contrast between the dark bass of Mark Wildman and the fresh, lyrical
voice of young Nicholas Scott were ideally suited to this work, where Haydn uses the
different vocal timbres and ranges to depict light and darkness, the heavens and the depths
of the ocean, the birds flying free and the beasts of the earth with heavy tread or sinuous
trace.
The immaculate diction of Mr. Wildman was a joy to hear as was his connection to the story
and obvious enjoyment in telling it.
| expect great things of the tenor, whose voice, as yet, is not of a size for such a large venue,
but as maturity fills out the lower range and age adds a little more power, there should be a
great future for this singer. He had great elegance of phrasing, and his clarity of diction is
quite a rarity in young singers nowadays..
The strong, bright voice of Rebecca Goulden soared over the orchestra and up into the
vaults of heaven just as Haydn must have intended. Here was some excellent coloratura as
well as more tender moments, but a tendency to flatness on occasions in the middle voice
and even, a couple of times, some very suspect notes need to be addressed.
The orchestra played with all their usual verve and sensitivity. The creation story as Haydn
brings it to us is told first by the orchestra and then by the voices. Haydn plays a musical
guessing game with his audience........... asking us to listen to the orchestration which paints
a picture in sound of what is being created. Only then does a soloist or the chorus affirm it in
words. The Brandenburg Sinfonia rose to every challenge, as, indeed, did the Vivace
Chorus, and this is a challenging work. From the beautifully soft beginning when the Spirit of
God first begins its creative work, through the downfall of the hosts of darkness and the
glorious fugal hymns of praise, to the final resounding Amens, the choir were responsive to
the conductor and produced a wonderful choral sound.
Only once was | disappointed, when, during the chorus “The Heavens are telling”, the solo
trio sing ‘ever, ever, ever understood’. The onward sweep of the music suddenly stops in a
rare moment of silence, marked with a pause. The following notes, also marked with pauses,
drop into the silence before once more sweeping forward. In the whole of the oratorio this is
a purely operatic moment, and we mustn’t forget that Haydn was also an operatic composer.
| wanted time to savour the pauses as much as | was savouring the voices.
That said, | must congratulate the Vivace Chorus on their musical director. Jeremy
Backhouse held all the forces under his baton together to bring us a performance of an
exceptionally high standard. The rehearsal on the day of the performance is usually the only
one with the orchestra, and the director, understandably, must give them a great percentage
of his attention, often to the detriment of the chorus. In performance Jeremy never lets his
chorus down. He is helped in this of course by the sheer professionalism of this orchestra,
but the communication between musical director and choir is exceptional.
Thankyou, Vivace Chorus, for a wonderful evening.
Gillian Ramsden