From the Wheelwright’s Son to the Richest European Composer
Musicologist Jūratė Katinaitė debunked the common myth that J. Haydn was noble. “No. He came from a very humble background. That’s why he was very proud of his achievements throughout his life,” said the musicologist.
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According to her, the composer’s father was a wheelwright who made wagon wheels, so the boy had no opportunities to pursue education. The first turning point came when his talents were noticed by an organist relative, and later – a traveling merchant who happened to hear the boy recommended him to the choir of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. “If I had to say where J. Haydn’s success was, it was that he always found himself in the right circumstances at the right time,” said J. Katinaitė.
However, the path was not easy. At seventeen, due to voice mutation, he lost his place as a chorister and was left without a source of livelihood. “Finding himself on the street, he earned money as a street musician, wrote various vaudevilles just so someone would play and music would be used,” said the musicologist.
The decisive turn in his life was his service at the Esterházy estate, where J. Haydn spent half a century. While working at the Esterházy estate, J. Haydn was responsible for the entire musical life. “Every week he had to stage an opera and write music for two concerts. The music had to be here and now, and always new,” she said, adding that at that time it was not customary to perform the same works repeatedly. Such working conditions also resulted in the composer’s impressive creative legacy.
According to her, by the end of his life, J. Haydn had become the richest European composer, and he even asked his biographers to present his story as an inspiring success story. “Write it so that young people are inspired to pursue science and art, proving that even from a truly poor background such results can be achieved,” the musicologist quoted the composer’s words.
J. Haydn – A Man of the Enlightenment Era
According to musicologist J. Katinaitė, to understand the oratorio, it is necessary to know the era in which it was born. “The Enlightenment era was an era of optimism. Such optimism as in the second half of the 18th century, the Western world probably experienced again only after World War II. It was believed that science and knowledge could change everything,” said the musicologist.
This worldview is reflected in J. Haydn’s music. He was one of the most important creators of classicism, characterized by clear, symmetrical musical thinking, but in the introduction to the oratorio, he consciously rejected the clarity typical of this style. Therefore, the musical chaos chosen by J. Haydn, from which ‘The Creation’ begins, was meant to sound unexpected to listeners.
According to the musicologist, at the beginning of the oratorio, one can see not only the biblical story of the creation of the world but also the scientific ideas of the 18th century. She recalled the nebula hypothesis of philosopher Immanuel Kant, who worked in Königsberg, explaining the origin of the Universe. “It is a very beautiful idea where science and religion merge. Kant talks about a nebula from which the world forms, and Haydn seems to reflect the scientific fashion of that time. That chaos is the union of science and religion,” said the musicologist. According to her, the composer does not oppose science and faith but allows them to converse in one musical space.
The Answer to the Eternal Question
Theologian Dr. Andrius Vaitkevičius is convinced that J. Haydn’s oratorio is primarily an attempt to answer one of humanity’s most important questions – how the world came into being. “He probably tried to answer the eternal question – how everything happened. And that question still interests scientists who analyze the cosmos. J. Haydn’s answer is through music,” he said.
According to A. Vaitkevičius, the composer not only illustrates the Biblical Book of Genesis but creates the entire picture of creation with musical sounds. “The earth, sky, animals, plants were created separately – all expressed through musical sounds. How much the author had to delve into the Biblical story to color it so beautifully,” said the theologian.
In his opinion, J. Haydn’s story from primordial chaos to the creation of man sounds no less relevant today than in the 18th century. “Today we could say – the Big Bang theory, but the narrative line remains the same: something comes from nothing, and the culmination is the creation of man.”
Conductor Adrija Čepaitė pointed out that J. Haydn’s relationship with religion was not accidental. “At the Esterházy estate, there were not only concert spaces but also a chapel. On Sundays, J. Haydn had to present music praising the Lord. I think he was a sincere and practicing Catholic,” said the conductor. According to her, music for the composer was not only art but also an expression of faith. “I think he believed that music is the language of God.”
According to A. Čepaitė, the oratorio, beginning with a unison, seems to her like an impressive and symbolic beginning of the creation of the world. “The very first sound is a strong forte from the entire orchestra. It happens like an explosion,” the conductor said. But J. Haydn’s chaos is not frightening. “Those opening chords are not heavy. They are like a question inviting us to seek an answer. That chaos in Haydn’s light of faith could not be otherwise.”
The conductor shared that studying this work becomes not only a professional task for the performer but also an inner friendship. “It is a work of special weight. First, you need to find a personal relationship, to come out of your own mental chaos to understand where Haydn is leading us.”
The Path to Happiness
Jūratė Katinaitė reminded that ‘The Creation’ was composed in Haydn’s late creative period, after his trips to London, where the composer was fascinated by George Frideric Handel’s oratorios. “He understood that an oratorio could be not only a religious act. It can be a work of community, even uniting a nation.”
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According to the musicologist, returning to Austria, J. Haydn sought to create a work that would unite people not only through the beauty of music but also through a shared spiritual idea. She emphasized that in ‘The Creation,’ J. Haydn combined many musical traditions – Baroque choruses, Italian arias, elements of English songs, and church hymns. “He put everything into one whole and created a unique oratorio based on Handel’s tradition.”
Conductor A. Čepaitė mentioned that the musical language of the work is especially connected with the text itself. Therefore, images arise not only from the text but also from the colors of the instrumentation. The first and second parts of the oratorio tell the story of how God created the world in six days. The third part, dedicated to man, takes us to Paradise. It features one of the most beautiful love duets of Adam and Eve and the first humans’ hymn of gratitude to the Creator. “The orchestra expresses the whole story no less emotionally. Each picture is created with orchestration means. The timbres of the instruments reveal animals, plants, the sky vault, the sun, and the moon,” she said.
Theologian Dr. Andrius Vaitkevičius emphasized that the relevance of this work does not end with the religious narrative. “Probably every listener takes away their own thought,” he said. One of the most important messages of the oratorio is human dignity. “In the Bible, after each day of creation, it is repeated: ‘It is good.’ And man becomes the most perfect creation. We respect man because he is the image and reflection of God.”
According to A. Vaitkevičius, Haydn’s music reminds us that the world is not a random chaos – it contains order that man is invited to preserve. This idea was also supplemented by the conductor, who believes that in times of political upheavals and wars, J. Haydn contrasts not despair but light. “The order given by God to man is the path to happiness.”
A. Čepaitė drew attention to one of the most important messages of the work – the archangel Uriel’s address to Adam and Eve. “Archangel Uriel says to man, i.e., Adam and Eve: this is how happy you are, be like this and remain so. If only wrong thoughts do not enter you and you no longer want more than what is given to you.” According to him, this thought remains relevant today.
Each Era Hears Differently
Adrija Čepaitė wondered whether the contemporary listener hears the same J. Haydn that the 18th-century audience heard. “We cannot exactly replicate the same sound. We can only historically understand how it might have sounded.” This oratorio will be performed by the theater orchestra with modern, not old and historically “correct” instruments. However, according to the conductor, merely reconstructing the historical sound is not the most important goal. A. Čepaitė says,
that Haydn’s music is meant not as background but for attention, and listening to the oratorio requires an unusual mindset: “to go as if to a temple – to sit down and prepare for the unexpected. Haydn’s music is bright and intellectual, inviting us to be attentive to beauty, to never stop marveling at it.”
Musicologist Jūratė Katinaitė reminded that over more than two centuries, not only performance traditions but also concert halls, instruments, and singing manner have changed. “At the end of the 18th century, the orchestra sounded completely different – natural instruments, gut strings, small halls. The whole musical environment was different.” She explained that even the bel canto singing technique arose from practical need – as theaters grew, singers had to fill huge halls with their voices. “Composers are very practical people. They work with what they have, not with what they dream of.”
Therefore, according to the musicologist, J. Haydn’s music cannot be performed like Verdi or Wagner’s works. “Haydn’s music sounds very gentle to us today. Even where he depicts dreadful things or crawling worms, we still hear calmness because over two centuries our hearing has changed.”
Harmony – The Condition for the World’s Survival
Speaking about the meaning of music, J. Katinaitė recalled a thought by conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt. “Everything that man creates is with God’s touch. Music without it simply sounds and passes.” She also quoted the recently deceased composer Osvaldas Balakauskas. “Music cannot save the world, but it can show a world where harmony and order are necessary conditions for its survival.” According to the musicologist, this thought probably best describes J. Haydn’s ‘The Creation.'”
At the end of the conversation, Dr. Andrius Vaitkevičius urged to come to the oratorio focused. “Most of all, I would wish for people to come prepared to listen. Just as before a performance we read the libretto, it is worth getting to know J. Haydn as well. Then the music opens up, speaks, and tells its story.”
In August, at the Klaipėda Festival, the oratorio will be presented in an unusual concert format. Five soloists will appear on stage – the archangels Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel, as well as Adam and Eve; together with them will sing the choristers of the Klaipėda State Musical Theatre and the State Choir “Vilnius,” and the theater symphony orchestra will play. Actor Darius Meškauskas will become the guide to the contemporary human perspective on the work.
The discussion participants agreed that the oratorio combines the scientific ideas of the Enlightenment era, the biblical narrative, and musical symbolism. That is why this work has remained relevant for more than two centuries not only to musicians but also to philosophers, theologians, and cultural researchers. J. Haydn’s music allows speaking about the beginning of the world in a universal language, combining art, faith, and human efforts to understand the order of creation.
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