Joseph Haydn

The Creation, Hob. XXI:2

Scholarly Complete Edition with Critical Report, Linen, Series XXVIII, Volume 3 III
Third Part Volume, Sketches - with Extensive Commentary
Awarded the German Music Edition Prize

On Joseph Haydn's oratorio The Creation, premiered in 1798, an unusually large number of sketches have been preserved, with a total of 36 mostly closely written pages. From five different approaches to a small recitative to the elaborated course of entire arias to three different score drafts for the 'Vorstellung des Chaos', they comprise a veritable cosmos of the most diverse notations, giving us a small glimpse into the workshop of a great master.

These sketch sheets, now preserved in various libraries in Vienna, London and New York, are not only fully transcribed and annotated for the first time in the present volume, but are also all illustrated in color. The separate presentation of the sketch edition and illustrations in individual booklets allows direct comparison of Haydn's manuscript with the edition. Complementing the detailed explanations in the Critical Report, the Preface provides notes on the function and typology of the sketches, so that the volume offers all the necessary prerequisites for further research into Haydn's creative process in general and the making of his creation in particular.