Joseph Haydn's The Seasons
Die Jahreszeiten Inspired by Earlier Oratorio The Creation
Franz Haydn's oratorio The Seasons, followed The Creation, Haydn's earlier masterpiece. Both were based after a Handel model instead of the traditional Italian oratorio.
Facts about The Seasons
- Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn(1732-1809), an Austrian composer born in Rohrau, Austria.
- Original Title: Die Jahreszeiten
- Original Language: German
- Text: Gottfried van Swieten (Baron von Swieten), Austrian patron of the Arts. The words are based on the English poem The Seasons by James Thomson.
- Form: Four parts - Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter – a total of 44 musical numbers.
- Date of Writing: 1799-1801.
- First Performance: Vienna, in the palace of Prince Schwarzenberg, April 24, 1801.
History of The Seasons
The Seasons followed the path of its predecessor, Haydn's most successful oratorio The Creation and therefore it can be deduced that whether van Swieten talked Haydn into producing this succeeding oratorio or not is immaterial. Haydn was enjoying extreme respect and admiration from people after The Creation. On the other hand, the maestro was now 67 years old.
Haydn's popularity as an instrumental composer went quickly far and wide. From all the great joy that The Creation brought him, The Seasons took on. The text of the composition was arranged by Gottfried can Swieten, who also had great influence on the younger Mozart. A highly cultured Viennese patron of the arts, van Swieten once again produced a text to use best Haydn's talents.
Prominent aristocrats guaranteed the best conditions, an honorarium at the same time oversee the production premiere.
The premiere on April 24, 1801 was an enormous success, and immediately two more performances followed on 29th of April and 1st of May. The audience was enrapt with the highest accolade for the wearying but elated composer. For two years, Joseph Haydn gave his all for this oratorio and felt that it was his last.
Haydn said about the effect of "The Seasons" (The World of the Oratorio by Kurt Pahlen, Scolar Press, 1990):
"… I had to struggle for days at a time with the smallest details."
Characters
- Simon, a tenant farmer (bass)
- Hanne, his daughter (soprano)
- Lucas, a young peasant (tenor)
- Four-part mixed chorus
Orchestra: Flutes, clarinets, bassoons, contra bassoons, oboes, horns, trumpets, trombones, timpani, strings, continuo with cello and harpsichord.
Synopsis
The theme of The Seasons is an obvious one, the normal season changes of the year – spring, summer, autumn, winter. Other composers have tried the idea including Baroque composers Vivaldi and Telemann. Vivaldi's violin concerto cycle Le Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons) is extremely popular to date.
The oratorio has four parts, with a total of 44 musical numbers:
- Spring
- Summer
- Autumn
- Winter
The character Simon, the farmer, observes the stuggle between the elements - starting from spring when Hanne embraces its first gentle winds, a feeling of thankfulness and gladness; summer, indicating daybreak, a call from the oboe for the new day to the wonders of nature; autumn, the peasants delight in a rich harvest after a long and ardous hard work; and last of the season, the harsh winter that destroy blossoms and sprouts – the season's cycle, a symbol for the passing of life.
Between the main melody and its repetition at the conclusion, a splendid and enchanting exchange between the voices (male and female) is used.
Haydn's beautiful oratorio The Seasons doesn't end in melancholy. As expressed by the chorus and the soloists, it's one of greatest and deepest joy, signifying an acceptance of the human life to embrace the best each season offers.
Other Famous Oratorios
- Handel's Israel in Egypt
- Handel's Messiah
- Handel's Saul
- Handel's Solomon
- Haydn's The Creation
- JS Bach's St Matthew Passion
- Mendelssohn's Elijah
- Mendelssohn's St Paul
Suggested Recording
Haydn: Seasons (The) (NTSC) - Die Jahreszeiten/The Seasons/Les Saisons
Consulted Source
The World of Oratorio by Kurt Pahlen (1990)
The Seasons (Spring)
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