The Creation by Joseph Haydn

Overgate Hospice Choir present "The Creation" by Joseph Haydn on Saturday 19th October starting at 7pm. This will be held at Halifax Minster.

Overgate Hospice Choir has raised nearly £400,000 for the magnificent work of Overgate Hospice and the choir is aiming to reach this milestone before the end of 2024.

The choir is delighted to present the choral masterpiece that is Haydn's Creation. Combining texts from Genesis, the Psalms and Milton's Paradise Lost, it tells the story of that most audacious of subjects; creation itself.

The oratorio opens with an extended instrumental passage where Haydn conjures primordial disorder and nothingness in sound; truly memorable and arresting. The work plays out almost like a musical panorama – changing landscapes and scenes summoned one after the other. We meet a whole host of angels, as well as Adam and Eve, who in turn take delight in introducing all of creation, from dazzling light, billowing seas and uplifted land, to the whole animal kingdom. Listen out for the 'musical jokes' of the great whale, leaping tiger and sinuous worm.

The architecture of Haydn's music is breath-taking, from the vast sweep of immense themes to tiny details that only emerge on closer inspection. It's also a work that does unbounded joy and celebration better than almost any other; a spiritual masterpiece.

Please see poster for further details.